Sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment

The first step is to identify hazards in your place of work. This means looking at everything from the work environment to work tasks, how they’re carried out, and the way work is designed and managed.

Situations that may increase the risk or likelihood of sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment include:

• particular cohorts of workers who are more vulnerable such as young workers, workers with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, workers in insecure or precarious forms of employment, and workers on working visas
• low worker diversity (e.g. the workforce is dominated by one gender, age group, race or culture)
• power imbalances (e.g. workplaces where one gender holds most of the management and decision-making positions) or workplaces organised according to a hierarchical structure (e.g. police and enforcement organisations, or medical or legal professions)
• workplace cultures that support or tolerate sexual harassment, including where lower level (but still harmful) forms of harassment are accepted (e.g. small acts of disrespect and inequality are ignored and reports of sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviours are not taken seriously). This conduct can escalate to other forms of harassment, work-related bullying/violence and aggression.

To determine if sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment is potential hazard in your place of work:

• talk with workers, health and safety representatives, and health and safety committees
• walk through and inspect your place of work, including how people interact
• review workers’ compensation claims
• refer to industry standards and guidelines
• review the hazard and incident reports, exit reports and complaints.

A risk assessment involves thinking about what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard (the consequence of exposure) and the likelihood of it happening.

Psychosocial hazards, including sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment, may interact or combine to increase the overall psychosocial risk so need to be considered together.

A risk assessment can help you figure out:

• the severity of a risk
• whether any effective control measures are in place
• what actions you can take to control this risk
• how quickly you should act.

To determine the likelihood that someone will be harmed by sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment at work, ask yourself:

• has it happened before, either in this place of work or somewhere else?
• if it has happened, how often does it happen?

To determine the possible consequences, ask yourself:

• will it cause minor or serious injury, or death?

After the risks have been identified and assessed, you'll need to control them. Risk control measures should be selected on the basis of highest protection and most reliability.

Control measures

• Eliminating the risk
  The most effective control measure is to eliminate the hazard and associated risk. If you are unable to eliminate the hazard, you must identify ways to ensure you are managing it in a way that minimises risks to health and safety.
• Minimising the risk
  If it’s not reasonably practicable to eliminate the hazard, the risk should be minimised by using a range of control measures, for example:
  • changing the design of work under section 55D(2)(c) to avoid workers working alone, and instead working in pairs changing the design and layout and environmental conditions, of the workplace under section 55D(2)(d) by ensuring internal and external lighting provides good visibility, including safe entry and exit to the workplace
  • providing and using communication systems like phones or personal duress alarms (and provide workers with information, instruction and training on how to use these).
• Using administrative controls
  You must also use administrative controls if there is still a risk after you’ve tried to reduce it with other control measures. Administrative controls protect your workers by working in ways that reduce their exposure to a hazard, for example:
  • Empower workers to refuse, restrict or suspend service if people fail to comply with the expected standard of behaviour.
  • Set standards of behaviour and procedures for what a worker should do if they experience or see sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment at work or work-related events or from third parties to the workplace.
  • Providing training on the prevention of sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment.

You may need to use a combination of these control measures to meet your responsibilities under WHS laws. Refer to the Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022 for more information.

Matters to consider when determining control measures

In determining what control measures to use, PCBUs must have regard to all relevant matters (see regulation 55D(2) and 55F(1)). For sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment this includes:

• matters relating to the characteristics of workers such as:
  • female workers where most workers at the workplace identify as male
  • workers who identify as LGBTQIA+, non-binary, or gender non-conforming
  • workers with a disability
  • young workers and
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers
  • workers from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
• matters relating to the characteristics of the workplace or work environment such as a workplace where:
  • the workplace culture permits inappropriate behaviour
  • there is a lack of diversity, generally, or in particular management positions
  • the worker may be exposed to people consuming alcohol
  • the worker may be exposed to third parties at the workplace
  • the work is remote or isolated.

The combination of two or more characteristics will often result in an increased vulnerability of workers.

PCBUs must also consider:

• the duration, frequency and severity of exposure to hazards
• how psychosocial hazards may interact or combine
• the design of work including the job demands and tasks
• the systems of work including how work is managed, organised and supported
• the design, layout and environmental conditions of the workplace including providing safe means of entry and exit, and facilities for the welfare of workers
• the plant, substances and structures at the workplace
• workplace interactions or behaviours
• the information, training, instruction and supervision provided to workers.

Further information on applying the hierarchy of controls and the matters to consider can be found in the Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022 (PDF, 1.46 MB).

Risk management should be an ongoing process in your business, and you should review your control measures regularly. Don’t wait until something goes wrong.

WHS legislation requires you to review controls if a person reports sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment at work. Other circumstances when control measures must be reviewed includes:

• when the control measure is not effective in controlling the risk
• before a change that might give rise to a new risk
• when you identify a new hazard or risk
• when consultation with workers indicates a review is needed
• when the dynamic and complexity of your business changes, for a new supervisor or worker
• after a health and safety representative requests a review.

A review of risk control measures can include an examination of:

• the physical work environment
• work systems and procedures
• worker training and information
• the consultation processes in your place of work.