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Amid rising public pressure to respond to recommendations of the Respect@Work report, the federal government has finally given in and announced its intention to implement all 55 in some shape or another – but while this is welcome news, the lack of details has led to it falling “significantly short” of expectations.
One of the major criticisms to come out of the announcement that Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Michaelia Cash would spearhead implementing the recommendations either in full or partially was the lack of details they provided during the press conference and in media interviews in the days following.
Experts with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Kingsford Legal Centre said that it is important to remember that Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins found that sexual harassment was not inevitable and is preventable and that the way the government responds now will determine future experiences.
“For the roadmap to respond effectively to her damning findings, it must deliver radical change to ensure workplace equality in reality,” director Emma Golledge, principal solicitor Dianne Anagnos, research assistant Madeleine Causbrook and solicitor Sean Bowes commented in The Conversation. “That said, there is no doubt the groundswell of condemnation has meaningfully shaped government response.”
Positive measures announced during the press conference included extending the time limit for making a complaint, clarifying definitions around sexual harassment and closing the loophole that exempted politicians and judges from the workplace laws.
A key hope from the Respect@Work report was that the government may strengthen legal obligations on employers to prevent harassment, but they have indicated that they believe this duty already exists in current work health and safety laws.
“Given Ms Jenkins’ finding of ‘endemic’ sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, this approach has clearly not worked. Furthermore, work health and safety laws are complex and unlikely to be an entirely appropriate approach for dealing with sexual harassment matters,” the four Kingsford Legal experts commented.
They added that it is important to remain mindful of the needs of people who have experienced sexual harassment to receive a just outcome. Given the size of the challenge, “we should look to strengthen the Sex Discrimination Act with a positive duty on employers to prevent this type of behaviour”.
Kingsford Legal said it is also important to “watch and ensure” recommendations are followed with budgetary increases, including everything from preventative education work through to strengthening the support systems that are available for victims.
“The Australian Human Rights Commission should be properly empowered to take on the mammoth task of seeing this challenge through to the end,” they added.
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Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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