Preventing sexual harassment – step 3: control risks

Eliminate or reduce risks

Risks must be eliminated, so far as is reasonably practicable. In other words, do everything that a reasonable person in that situation would do to control risks from the working environment. If risks cannot be eliminated, they must be reduced, so far as is reasonably practicable. This means doing everything that is reasonably practicable to reduce the risks. This can be achieved by altering:

• organisational culture
• the management or structure of work
• the design of work
• systems of work
• the physical working environment.

Employers must also provide necessary information, instruction, training and supervision. This should be provided alongside other risk control measures to effectively control the risk of sexual harassment.

Organisational culture

Organisational culture includes things like:

• leadership
• values
• behaviours
• language
• attitudes
• interactions.

Creating a safe, respectful and inclusive organisational culture helps employers to:

• set the tone for respectful workplace relationships
• build employee confidence and trust that safety is taken seriously
• proactively address the drivers of sexual harassment
• meet ‘positive duty’ requirements that apply under other legislation. See ‘Understanding psychosocial hazards and your legal duties’ for more information on this obligation.

To do this, employers should:

• Appoint a diverse group of leaders who are committed to equality and respect. Securing commitment from senior executives may involve:
  • training to ensure they understand the role of the workplace in preventing sexual harassment and how to respond to disclosures
  • discussing the business case for workplace gender equality
  • connecting gender equality to the vision and goals of the organisation
  • identifying who will lead the change process and giving them the necessary resources to do this.
• Develop formal workplace standards that state how all people in the workplace are expected to act. Standards should include behaviours, attitudes and language. They must be developed in consultation with employees and any health and safety representatives (HSRs). They should also be:
  • set out in policies and procedures (also see ‘Develop a workplace behaviour policy’)
  • included in induction and workplace training
  • modelled by managers and supervisors
  • made available and accessible to all employees
  • enforced.
• Develop an action plan and communications strategy that includes:
  • resources and targets
  • key activities and messages
  • communications channels
  • opportunities to align with broader campaigns
  • links to helpful resources.
• Make gender equality part of the organisation’s core business. For example, through formal gender quotas or mentoring programs, and equal pay.
• Develop benchmarks and diagnostics to measure progress. For example, annual surveys, employee focus groups.
• Improve transparency across the organisation and empower employees to speak up. For example, employees can openly share information about hazards or reports if they wish.
• Support any employees who experience sexual harassment. This includes through:
  • management/supervisor support
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • leave entitlements
  • regular check-ins
  • HSRs
  • union representatives
  • external support services
  • flexible work.

Also see:

Encourage employees to ‘call it out’

A bystander is someone who either:

• sees something concerning but isn’t directly involved
• is told about an incident.

An active bystander is someone who takes action after witnessing or hearing about an incident of harmful behaviour. It can involve acting in the moment through words or body language. It can also include making a report afterwards or challenging the culture that allowed the behaviour to occur.

This may include:

• Giving a disapproving look or leaving a pointed silence.
• Respectfully speaking out – for example:
  • Diffusing of behaviour: ‘I don’t really understand that joke. What is the punchline?’
  • Calling it out: ‘Hey, that’s inappropriate language. Women deserve to be treated with respect. Your attitude makes it harder for women who just want to do their jobs’.
    ‘You might have thought it was just a joke, but I think that kind of comment is offensive.’
• Checking in with the person who has been exposed to the behaviour: ‘That was so wrong of X to talk about your shirt like that. Are you okay? Do you want me to find out how you can report that kind of behaviour?’
• Taking detailed notes and keeping them in a secure place.
• Reporting the behaviour. This may also involve talking to the person who experienced the behaviour. Reporting may or may not identify them.

It does not involve:

• physically restraining someone
• hostile or aggressive responses.

Encouraging employees to be active bystanders and respectfully call out harmful behaviour can help to control the risk of sexual harassment. To create a culture that supports active bystanders, you should:

• Emphasise safety first. Bystanders should only intervene when they feel safe to do so.
• Offer professional bystander training. This could include:
  • when and how to intervene
  • building skills, including practising brief responses
  • how to anonymously report the behaviour
  • how bystanders can access support if needed.

For more information, visit:

Encourage and support reporting

Sexual harassment is under-reported. The 2022 Australian Human Rights Commission Survey found that in the past five years only 18% of people who had been sexually harassed at work made a formal complaint.

Employees may not report incidents because:

• It’s seen as ‘part of the job’ or work culture and they think nothing can be done about it.
• They think reports will be ignored, not taken seriously or not handled respectfully and confidentially.
• They fear they will be blamed, or that reporting may lead to more harm, discrimination or disadvantage. This may include losing their job or shifts.
• A perpetrator may have organisational power over them. For example, a manager or supervisor.
• They may have reported it in the past, and nothing happened to stop the behaviour or they felt victimised, so they don’t want to report again.

Reports of unwanted behaviour or areas of risk will help employers to prevent and respond to sexual harassment. Employees should be able to report sexual harassment in a way that is:

• respectful and does not cause further harm
• straightforward
• confidential
• supported, including by their supervisor/management, an HSR, a union delegate or other support person.

Employers should regularly promote ways to report, including during induction. Employees should be able to report anonymously if they wish. This may particularly help vulnerable employees.

Employers can encourage reporting by:

• Showing commitment to, and modelling of, appropriate behaviours.
• Acting on reports as soon as possible, in line with the organisation’s policies and procedures. Consider how the employee may be affected and what they would like to achieve.
• Training supervisors how to respond to a report. This includes protecting the affected employee from blame, penalty or further harm. For example, not simply moving them into another role.
• Providing consistent, effective and confidential responses. These should include ways to eliminate the harmful behaviour. If this is not possible, minimise the risk as far as is reasonably practicable.
• Encouraging all employees to do regular refresher training on preventing and responding to sexual harassment. This includes supervisors, management and HSRs.

Employers should not wait for a report or complaint to:

• put risk controls in place to prevent sexual harassment
• investigate a known incident of sexual harassment.

Ensure confidentiality where possible

Employees are more likely to report sexual harassment if they feel safe to do so. Part of this may be knowing that it will be kept confidential where possible. This includes understanding who will have access to the information the employee provides.

An organisation’s policy and procedures should explain the steps employers will take to ensure confidentiality.

Employers may need to disclose confidential information if:

• There is a specific risk to the affected employee or other employees.
• The employee is under the age of 18. In this case, consider whether Child Protection or Victoria Police should be contacted.

Confidentiality should protect affected employees when that is their wish. It should not be:

• mandatory – some employees may wish to speak out, especially after an investigation is completed
• used to hide or minimise cultural or structural problems in the working environment
• used to silence affected employees as part of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

Management or structure of work

Develop a workplace behaviour policy and procedure

A workplace behaviour policy and its related procedures:

• reflect an organisation’s commitment to a respectful and inclusive workplace culture
• promote respectful attitudes, norms, behaviours and practices
• provide a clear statement of the organisation’s position on sexual harassment and gender equality to:
  • management
  • employees
  • clients
  • stakeholders
  • the broader community.

Depending on the size and resources of the organisation, there may be one broad policy and procedure or specific policies and procedures on:

• sexual harassment
• gendered violence
• bullying
• aggression or violence
• family violence.

It is important to align separate policies that deal with specific hazards. Psychosocial hazards are often related and employees may experience multiple forms of harm. The policies should also specifically address harmful behaviour that involves technology. This may include through a more general information and communication technology (ICT) policy or social media policy.

A workplace sexual harassment policy and procedure must be developed in consultation with employees and any HSRs. The policy and procedure should:

• State the employer’s responsibility to protect employees from the risk of sexual harassment and how this will be done.
• State an employee’s responsibility to take reasonable care for:
  • their own health and safety
  • the health and safety of people who may be affected by their acts or omissions in the workplace.
• Define sexual harassment. This should:
  • describe behaviours that are forms of sexual harassment
  • provide examples of verbal, physical, written and online sexual harassment.
• List examples of appropriate and inclusive language.
• Tell employees what to do if they experience sexual harassment. This should include:
  • Multiple and accessible reporting avenues, both internal and external.
  • How to access support services.
  • Examples of how to respond to harmful behaviour if safe to do so.
  • Their workplace rights. This includes relevant clauses in the enterprise agreement or employment contract, other relevant legislation, union representation and any HSR action.
• Outline what the employer will do if an employee reports sexual harassment. This should include:
  • that the investigation will be respectful and consider the employee’s wishes as far as possible
  • how an investigation will be completed in an impartial and transparent way
  • how to consider any related current risks to health and safety
  • that parties will be kept informed as appropriate
  • expected reasonable timeframes
  • possible outcomes.
• Explain how outcomes will:
  • be transparently communicated to appropriate parties
  • be promptly implemented
  • consider any related ongoing risks to health and safety.
• Provide a statement on employee confidentiality for all parties concerned. Some limits may apply. For example, to properly investigate a complaint, it may be necessary to identify those involved. After an investigation, the affected employee may not wish to keep all the details of the complaint and the outcome confidential.

• Include support and referral information for employees who have:

  • been sexually harassed
  • observed sexual harassment
  • had allegations of sexual harassment made against them.

  This may be internal or external support services. For example, workplace supports including management support, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or relevant external agencies.

Employers should ensure that risk control measures for sexual harassment are reviewed as part of investigation processes.

Policies and procedures are important tools. But they should be used alongside other risk control measures to effectively control the risk of sexual harassment.

Design of work

How work is designed should help to prevent sexual harassment. If there is a risk of sexual harassment, consider changing:

• The task. For example:
  • provide bar service rather than table service
  • avoid sexualised uniforms unless relevant to the role (such as sex work).
• When the task is done. For example:
  • empty bins into an outside skip the next day rather than in darkness or while intoxicated people may be around.
• Where the task is done. For example:
  • meet with clients in the office rather than their homes or isolated environments
  • move tasks to more visible areas of the workplace.
• How the task is done. For example:
  • deliver services online
  • do the task with other employees.
• Skills and capabilities. For example:
  • ensure project teams have the right mix of skills and gender ratios
  • assign experienced employees to supervise junior employees.

Systems of work

Work systems and procedures should help to prevent sexual harassment. These include:

• Systems that allow work to be done safely and minimise risks of sexual harassment. For example:
  • contacting clients by phone rather than in person
  • setting site-specific trading hours in remote locations.
• Systems for ensuring that workplace policies and procedures are:
  • developed in consultation with employees and any HSRs
  • simple to understand and access
  • applied consistently and fairly across all areas of the business.
• Procedures for working safely. For example:
  • For opening and closing the business, ensure there is adequate lighting and more than one employee working.
  • For working in isolation and remote locations, ensure supervisors check in regularly and there are appropriate options for emergency communications.
  • Enforce a responsible service of alcohol policy. This will help to promote appropriate behaviour at licensed venues and workplace functions.
  • Maintain adequate staffing levels.
  • For stays away from home, such as fly-in fly-out work, ensure there is safe and secure accommodation.
• Systems for monitoring and ensuring employees are safe at work. For example:
  • Provide ways for employees to limit or end high-risk contact, or to escalate a situation to management. This may include duress buttons or physical barriers.
• Processes for:
  • Identifying and managing factors that may increase the risk of sexual harassment.
  • Documenting and sharing information. For example, clear handover process at shift changeover for patients exhibiting inappropriate sexual behaviours.
  • Identifying and flagging high-risk customers with a history of inappropriate sexual behaviour. For example, procedures to ban customers from the workplace and escalation procedures if a banned customer enters the workplace.
• Systems for:
  • identifying and responding early to risks of sexual harassment to prevent incidents
  • reporting, managing and investigating incidents of sexual harassment.
  • reviewing and revising risk controls to prevent future incidents.

Physical working environment

The physical working environment can affect things like:

• the probability of sexual harassment happening
• the help an employee can access if an incident occurs.

Workplace features that can help to control the risk of sexual harassment may include:

• Facilities and equipment that give privacy and security for all staff. For example:
  • all-genders toilets with separate cubicles
  • private change rooms and accommodation.
• Buildings and car parks that are:
  • secure
  • maintained
  • adequately lit
  • fit for purpose.
• Separating employees from the public where possible or rostering breaks from public-facing activities.
• Employees not working alone where possible, particularly at night.
• Where possible, preventing or restricting public access to premises when people work alone or at night.
• Ensuring employees can see or hear who is coming into the premises. Restricting access when necessary.
• Ensuring staff car parks are adequately lit and safe to access.
• Install communication, duress and alarm systems. Ensure:
  • systems are regularly maintained and tested
  • procedures for the use of these systems are developed
  • employees are trained on the procedures and how to use the devices.
• Having appropriate security arrangements in place.
• Separating people with active allegations of sexual harassment from the affected employee or employees.

Provide information, instruction, training or supervision

Employers must provide necessary information, instruction, training or supervision. This should be provided alongside other risk control measures to effectively control the risk of sexual harassment.

Information, instruction, training and supervision help to educate employees about preventing the risk of sexual harassment. Training on sexual harassment can form part of wider training about:

• gender equality
• codes of conduct
• violence prevention.

Employers should deliver targeted training to employees at all levels. This includes during induction and at regular intervals. Where possible, tailor training to employee needs and roles. It should cover:

• Sexual harassment prevention measures and how the organisation is putting these in place.
• Workplace policies and procedures, including:
  • standards of behaviour
  • how to respond to and report sexual harassment
  • what to do if someone discloses an instance of sexual harassment.
• Being an active bystander.
• Situational risk assessment. For example, when visiting homes or working alone.
• How to model and encourage appropriate behaviours or manage harmful behaviours.
• Dealing with customers or clients who are unsafe, aggressive or violent. This may include actions like refusal of service.
• Communication skills.
• How compounding risk factors increase the risk of sexual harassment.