Public statement: Stronger enforcement and prevention of workplace sexual harassment
Everyone deserves to feel safe and respected at work. Yet sexual harassment is a common experience for workers, especially women, with one in three people reporting experiencing sexual harassment at work.
The Commission welcomes the reforms announced today by the Minister for Workplace Safety Ingrid Stott that will help to prevent and better respond to sexual harassment in Victorian workplaces. The reforms were contained in the government’s response to the recommendations made by the Ministerial Taskforce on Workplace Sexual Harassment.
The Commission looks forward to working closely with WorkSafe and groups that are disproportionately affected by sexual harassment and their representative organisations. We will work with these groups to inform development and implementation of the recommendations, including:
• developing industry specific guidelines to inform employers how to prevent sexual harassment
• with WorkSafe, jointly reviewing our prevention activities and developing a collaborative strategy for enforcement.
These improvements will create safer and more respectful workplaces where all people can thrive.
