The Queensland Government has recently introduced a tranche of changes to state workplace and work, health and safety (WHS) legislation in its mission to stamp out sexual harassment, which will come into effect in 2025.

As the number of women working in construction, engineering and trades grows, with the help of a $3.5 million investment by the state government, the role employers play in preventing sexual harassment is being brought into focus and solidified in law.

Companies in Queensland will soon have greater legal responsibilities to proactively manage sexual harassment risks, but businesses across Australia – and more importantly, their employees – would benefit from following their lead. Here’s how.

 

The new laws and what they mean

September 2024 marked the introduction of several new provisions into the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) and the passing of the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024 (Qld).

The first new provision introduced in the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) came into immediate effect from 1 September 2024.

It requires organisations to take proactive steps to manage and prevent risks to health and safety at work that arise from sexual harassment, as well as sex or gender-based harassment.

It’s important to note that although employer obligations regarding the management of psychosocial risks already existed in the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) prior to September 2024, the new provision expressly specifies risks related to this type of harassment.

In fact, Queensland is the only Australian jurisdiction to contain this specific provision in its WHS legislation.

The second provision added to the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) in September 2024 is the requirement for businesses to prepare a prevention plan to manage identified risks relating to sexual and sex or gender-based harassment at work.

It won’t come into effect until March 2025, giving business owners and employers ample time to plan and prepare.

From July 2025, employers will have a positive duty to protect their employees from sexual harassment and harassment or discrimination based on sex.

This legal obligation is contained in the Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024 (Qld), which was also passed in September 2024 by the Queensland Government.

It means that employers will need to be as proactive as they possibly can in preventing sexual harassment – simply being reactive will no longer cut it in the eyes of the law.

 

Why engineering and construction companies need to be across the new requirements

In an announcement timed well with these legislative updates, in September 2024 the Queensland Government committed to investing $3.5 million into an initiative aimed at getting more women into male-dominated industries. This includes engineering, carpentry, electrical, building and construction.

In welcoming the move, the President of the National Association of Women in Construction Queensland Chapter, Emma McCaughey, noted a troubling statistic: only 4.8 percent of women in the construction industry work in trade roles, and only a fraction more – 14 percent – make up the sector’s whole workforce.

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2020 Respect@Work report, the culmination of a landmark national enquiry into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, identified gender inequality as the primary power imbalance driving sexual harassment in these settings.

It concluded that male-dominated industries constitute a higher risk setting for workplace sexual harassment for several reasons. These include uneven gender ratios, the overrepresentation of men in senior leadership roles, and outdated perceptions of the work not being for women.

 

The cost of sexual harassment

The data in the report speaks for itself when it comes to the consequence of women’s underrepresentation in the building and construction sector: over 51 percent of women working in this industry have experienced sexual harassment at work. It’s 51 percent too many.

Businesses in Queensland have no choice but to adhere to the state’s new laws when it comes to sexual harassment if they wish to achieve compliance with workplace legislation and avoid penalties.

However, doing more to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace is more than a legal requirement. It’s getting harder to attract and retain workers in engineering, building and construction.

If half of the population doesn’t feel safe and protected against harassment working in these sectors, business owners will struggle to keep operations going, and the Australian economy will suffer greatly for it.

The negative impacts of sexual harassment on those who experience it cannot be understanded. Long-term, serious physical and psychological injuries are common, and need no elaboration.

Many businesses don’t realise the full extent of the impact of sexual harassment in the workplace. The Respect@Work report put the figure at $171.8 million in lost productivity costs.

We’ve covered the law, and we’ve conveyed the costs, to both human and financial capital, of sexual harassment in the workplace. But understanding what constitutes sexual harassment and how it can be prevented still alludes some employers.

 

Identifying sexual harassment

A broad range of behaviours define sexual harassment, but it’s generally defined as unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which causes someone to feel offended, humiliated or intimidated.

Safe Work Australia defines sexual harassment under federal law as sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, or any conduct of a sexual nature not welcomed by the recipient.

It can take the form of visual or physical acts. It may be spoken or written. It can be conducted via electronic media, such as text messages or emails. Social media can also be used to extend the behaviour beyond the workplace.

Disturbingly, sexual harassment can often contain an implied or overt promise of either preferential or detrimental treatment; in other words, it means sexual harassment can be weaponised to impact a person’s career as well as their physical and mental wellbeing.

 

Preventing workplace sexual harassment

The best approach in tackling sexual harassment in the workplace, keeping its sometimes subtle but always insidious nature in mind, is a zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy.

Clearly outlines unwelcome behaviours, coupled with applicable disciplinary procedures to follow in the case of breaching the policy.

Communicate the expectations of the sexual harassment policy clearly and regularly to ensure everyone in the business is aware of them. This can be achieved through regular training sessions.

Implement a range of possible options to report any alleged offences, such as informal or anonymous reporting, that guarantee the protection, privacy and safety of anyone reporting sexual harassment. This encourages employees to come forward and speak up.

Address, investigate and act on any reports of sexual harassment swiftly, fairly and consistently to establish and maintain a safe and respectful working environment.

To effectively control the risks of workplace sexual harassment, and their personal and far-reaching impacts, it’s critical for business owners and employers to undertake any risk management strategies in consultation with employees.

By bringing the with the workforce into the conversation, as is the case with most risk management strategies, businesses are in a better position to secure the support of workers ahead of any changes being made. Success is then a much likelier outcome.

Leadership and management buy in is also necessary when it comes to stamping out sexual harassment in the workplace. If business leaders don’t reflect the company’s expectations and act accordingly, sexual harassment prevention policies are doomed to fail.

 

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