Sexual Harassment 'Positive Duty' inc. Toolkit

In response to the continual rise of sexual harassment as a 'hot topic' issue in Australian workplaces, and as part of the ongoing response to the Sex Discrimination Commissioners Respect@Work Report, the Federal Government changed the law in late 2022. New avenues for employees to pursue claims and the Human Rights Commissions powers to actually enforce the new ‘positive duty’ on employers came into effect on 12 December 2023.

The laws have imposed a new 'positive duty' on all employers. No matter what size your business, every business owner must take reasonable steps to eliminate sexual harassment and other unlawful behaviour from occurring in the workplace. Responding to complaints when they arise is no longer enough.

There is no exemption under this law - not even for small business. If reasonable steps are not taken to eliminate sexual harassment and related unlawful behaviour in the workplace, the employer could be held liable and face considerable financial and reputational damage to the business.

Education and training are a key component of this new legislation. Ignorance is no defence so every business must conduct regular training and education for all employees, including the Board, ELT, managers and all staff.

What can you do today to demonstrate you're taking reasonable steps to eliminate this behaviour from your workplace?

1. Train your Board, Managers and Employees on expected and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace.
2. Follow the six-step approach below using our dedicated toolkit resource.

Now is the time to conduct a health check in your business, identify risk areas and put in place preventative measures that will reduce the risk of sexual harassment, sex-discrimination, sex-based harassment, a hostile workplace environment or victimisation in your workplace. Don't know where to start? We have taken the leg work out of this process and set up a simple guide that walks you through the processes and procedures to follow.

ALBA's Sexual Harassment Positive Duty toolkit will take your business through six simple steps. Each step has a suite of tools to use, templates to download and use in your business and short video to help. This toolkit is designed to save your business hundreds of hours in establishing a system that you can use annually.

This six step guide will give you peace of mind your business is doing the minimum expectation by the regulators. The toolkit gives you:

• 39 page 'How-to Guide' on sexual harassment 'positive duty' in the workplace
• Seven short instructional videos to guide you through the process
• 15 tools including checklists, templates, processes to follow, draft emails and a policy document to download and use immediately in your business.

What is considered 'reasonable steps'?

To avoid liability, all employers need to demonstrate they have:

• taken all reasonable and proportionate steps to eliminate sexual harassment and related unlawful behaviour from occurring in their workplace AND
• responded appropriately to resolve reports or disclosures of sexual harassment and other unlawful behaviour if they arise.

What will be considered ‘reasonable’ will of course differ from business to business, depending on things like business size, resources and the cost of taking certain precautionary steps. However, it is abundantly clear that all employers, in all business, no matter the size, need to be taking active steps to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace before it occurs, or risk being held legally responsible. Ignorance is no defence and regulators will pursue non-compliance.

An overview of the six steps in the How-To Guide