Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

An unwanted hand on the knee or on the small of the back and a lewd comment are familiar encounters for many, if not most, women some time in their lives. Workplaces are meant to be professional and safe. For too many people, especially women, they are a battleground characterised by unwanted advances and microaggressions underpinned by unequal power dynamics, with women often silenced because of their status. According to the national inquiry into sexual harassment, almost two in five Australian women said that they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Although women are overrepresented, sexual harassment also affects men, with 26 per cent of men in the previous five years also experiencing sexual harassment.

However, gender is not the only lens. Vulnerability, no matter the context, is always intersectional. The national inquiry confirmed the playbook of intersectional disadvantage: people of younger age, who are gender diverse, of First Nations ancestry, with disability and from culturally diverse backgrounds were more at risk.

Aside from the profound personal impacts, what are the wider ramifications? In dollar terms, it was $3.8 billion, according to Deloitte Australia, in 2018. Women don't live in isolation. They live in communities and are often also the primary caregiver. How has this corrosive behaviour affected children? The Stop it at the Start campaign published a compilation of stories from children this year and it paints an enlightening picture. Olivia, 12, from Tasmania said:

There are so many young women and girls out that that feel worthless because of the way they are treated. I want to change the future of respect for all females of the world and make them feel like they belong. No girl or woman deserves to be treated so awfully.

Henry, 10 years old from Queensland, said:

Respect is a symbol of kindness. To respect women, we need to respect them in our words, our hearts and our minds.

That's wisdom from the mouths of babes. Young Australians clearly have a sophisticated and empathetic understanding of this issue. We need to catch up.

This is why the Albanese government is taking decisive action to combat sexual harassment in the Australian workplace by implementing all recommendations of the Respect@Work report. As you know, this report made 55 recommendations. This bill will implement seven of those recommendations and a number of related amendments to strengthen and clarify the legal framework around workplace sexual harassment. The bill has a strong focus on prevention and education—missing links, which, for too long, have placed an undue burden on victims to remedy misconduct that is actually rooted in cultural and systemic factors within organisations. When egregious acts of misconduct occur, it should be an opportunity—an opportunity for organisations to really scrutinise their culture, because these events are rarely isolated.

The bill will insert a new provision into the Sex Discrimination Act to prohibit conduct that results in an offensive, intimidating and humiliating environment for people. Sexually charged or hostile workplaces are fertile grounds for sexual harassment taking hold. Porn, trash talk, innuendo or dirty jokes can make people feel unwelcome, threatened or excluded. This provision provides clarity to employers on their obligations in creating a safe and respectful workplace. The cornerstone of this bill is to create a positive duty, to put the onus back on businesses and employers to do the right thing, to be proactive in their workplace and to prevent discrimination and harassment from taking hold in the first place. Waiting to act after the fact is not okay; it's not adequate. In fact, it's costly. So we are moving away from a reactive approach to a preventative stand.

The Human Rights Commission will work collaboratively with business to provide guidelines and education as to how to implement this report, and there will be a time lag of 12 months to enable businesses to actually implement and learn how to do this. So we're not abandoning businesses. We're going to be helping them. Representative bodies such as unions or professional societies will be able to progress a complaint to the Federal Court. Currently, if a complaint is not resolved at the commission stage of conciliation, it stalls. It dies. This amendment removes this procedural roadblock. Legal proceedings are costly and can impact access to justice. This is why we are introducing cost protections, so that applicants have greater certainty. We will ensure that victimisation can form the basis of both civil and criminal causes of action. We will extend the period also for when a complaint can be raised from six to 24 months in the Sex Discrimination Act, in line with other anti-discrimination laws in our country.

Gender inequality is a key driver of sexual harassment in the workplace, and it disproportionately affects women. To the female PhD student, who was threatened with a loss of career by a male supervisor if she did not sleep with him, we see you. To the woman who was stalked by a male colleague and ended up on anti-anxiety medications after dealing with this man, and then also dealing with the fallout at her workplace, we see you. This legislation was too late for these women, but it will help prevent many more cases like these. Many businesses are leading the way. It's time we dragged the others into the modern era. Workplace harassment affects individuals, families and communities. It is a drag on our productivity, innovation and economy. From a purely economic perspective, it's just bad for business. For too long, the onus has been on women to come forward and put their careers, relationships and their entire lives on the line when they speak up. I am proud that the Albanese government recognises that there is nothing wrong with women. We are determined to fix the structures and let our women thrive. I commend this bill to the House.

Sitting s uspended from 12:59 to 16:00

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