Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens welcome the introduction of the Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (Costs Protection) Bill 2023, which would implement the government's revised response to recommendation 25 of the Respect@Work report.

The modified equal access costs protection provision put forward in this bill is one the Greens and many advocates were calling for last year and will ensure that no-one is priced out of fighting sexual harassment in the workplace. Currently, each party bears their own costs, creating a risk that can deter people from making complaints. The decision to make a complaint against someone in your workplace will always be difficult. Costs should not be the determining factor about whether workers are prepared to call out bad behaviour and insist on a safe workplace.

When Labor introduced the Respect@Work bill last year, they proposed an adapted version, where parties bear their own costs, but gave the court broader discretion to award costs where it's in the interests of justice. More than 100 experts, lawyers, victim-survivors, unions and advocates raised concerns that the adapted version would still act as a deterrent and, for some, make it worse. Many women would still fear that taking a complaint would be traumatic and financially risky. Without the ability to be awarded costs if successful, women would also not be able to attract the services of 'no win, no fee' lawyers.

Stakeholders proposed an equal access model, which meant that, if an applicant is unsuccessful, each party would bear their own costs. However, if an applicant were successful, the respondent would be liable for the applicant's costs. Equal access cost protections, where workers can take action without fear of paying the other side's costs if they lose, already exist for whistleblowers. The Greens are happy to support changes that will see these same protections applied to workplace harassment.

Without an equal access cost model in place, many workers, particularly women, weigh up the trauma and financial risk and decide to stay silent. Providing more options for victims of sexual harassment to make complaints doesn't change things if women cannot afford to make complaints. We know that young women are most at risk of harassment in the workplace, and we also know that there are significantly higher rates of harassment in the fast food, hospitality and retail industries, according to the 2018 national survey of sexual harassment. Many workers want the harassment to stop, but they don't want to be named as a victim. They want their workplace to be safe for them and for others, but they don't want to go through a court process and the emotional and financial toll that it takes. The equal access cost protection provision in this bill will help ease an applicant's financial concerns, but we need to see more holistic changes to eliminate harassment in the workplace, including in this one.

The Greens are proud to have kept the pressure up to ensure that no-one is priced out of fighting for their rights at work, be it for sexual harassment or for any other type of discrimination.

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