Proceedings at the Federal Court of Australia began last Thursday, with the United Workers Union representing the former employees at Perfection Fresh.

The women who are the complainants of the lawsuit were contract workers, hired externally by a labour hire company. They were employed at the Perfection Fresh Two Wells Glasshouse, located outside of North Adelaide in South Australia, where the alleged sexual harassment occurred.

Two former employees at Perfection Fresh have been accused of perpetrating the harassment, and Perfection Fresh has confirmed with Women’s Agenda the employees no longer work at the company as a result of the accusations.

Industrial and Employment lawyer April Zahra said while this is a major case happening in Australia, it is “nothing new” in terms of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces.

“There is no place for sexual harassment in the workplace ever,” Zahra said. 

“These women are working with their union and courageously coming forward to hold a powerful organisation accountable, and to make workplaces safer for all women, especially farm and seasonal workers.

“Unfortunately, the information this lawsuit is bringing to light is not new. Sexual harassment is not only prevalent against farm and seasonal workers, but is common in all Australian workplaces.”

A spokesperson from Perfection Fresh told Women’s Agenda said the company is responding to the allegations accordingly.

“Perfection Fresh takes any allegation of sexual harassment extremely seriously. It has workplace policies and procedures on appropriate conduct, as well as processes for raising complaints and the protection of complainants,” the spokesperson said.

“Perfection Fresh treated the complaints made against two employees very seriously when they were raised and responded accordingly.”

The spokesperson said the company has terminated the employment of the accused employees in both cases of alleged sexual harassment.

“Perfection Fresh acknowledges the very serious nature of the complaints and the impact of the alleged conduct on the women involved,” the spokesperson said. “We remain committed to providing a safe workplace for all workers.”

“As the allegations are currently the subject of proceedings before the Federal Court, Perfection Fresh cannot make any further comments about these matters at this time.”

Workplace sexual harassment

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Personal Safety Survey 2021-2022 highlights just how common workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault is.

The research found 1.7 million Australian adults (8.7 per cent) experienced sexual harassment in 2021-2022. One in three people in Australian workplaces were being sexually harassed, a range that has remained unchanged in the last six years.

Zahra from Slater and Gordon said there is more progress to be made in tackling the issue of workplace sexual harassment.

“Many people think that due to growing awareness, incidences of sexual harassment are diminishing. However, in the legal field we can see this is not the case,” Zahra said.

“In my work, myself and my colleagues, continue to see serious sexual harassment claims, with no sign of them slowing down.”

Sexual harassment disproportionately affects women from migrant and refugee backgrounds. Last year, a report from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) found almost 50 per cent of migrant and refugee women have experienced sexual harassment.

The report also found women who were working in temporary or casual roles were more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment and that many believed their race or religion were motivating factors for the harassment.

A lot of the horticultural industry is made up of temporary migrant workers, and Zahra from Slater and Gordon said the case against Perfection Fresh is unfortunately not the first of its kind.

“The migrant status of the workers on these farms means that these women are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment and other forms of exploitation,” Zahra said.

“It is no exaggeration to say that organisations need to do more to keep their workers safe. These twelve women, through their union, have been able to speak up for vulnerable workers everywhere and we stand behind them.”

In December last year, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announced new regulatory measures to enforce positive duty in preventing unlawful conduct in the workplace. 

The measures require employers and persons conducting a business or undertaking to “take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate, as far as possible, unlawful conduct”. Crucially, the changes enforce active measures to prevent sexual harassment, discrimination and other unlawful conduct, as opposed to responding to or managing unlawful conduct after the fact.

However, when the positive duty changes came into effect, advocates, including human rights lawyer Prabha Nandagopal, were concerned the changes would not reach the intersections of women in Australia; that is, the changes would not help women of colour, migrants and refugees, First Nations women and more.

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The changes – which require organisations and businesses to focus on actively preventing unlawful conduct – were praised by legal experts, business leaders, and most of all, women. Since sexual harassment and sex discrimination in the workplace is experienced by women at higher rates than men, women will benefit from these changes the most.

But women aren’t a homogenous group, human rights lawyer Prabha Nandagopal tells Women’s Agenda, and the positive duty changes will benefit some women more than others.

“For decades, gender inequality in Australia has been viewed through a homogenous lens,” Nandagopal says.

“It hasn’t really been done in an inclusive way that captures women in all their diversity.”

The stats

Nandagopal is the founder of Elevating Consulting Partners and has directed teams and reviews at the Australian Human Rights Commission. She was the Director of Legal for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces review in 2021.

Nandagopal has worked with women employees across Australia who not only face sex-based discrimination and sexual harassment, but also racism.

“Certainly, anecdotally, that is what I am hearing from people in those groups,” she says.

“It’s an issue that comes up time and time again, and now, we have the research through ANROWS to back it up.”

In August this year, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) released a report on rates of sexual harassment for refugee and migrant women. Almost half of respondents – 46 per cent – said they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.

Women from several other minority groups have similar stories. It’s the same statistic for the LGBTQIA+ community (46 per cent). For women with a disability, 48 per cent have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.

Alarmingly, 56 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women said they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, according to the Respect @ Work report from 2018.

On 12 December, changes to legislation came into effect meaning businesses and workplaces in Australia now have a positive duty obligation. This means they must actively prevent sex-based discrimination and sexual harassment from occurring at work, rather than reactively managing complaints.

The changes came into effect as the latest strategy from the AHRC and the Australian government to reduce and effectively eliminate unlawful conduct in the workplace that disproportionately affects women.

However, as per the guiding principles of the positive duty changes, Nandagopal says it’s imperative to take an intersectional approach.

“If you are going to effectively eliminate sexual harassment, you can’t do that without also addressing racism, homophobia, ableism, etcetera – they’re all intertwined,” she says.

“You can’t be treating women as a homogenous group.”

How to take an intersectional approach with positive duty

Australian organisations are increasingly getting better at looking at gender equality in a more inclusive way – not just focusing on white, straight, cisgendered, able-bodied women. But there is still a way to go, and Nandagopal says cultural change starts from the top.

“Having leaders talk about gender equality in a more inclusive way – that makes a big difference,” Nandagopal says.

Leaders and executives also need to “cast a broader lens” when hiring staff and ensure women in all their diversity are included in the workplace.

Nandagopal says championing safety and inclusivity for staff in the workplace begins with talking to them about their experiences and their needs.

“You have to ensure that you’re consulting with workers who have those intersecting identities – understand what their experiences are, consult with them on the measures that would be most effective for them,” Nandagopal says.

“How they are going to have an increased sense of belonging in the workforce… is really important.”

Finally, beyond workplaces, broader society must take a more intersectional lens when discussing issues on gender like sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination in the workplace. And the place to start to foster those inclusive conversations is in the media.

“I don’t think this issue is really ventilated,” Nandagopal says. “If you look at all the coverage on the positive duty, I didn’t see that these stats were brought to the forefront.”

Are businesses ready?

Last week, Nandagopal spoke with Angela Priestley on The Crux, the weekly Women’s Agenda podcast, about the positive duty changes.

On the episode, she explained what exactly positive duty is, and said businesses might not be ready for those changes. In fact, a study from the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) found less than half of ASX300 board directors believed their company was prepared for the positive duty changes.

“That’s the top end of town, with significant HR and legal resources,” she said.

“So you can imagine, the smaller and medium businesses who don’t have those types of resources – they’re unlikely to be prepared as well.”

For more information on what positive duty is, click here.

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The Commonwealth government’s recent Outcomes Framework identifies key targets that need to be met if we are to end violence against women in “one generation”, as set out in the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022–2032.

The targets include:

• 25% annual reductions in women being killed by intimate partners
• improved understanding of violence against women and support for gender equality in the community
• halving the rate of all forms of domestic/family violence and abuse against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children by 2031, as progress towards zero.

Yet, Indigenous women in Australia are eight times more likely than non-Indigenous women to be murdered. Overall, one woman is killed by an intimate partner every two weeks in Australia.

There is no doubt violence against women has gained critical public and policy attention. But sometimes it can feel as though the problem is growing and that nothing we are doing is working to stop it.

So how much progress are we actually making?

What the data show: the good news

Any preventable death is one too many, and zero homicides of any person should be our ultimate goal. Yet data from the National Homicide Monitoring Program show a reduction in intimate partner homicide in particular.

For example, in the most recent report, 25 females were killed by an intimate partner (2020-21). That’s a 31% reduction in one year from 2019-20, when 36 females were killed by an intimate partner. In 2016-17, 40 females were killed by an intimate partner, so the reduction over five years to 2020-21 is about 38%.

While the rates vary year-to-year, the good news is that the overall trend over the past decade shows intimate partner homicide is in steady decline.

Another critical measure of violence against women is the Personal Safety Survey (PSS). This is the most accurate measure of self-reported experiences of all forms of personal violence in Australia.

Conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics since 2005, the fourth wave was released earlier this year. While we often hear the lifetime prevalence rates of violence against women, it is changes in rates of violence experienced during the past 12 months that are most sensitive to current policies and programs. This means they are most useful for monitoring a decrease over time.

The survey shows rates of total partner violence, including both physical and sexual violence, have reduced. Overall, the 12-month partner violence rate decreased significantly, from 2.3% in the 12 months prior to the last survey (in 2016) to 1.5% during 2021-2022. The rate of cohabiting partner violence over the past two years has either decreased or not changed in all states of Australia (NT and ACT not reported).

Rates of sexual harassment in the most recent survey (2021-22) were also the lowest they’ve ever been in every state and territory. And there was a significant reduction in the national 12-month rate of sexual harassment to 12.6% in 2021-22 compared to 17.3% in 2016.

As a community, we are also hearing more about the truth of violence against women. This does seem to be improving our knowledge and attitudes. The Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) survey of Australian community attitudes towards violence against women (NCAS) identified that understanding and rejection of violence against women has been increasing over the past 12 years.

Where do we have the most work to do?

As mentioned, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women experience violence at higher rates than non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women. Available national data tell us that, despite comprising less than 3% of the population, Indigenous women have consistently experienced higher rates of homicide than non-Indigenous women since 2005–2006. The average rate is eight times higher than for non-Indigenous women.

Professor Kyllie Cripps’ coronial records investigation into 151 Indigenous women killed over the past two decades due to intimate partner violence by Indigenous and non-Indigenous men further found that almost all had sought help from the police but did not receive the support that could have saved their lives.

Alarmingly, national data on unsolved missing persons cases highlight that Indigenous women represent up to 10% of cases. This is significant, as many are presumed dead.

When these data are coupled with statistics highlighting the disproportionate rate at which Indigenous women are hospitalised for assault-related injuries (32 times higher than for non-Indigenous women), there is clearly much work to be done in this area.

Our national datasets do not routinely report on the specific experiences of Indigenous women. This makes it difficult to know if there have been reductions in intimate partner and family violence in recent years.

But statistics alone do not articulate the complexity of these women’s stories and the systemic challenges they have encountered. This requires more in-depth research and engagement with Indigenous communities to appreciate risk, and how that translates into intervention and prevention strategies.

The Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations Women and Children and the dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan are investments in building evidence to better understand the systemic issues and ultimately end the pervasive family, domestic and sexual violence in communities across the nation.

A further issue raised by the available data is the persistent rate of sexual assault in the Australian community. The 12-month prevalence rate from the last Personal Safety Survey showed no significant change in sexual assault or threatened sexual assault, a trend that has remained steady since 2005.

Further, the most recent national survey of Australian community attitudes towards violence against women (NCAS) identified that overall, four in ten Australians mistrust women’s reports of sexual violence. This suggests we still have a way to go to better educate and inform people about the reality of sexual assault and to support women in reporting it.

There has been a welcome increase in policy and funding to address violence against women across Australia in recent years as well as investments in research.

And while it is difficult to directly attribute reductions in violence against women to specific policy actions, the data to date show there is cause for optimism that our efforts are beginning to have a meaningful impact.

It’s not yet clear if these reductions will continue – we need to analyse the trend over time to make a clear assessment. And we need further investigation on how our prevention and response efforts affect different groups within the Australian population to ensure that all women are safer.

But it is clear that to end violence against women “in one generation” – between 20 and 30 years – we must not lose our focus. It will continue to take a coordinated and evidence-based set of actions across our whole community to address, and ultimately prevent, violence against women in Australia.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In immediate danger, call 000.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Employment rights legal centre JobWatch joined RMIT University and the University of Wollongong to investigate the barriers in the legal system regarding workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

In their report, released on Wednesday, a staggering 95 per cent of respondents experienced discrimination either multiple times or by multiple perpetrators.

Almost three in four respondents said they experienced multiplied adverse outcomes as a result, including loss of job opportunities, financial reward and workplace bullying, among others.

Just three per cent said taking action against their experience of sexual harassment and discrimination resulted in a positive outcome.

When surveying employers, results showed the majority of employers (three in five) are not taking internal complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination seriously and do not effectively protect employees in the workplace.

Zana Bytheway, the executive director of JobWatch and co-author of the report, said she was most concerned about the emotional impact these experiences have had on the people who participated in the survey.

“Many people talked about the stress, anxiety, poor mental health and in one case – even hospitalisation that resulted from their experiences of workplace sexual harassment and discrimination,” Bytheway said.

JobWatch predict a 15 per cent increase of calls relating to workplace sexual harassment to the not-for-profit’s Telephone Information Service, providing free, tailored legal information on workplace issues. Bytheway predicts there will also be a 9 per cent increase in calls relating to discrimination.

“This represents a potentially significant increased burden on the state’s mental health system if we don’t act now to address this workplace issue,” she said.

‘Eventually, even the toughest break.’

Dr Rachel Loney-Howes from the University of Wollongong is a co-author of JobWatch’s report, titled Overwhelmed and Frustrated: Experiences of workplace sexual harassment and discrimination; the barriers faced with the legal system.

“Our analysis of the survey data confirmed that power imbalances underscore the perpetration of workplace sexual harassment, that many, if not most, victim/survivors face challenges in seeking to report workplace sexual harassment, and the overall lack of meaningful outcomes for victim/survivors of workplace sexual harassment,” Dr Loney-Howes said.

“What this really demonstrates is the need to further investigate workplace safety and culture, especially where such cultures enable problematic attitudes and behaviours towards gender, sexuality, ability and ethnicity.”

JobWatch list ten recommendations to improve workplace cultures, including funding duty lawyers for conciliations and mediations through both anti-discrimination and industrial relations claims, increding funding to community legal centres, and more.

The changes would reduce the number of sexual harassment and discrimination cases, experienced by people like Jenny M, who participated in JobWatch’s research.

“When you’re in that situation, it’s like being in an abusive relationship. The workplace culture grooms you into thinking that it’s normal, and you can get stuck into thinking that you just need to be resilient and to stick it out,” Jenny said.

“I’m a tough cookie but eventually, even the toughest break. By the time I left this workplace, I was broken. I felt unsupported and did not know where to go – and I had no energy left to fight after 13 years of workplace sexual harassment. I wish I had stood up to expose the culture at my former workplace.

“I’m really glad that my contribution in the research might help to create change for more people – no one should have to go through what I went through.”

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During the Senate budget estimates for infrastructure, transport and regional development on Monday, the Nationals Senator grilled Transport Secretary Jim Betts over claims that junior male staff, under Betts’ management, circulated a list that rated and ranked their female counterparts based on their physical appearance.

Betts responded to the question raised by McKenzie over the “degrading list”, saying the department has “learned some lessons” based on the incident.

“This relates to allegations which were made within our graduate programme about concerns that some female grads had that certain male members of the graduate cohort had assembled a degrading list of women which assessed them by their so-called hotness, which is just a disgusting phrase that I hate to have to mention,” Betts said on Monday.

Male graduates in DITRCA allegedly compiled a "hotties list" that rated female graduates' sexual attractiveness. The secretary, Jim Betts, says he'll apply the most-severe sanction — sack those responsible — if the allegation is proved. pic.twitter.com/EZ12nrY8zX

— Markus (@MarkusMannheim) October 23, 2023

Department officials were made aware of rumours of the list’s circulation on March 30 this year, the Senate heard on Monday, and more “formal investigations” have followed in the last few months.

In April, the graduates in the Department were required to complete a staff training model, present to all public service staff. The module was not specifically related to sexual harassment.

On May 19, the Department received an officially complaint over the list, which actioned Betts and the Department approaching the sex discrimination officer for advice. Betts said he also spoke with female graduates to ensure they were receiving the appropriate and necessary support.

No graduates were sacked as a result of the incident, and Transport Minister Catherine King was never informed of the list. Betts defended this decision saying involving politicians would complicate the issue further.

“We needed to protect the confidentiality and sensitivity of the staff concerned. Frankly, I’m the employer, not the minister,” he said.

The majority of the graduate cohort at the Department were under 30 years old, and two-thirds of the group were male.

“We’ve learned some lessons from this – and one of those is having gender balance in all of our cohorts,” Betts said.

McKenzie’s question to Betts was raised after Senators were aware of several complaints of “disrespectful behaviour” at the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, including gender bias, sexism and disrespectful language.

When asked, Betts confirmed there was one allegation of an employee being followed home from work “in a harassing or intimidating manner”, but urged “extreme caution” over the line of questioning.

“You may be asking questions which reveal to people who may be under investigation or may be perpetrators,” Betts said. “I would urge extreme caution.”

In 2021, the Australian Human Rights Commission released the Set the Standard report, based on an Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces (CPWs).

The report found one third of people working in CPWs (33 per cent) have experienced some form of sexual harassment, while 77 per cent have either experienced, witnessed or heard about bullying, sexual harassment and/or actual or attempted sexual assault.

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Six contestants of a Miss Universe Indonesia pageant recently filed complaints with police, alleging that local organisers asked them to strip to their underwear for “body checks” for scars or cellulite. The contestants say about two dozen people, including men, were present in the room, and five contestants allege that topless photographs were taken of them.

The New York-based Miss Universe Organisation released a statement saying it had decided to sever ties with the beauty company that runs the Indonesia pageant– PT Capella Swastika Karya– and the company’s National Director, Poppy Capella.

“In light of what we have learned took place at Miss Universe Indonesia, it has become clear that this franchise has not lived up to our brand standards, ethics or expectations,” the Miss Universe Organisation posted on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. 

“We also want to make it extremely clear that there are no measurements such as height, weight, or body dimensions required to join a Miss Universe pageant worldwide.”

“To the women who came forward from the Indonesia pageant– we’re sorry that this was your experience with our organisation. We appreciate your bravery in speaking out, and we pledge to do better in the future.”

The organisation also announced they’ll be cancelling Miss Universe Malaysia 2023 and making arrangements for the Indonesia 2023 titleholder, Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld, to compete in this year’s Miss Universe pageant, to be held in El Salvador in November. 

In a statement on Instagram, Capella denied her involvement in the physical examination during  the contest and said she doesn’t condone any form of sexual harassment.

“I, as the national director and as the owner of the Miss Universe Indonesia licence, was not involved at all and have never known, ordered, requested or allowed anyone who played a role and participated in the Miss Universe Indonesia 2023 process to commit violence or sexual harassment through body checking,” she wrote.

Police are understood to be examining surveillance cameras from the Miss Universe Indonesia pageant,  interviewing the alleged victims and providing psychological assistance. 

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The 2021 National Student Safety Survey (NSSS) copped backlash for being run during the pandemic lockdowns when most students were not on campus. 

That survey had found one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted since starting university, and that on average, 275 students were sexually assaulted in university settings each week. One in six reported being sexually harassed.

On Wednesday afternoon following a caucus meeting, Universities Australia chairman Professor David Lloyd said the peak body was “committed to revisiting and advancing an appropriately redesigned survey, to be rolled out in 2024.”

In a statement released on the peak body’s site, Prof Lloyd described the meeting as a “fulsome and constructive discussion on the issue of sexual harm in Australian universities.”

“Members are unanimous in our acceptance that while much is being done in this domain, much more is required of us collectively,” he said.

“Our members are committed to continuing to run tailored and individual campus-based activities in 2024, similar to initiatives such as the existing ‘Respect at Uni Week’ delivered by Victorian universities.”

“There was agreement across the membership that individual universities have strong understandings of their own unique demographics, campuses and students, which is why they are best placed to continue building on the extensive work undertaken to date.”

“We recognise that one-size-fits-all intervention strategies do not translate to broad benefit in this most difficult of domains. We are committed to revisiting and advancing an appropriately redesigned survey, to be rolled out in 2024.”

According to Prof Lloyd, the survey will be “guided by contemporary best practice and research, to establish a solid baseline against which we can measure the effectiveness of our actions and interventions.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Education Minister Jason Clare criticised universities for not doing enough to tackle the issue of violence on campus.

“The actions universities have taken to address sexual assault and harassment on campuses to date have not been good enough,” he said.

“We have the research. We have the evidence. We have to act. It is clear that university governing bodies must do more.”

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said that universities should be required to publish data in relation to complaints of student safety, including sexual assaults.

“Without data, progress is uncertain and evidence-based policies to combat this serious issue are much harder to formulate,” she told the press.

“More research into campus sexual assault and the effectiveness of different prevention strategies is essential if we are to ensure all students are safe on campus.”

The NSSS was funded in 2017 by Universities Australia, the peak body representing Australia’s university sector, and was supposed to be repeated every three years, as per its recommendations. 

Universities Australia has been criticised by student safety advocates for recently dropping a $1.5m campaign on consent, and for its inaction to alleged sexual violence at institutions.

Lloyd’s announcement on Wednesday coincided with the federal government’s appointment of Patty Kinnersly as lead advisor to a working body that will review sexual assault on campus as well as provide advice on how universities can develop safer campuses for students and staff.

Kinnersly, the chief of the violence against women prevention organisation, Our Watch will lead the working group as the expert advisor to help the government find ways to bolster university governance.

Prof Lloyd welcomed Kinnersly’s appointment, saying his organisation is “committed to working with Patty Kinnersly in her capacity as the expert adviser to the working group advising the government on ways to strengthen university governance.” 

“We have a significant issue in our institutions which we have to step up on and be accountable for and we cannot do enough to actually engage to deliver better outcomes for our students,” he said.

“This will help with the development of a suite of evidence-based actions in the near term for our members to access and individually implement.”

Kinnersly’s group will start work next week.

Shadow minister for education, Sarah Henderson welcomed Kinnersly’s appointment, describing the CEO as a “leader in her field” who could help guide future reforms in the sector.

“Universities need to take much stronger action to combat sexual assault and harassment on their campuses,” she said on Wednesday. “All university students deserve to be safe in lecture theatres, on campus grounds and in residential colleges.”

The issue of sexual assault on campus formed part of the Universities Accord interim report, which looked at reformations in the higher education sector. It described the current approaches to reducing the incidence of sexual assault and harassment on campus as “inadequate.” The final report will be returned to the government later this year. 

Today, the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research released a trial transcript analysis that revealed complainants are often fighting against archaic myths and stereotypes about how they should react as victims of a “real rape”.

The report analysed the experiences of complainants in the NSW District Court using transcripts from 75 trials across six years. 

“Many of the myths and stereotypes that research suggests are still operative in trials relate to how closely the rape approximates … a ‘real rape’, where the act is perpetrated by a stranger; is committed in a public place; results in injuries or involves a weapon,” the study found. 

“This is in spite of the fact that most rapes do not occur under these circumstances.”

“Complainants who were intoxicated at the time of the alleged offences faced additional scrutiny, including suggestions of “drunken consent” and unreliability based on impaired recall.” 

The study concluded that “greater improvement in the experience of complainants will require change to entrenched trial practices and narratives that are out of step with the spirit of the statutory reforms.” 

Stop the cycle of violence. If you are concerned about your behaviour, or about someone using violence, call Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.  

If you or someone you know is in need of help due to sexual assault or family and domestic violence contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732

In an emergency call 000. Lifeline (13 11 14) and, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 13YARN (13 92 76)

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Journalist Kristine Ziwica first broke the news in an article last week in The Saturday Paper before members of UA and the Australian government’s Department of Social Services (DSS) faced the Senate hearing, which began on July 25.

Ziwica investigated why the student-facing “respectful relationships” campaign, an effort to reduce the high reportage of sexual harassment and sexual assault on university campuses around the country, was axed, despite receiving funding to the tune of $1.5 million from the Morrison government in 2021.

She discovered a minority of vice-chancellors from the 39 universities represented by UA found the campaign to be too “risqué” and “explicit”, cancelling the campaign in late 2022.

This was later confirmed during the Senate’s inquiry into national consent laws and sexual assault in Australia, when Greta Doherty, the DSS’ group manager of women’s safety, faced the hearing on Wednesday July 26.

Doherty said the roll-out of the campaign came to a halt because there was not “full support” from UA members.

After declining twice, UA “reluctantly” faced the hearing on Thursday July 27, the final day of the inquiry. When asked why the campaign was scrapped, UA chief executive Catriona Jackson cited “research” showing the campaign would not have “cut through” to make any changes. She said she was proud of UA’s efforts.

“It doesn’t mean we’ve done everything right, it does mean we’re determined to continue our efforts,” she said.

When Ziwica asked UA to see their “research” showing the campaign’s inability to “cut through”, they declined to share it with her. The DSS told Ziwica they also did not have access to the research.

An open letter headed by End Rape on Campus and Fair Agenda called for the Albanese government to urgently intervene and address “university failures” in responding to high reportage of sexual violence at universities in Australia. The letter was signed by 40 groups and individuals.

Recommendations to tackle sexual assault on university campuses first surfaced in 2017, following a report from the Australian Human Rights Commission titled Change the Course.

All 39 universities party to UA accepted and committed to the recommendations. However, a recent study from UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute research associate Allison Henry found three-quarters of UA universities were failing to meet their commitments.

Sexual harassment and sexual violence at Australian universities is a massive problem. The 2021 National Student Safety Survey (NSSS) found one in six students have experienced sexual harassment since starting university and one in 12 have experienced it in the past 12 months.

What’s more, half of the respondents know nothing or very little about the formal reporting process for sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The NSSS reported, on average, 275 students are sexually assaulted every week. That totals to 14,300 sexual assaults every year.The Senate referred an inquiry into Australia’s consent laws in November 2022. Consent advocates are calling for “nationally harmonised” affirmative consent laws in Australia to address several inconsistencies that exist among states’ and territories’ laws.

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In recent weeks, media coverage out of Australia’s national Parliament has been dominated by the unedifying spectacle of political point-scoring over the leaked phone messages of former political staffer and victim of alleged rape, Brittany Higgins. Allegations of sexual harassment and assault by Liberal senator David Van from current and former senators Lidia Thorpe and Amanda Stoker quickly followed.

These disturbing developments have led many to wonder whether the toxic workplace culture within Parliament House has improved at all, despite the groundbreaking Jenkins review and the implementation of a raft of the review’s recommendations.

In February 2023, the first annual progress report of the cross-party Set the Standard Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce was tabled. The report indicated that considerable progress had been made towards transforming Parliament’s workplace culture.

Six recommendations had been implemented, including codes of conduct for parliamentarians and staffers, and 21 were partially implemented or in progress.

Kate Jenkins, then Australia’s National Sex Discrimination Commissioner and the woman behind the review, wrote that this progress “sets an example for workplaces across the country where proactive change is not only possible, but essential”. So how is it that only four months later, all of that progress appears to have flown out the window?

Our research findings, recently published in the Journal of Gender-Based Violence, offer insights into this question by demonstrating how challenging institutional change can be, even with the best intentions.

The persistence of inequality – gender, power, and the state

Political institutions have long been unwelcoming places for women. Edith Cowan, the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament (in WA in 1921), suffered verbal abuse and frequent interjections during her maiden speech, despite the convention (then and now) that parliamentarians not be interrupted during their first speeches.

Cowan also famously endured the indignity of having to go home to use the toilet because there were no women’s toilets in parliament. Women in the Commonwealth Parliament experienced the same situation until 1974. This is a stark example of how the institutions of government were designed for men, by men.

The situation hasn’t been any better for women in the public service. Before 1966, women had to resign from the Australian Public Service (APS) when they married.

Today, despite decades of work by dedicated femocrats and repeated commitments from consecutive governments to improve gender equality within the APS, recent data (2021) indicates that while women now make up 60.2% of the APS, they continue to be over-represented in junior roles and under-represented in senior positions (at 44.6% in Senior Executive Service Band 2 and 3).

Where have we gone wrong?

After several decades of trying to transform government, inside and out – including the introduction of paid parental leave, women’s leadership programs and gender mainstreaming – it appears that institutions, and particularly political institutions, not only reflect and reinforce gender inequality, but they resist gender equality.

And while it’s critical to develop written formal rules, such as codes of conduct, it’s equally important to create new unwritten, informal rules or norms regarding acceptable behaviour and “the way we do business around here”.

Our research examining the Victorian government’s trailblazing Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council (VSAC) is informed by in-depth interviews with the inaugural council chair, Rosie Batty AO, eight senior policymakers, and supplemented by 31 interviews, from an internal government report, with current and former victim-survivor members of VSAC, the VSAC Secretariat, representatives of the family violence sector, and policymakers.

We found that despite the best intentions – and being established by former minister Fiona Richardson (now deceased), a feminist and survivor of family violence – policymakers acknowledged that they struggled to make the policy environment safe for victim-survivors. Instead, the government’s interests were put ahead of those of victim-survivors, compromising the outcomes and public value that VSAC could deliver.

We found that a lack of clarity about VSAC’s role meant there were very different views about its purpose. This led to tensions and made it challenging to identify responsibilities, assign accountability, and measure the extent to which VSAC delivered outcomes.

We also found that policymakers were unprepared for the trauma victim-survivors would continue to experience, nor were they ready for the vicarious trauma the public servants working with VSAC would experience. As a result, there was a lack of appropriate trauma support provided.

Perhaps of most concern, we found that power imbalances made some victim-survivors feel they were being controlled and silenced, triggering trauma responses. This was felt most acutely by those from marginalised communities, which experience multiple disadvantages and forms of discrimination (such as racism, ableism, sexism).

More positively, we found that the role of the VSAC Secretariat, which spent considerable time finding ways around institutional barriers and battling internal bureaucracy for adequate support, including allowances and reimbursements for VSAC members, was critical. This is the work of driving institutional change.

Our research concluded that the state is a site of contest where players can and do bring about positive change. This happens through identifying, resisting and reforming written and unwritten rules. But other players will attempt to maintain the status quo and hold onto power by trying to silence those who speak out and resisting change.

Persistence is key

Our findings won’t be news to Kate Jenkins. Her team heard from hundreds of current and former parliamentary workers about their experiences of abuse, harassment, and discrimination. The Set the Standard report makes repeated references to the role of power and entitlement, gender inequality, culture and norms.

But all too often, we expect change to happen with a bang when it’s more likely to sneak up on us gradually.

As Rebecca Solnit wrote in Hope in the Dark, how social transformations, uprisings and revolutions happen is rarely remembered; they do not happen on “centre stage” because “less visible long-term organising and groundwork – or underground work – often laid the foundations”.

Providing victim-survivors with a voice in family violence reform is critical. But policymakers must be prepared to be challenged, learn, and ultimately change themselves and the institutions and systems they work within; to do the groundwork.

This will lead to more effective policies and services, and better, safer institutions for all of us to work within.

Addendum: The authors note that interviews for their research took place in 2018 and 2019 and focused on the first three establishment years of the Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council (from July 2016 to April 2019). The research does not reflect the ongoing work done and outcomes achieved as the Council has matured and established its role at the heart of Victoria’s family violence reform agenda, nor does it reflect that since April 2022, VSAC has had the Family Violence Lived Experience Strategy in place to guide government and the sector to embed lived experience across the full spectrum of family and sexual violence reform.

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CEO and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant, Felicity Menzies raised the issue on a LinkedIn post yesterday where she wrote about travelling in Gladstone and Mackay where her belt was detected.

“While passing through screening, an alert came up on my belt region in both Gladstone and then in Mackay. In both instances, that led to me be patted down on my groin despite me lifting my shirt to show their was clearly no weapon on me. In both instances, I was asked whether I wanted a private room. To be honest, that was more triggering. NO, I do NOT want to be patted down on my groin in a private room”, she wrote.

Menzies went on to say that she was denied entry into the airport at Mackay, and her bags taken off the conveyer, when she refused to comply with the protocol.

“There was no consideration at all by airport security regarding how unacceptable this process is and how triggering it could be for some women, in particular women who are victims of sexual assault,” she wrote.

Of course, as Menzies noted, there is “a simple alternative” to invasive pat-downs.

Metal detectors provide a simple way of ensuring safety, without violating women’s bodies.

“You cannot travel around QLD by air as a woman and feel safe,” said Menzies, adding “swipe me with a metal detector and then let me get on with my work”.

Like journalist, Louise Milligan who raised similar concerns in 2022 after being pat down at Sydney Airport and made to strip to a “little camisole” underneath her business blazer, Menzies raised her disatisfaction with Qantas staff.

“I had a Qantas attendant sit down with me afterwards and share with me that she has to do it daily and how uncomfortable it makes her feel,” she said.

Milligan stated that the Qantas staff she’d spoken with at the time of her incident were likewise “incensed and said they had multiple women complaining of similar security heavy-handedness this week”, including a woman who was left “crying after being forced to remove her t-shirt.”

Responding to Milligan’s post in 2022, journalist Lisa Wilkinson shared a similar story.

She claimed to have been subjected to “a full pat-down in both areas” of her groin and breasts. “Embarrassing, uncomfortable, inappropriate & should be fixed”, she concluded.

On Menzies’ post, several women voiced their own experiences of being shocked and feeling violated after enduring pat downs.

One woman shared how the situation is exacerbated for those who are breast cancer survivors and have had surgeries and wear prosthetics. “Often the new high tech body scanners show something foreign in the bra and the response from security staff is often aggressive and only brings a human reaction when scars are shown” wrote organisational psychologist, Casey Aladic.  

Another woman shared that she too had travelled through Mackay that day and experienced ” the most intrusive security ‘pat down’ I’ve ever encountered”.

“I’ve made tea but am shaking so much with rage and sadness that I’m not sure I won’t spill it”, she wrote.

So what’s the answer?

As Menzies notes, metal detector wands are certainly part of the equation. This limits direct human touch, and lessens the discomfort noted by so many. But so, I suspect, is a greater level of training. Women should be informed of their rights before being subjected to such protocols, including that they’re legally entitled to refuse pat downs in the breast and groin regions.

According to Menzies, she was told the opposite by security in Mackay.

“I was told if I didn’t consent, I couldn’t fly”, she wrote.

Thousands of us fly every day and deserve to do so without fear or anxiety. While national safety and security is paramount, surely women should be afforded that same assurance?

These allegations fall in the same week that Victorian woman Holly Richards, reported being brought to tears by a “horrific experience” dealing with Jetstar staff when boarding a flight in Sydney.

Being plus sized, Richards had purchased two seats with the airline for a journey to Avalon, Victoria on Monday so that she and other passengers would be comfortable. She reported being reprimanded for “confusing the system” with her purchase and told she was over her baggage limit despite having paid for the additional ticket and thus space.

“Being a plus-size person in this world is a very scary thing,” Richards told News.com.

“You are constantly open to ridicule and comments from often hostile strangers and feel unwelcome in many public places. This means many plus-size people feel they need to hide themselves and are filled with shame.”

It’s clear more needs to be done to ensure women are protected by both airlines and within airports.

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This is compared to men whose results showed 1 in 16 have experienced sexual violence.

Results also show that 1 in 6 women have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 15 by a cohabiting partner– a partner the person lives with or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship. 

And sadly, 1 in 4 women have experienced emotional abuse by a cohabiting partner, compared to 1 in 7 men. 

These horrifying statistics come from the ABS’s Personal Safety Survey (PSS), which asked people aged 18 years and over about the nature and extent of violence experienced since the age of 15 as well as their past experiences of child abuse and witnessing parental violence before the age of 15. 

The PSS defined ‘violence’ as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of either sexual or physical assault.

Michelle Ducat, ABS head of crime and justice statistics said, “We found 43 per cent of men and 39 per cent of women have experienced either physical or sexual violence since the age of 15.”

This frightening prevalence means that an estimated eight million Australians aged 18 years have experienced physical or sexual violence since they were 15 years-old, with 2.2 million women reporting experiences of sexual violence and 3.1 million women experiencing physical violence.

Survey respondents were also asked about their experience with economic abuse– behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling a person’s access to economic resources, causing them emotional harm or fear.  

One in 6 women have experienced economic abuse, compared to 1 in 13 men.

The ABS’s latest release of data also provides valuable insight into experiences of violence and abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“We saw similar rates of physical violence and sexual violence in 2021-22 when compared with 2016”, Ducat said, with the rate of sexual harassment declining for both women and men. 

Sexual harassment rates for women were at 17 per cent in 2016 and dropped to 13 per cent in 2021-2022. For men, the numbers went from 9.3 per cent to 4.5 per cent.

The rate of cohabiting partner emotional abuse also declined over the same period for both women (from 4.8 per cent to 3.9 per cent) and men (from 4.2 per cent to 2.5 per cent) as well as the rate of cohabiting violence against women (from 1.7 per cent to 0.9 per cent).

Ducat said that with these statistics, “we acknowledge the experiences of people affected by violence and abuse who are represented in this report and would like to thank those who participated in the survey. Their contribution has added valuable insights to informing government and service responses.”

If you or anyone you know is in need or crisis, please call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline (131114). 

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Around this time, there were five concurrent inquiries into Defence culture, including the prominent Broderick Report on the treatment of women. All of this led to a flurry of reforms, extraordinary new rhetoric, glossy brochures, and highly paid consultants. But did this cultural reform work?

There has been little formal independent analysis. However, there are indications that aspects of this reform program did not work, for people of any gender. The Royal Commission into defence and veteran suicide’s interim report (see section 3.6) identifies that ADF culture, abuse, and response to reporting of abuse, are still part of the story of veteran suicide. This surprised many who assumed the main cause was traumatic events experienced in war or war-like operations.

The report also presents the first statistical analysis of Australian female veteran suicide.

During the period 2002 to 2017, the rate of suicide for female veterans was found to be 115 per cent higher than that of the normal Australian female population (as compared to 18 per cent for male veterans). It can be assumed that causality has some similarities to males and the general experience of military service. Yet the wide divergence from male statistics suggests something else may be going on.

2012 research by Samantha Crompvoets found there was a lack of support for female veterans in areas such as reproductive and gynaecological health; sexual trauma; maternal separation; domestic violence, and LGBTI+ related issues. Like younger male veterans, the women felt they were not seen as nor treated as ‘real’ veterans. The report recommended developing targeted support for female veterans, setting a strategic research agenda, and providing training for civilian veteran health providers. One sign that such recommendations were heeded is that the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) has run Female Veterans and Veterans’ Families Forums since 2016. However, to what extent all recommendations were implemented is unknown.

It is premature to draw conclusions about high female veteran suicide figures or to suggest remedies. That is job of the Royal Commission. Also, as I have argued before, media focus on “service women as victims” obscures the wider story of service women’s extraordinary and historic professional achievements, and it distorts the truth: many service women love their work and gain great fulfilment from it.

However, in this case, the statistics need scrutiny. To contribute to problem diagnosis, I would like to propose that sexual harassment and discrimination, which affects service people of all sorts, but more so women, is part of the female veteran suicide problem.

Wider issues

The context to this claim is parallel problems with women’s safety and security in Australian society (as indicated by the 2021 women’s #March4Justice), but also in other western militaries and police forces.
The US Department of Defense (DOD) found that in 2021, the “rates of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and workplace hostility increased for women throughout the active force.” Unfortunately serving as an echo to an earlier film, The Invisible War, (2012), in 2022 I Am Vanessa Guillen was released. Prompted by Vanessa Guillen’s murder at Fort Hood military base, the film exposes the continuing extent of sexual violence and ineffective justice systems in the US military.

In the UK, the suicide of Army officer cadet Olivia Perks most likely related to “gross sexual misconduct” against her, while a 2021 UK parliamentary report found “serious problems…  with the military’s handling of sexual assault and harassment, often compounding the trauma for victims.” Concerns about the UK military justice system and culture were again highlighted by the 2022  case of submariner crew’s “rape list.”  

In Canada,  since 2021, 13 senior military officers have been investigated over sexual misconduct or related issues, while leadership scholar Jason Walker proposes that a decade of reforms and programs have had seen little success. In 2022, Canada gave up on military capacity to fairly investigate and prosecute military sexual offences and shifted responsibility to civil authorities.  

Similar issues appear in the police force. A report on Queensland police culture finds widespread misogynistic behaviour, sexist comments, and sexual harassment.  Vancouver police constable Nicole Chan suicided a few months after reporting sexual abuse by her supervisor. A common thread in the high profile stories of police officers Rhona Malone from Scotland and Angie Rivers from the UK is retaliation and victimisation on reporting problems.  

Backlash  

Globally, a widespread phenomenon is that of increasing cultural polarisation, and a backlash against so-called “woke politics” or diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. In the security sector, concerns that ‘wokeness’ endangers recruiting and military readiness are seen through the recent US Restoring Military Focus Act, (2022) which “eliminates the position of Chief Diversity Officer within the Department of Defense (DOD).”   

While debating the merits and flaws of DEI initiatives or the anti-woke movement is beyond this article, what cannot be denied is that the vitriol of this cultural battle can overflow onto genuine victims with disastrous consequences.  

There are three other factors which may contribute to overwhelming veterans of any gender, who’ve experienced sexual abuse or harassment: justice; safe sanctuary and capacity to be heard.  

Justice is key 

Justice and perceived fairness relate to both backlash but also potentially, female veteran suicide.

In my view, the ADF cultural interventions of 2013 to 2014 did achieve some necessary change, yet were also at times heavy-handed, disproportionately shaming of men, simplistic, and at times unjust. There was a lack of understanding of the importance of team dynamics and military culture. The intervention also somewhat ignored – at least at the start – the fact men (not just boys at HMAS Leeuwin) also experienced sexual abuse and bullying. This led to an environment of fear and resentment by some which undermined the original intentions.  

Yet ineffective justice cut both ways. It is unclear whether cultural change initiatives were accompanied by adequate upskilling and strengthening of military justice systems to fairly investigate and manage sexual abuse. Further, given the troubles within the Morrison Government in the treatment of employees, it is doubtful whether effective Ministerial oversight occurred.

Additionally, there is the possibility justice systems were weaponised against victims to protect the institution or key personnel. If justice systems fail victims, this can lead to what is known as injustice trauma. 

The tragic fact that Kate Thornton committed suicide the day after withdrawing her police complaint suggests how hard injustice can hit.  

Sanctuary trauma 

Similarly, sanctuary trauma can occur when a victim approaches people or agencies they assume will help, but instead finds indifference, incompetence or veiled ill will.

Recall the shockwaves that were sent through the Australian population when the Minister of Women, Marise Payne would not meet the Women’s March crowd assembled outside Parliament House? Ultimately, her loyalty was to her superior and her party; and if it wasn’t – she wouldn’t be in the job. This very problem is replicated across many women and humans rights agencies across the country. Some appointees, while claiming to support victims or human rights, maybe more focused on legitimising and supporting institutional leadership, or they may have been deliberately made toothless. Victims will find this a huge punch in the guts.   

The loss of voice

An ongoing problem in developing effective solutions but also healing, as ex-Parliament House staffer Dhanya Mani identified, is the non-inclusion of victims in policymaking, or the loss or appropriation of their voice in the process.

Undoubtedly, the most powerful and clear-headed voices on reforms for Australian women have been survivors such as Rosie Batty; Grace Tame; Brittany Higgins; Dhanya Mani; Chesley Potter and others, so it is a mystery why this still occurs.  Yet still, female veterans who’ve experienced sexual abuse or discrimination, and failed justice, can find they are thereafter treated like lepers, or in today’s vernacular they can feel ‘cancelled’.  

The Royal Commission must deliver

Australian Parliament House sexual abuse scandals uncovered the ‘justice or career’ problem – where reporting workplace problems meant losing your job; it is on another level of horror that reporting abuse could mean losing your life.  

The sexual abuse issue, and response to reporting, maybe one part of the puzzle of why the female veteran suicide rate is so high.

Hopefully, the Royal Commission, due to finalise its report by 17 June 2024, gets to the bottom of the problem.

At this stage, it can be noted that the suicide figures are alarming. They sit in the context of a vicious cultural war and backlash against diveristy, equity and inclusion initiatives. It must also be noted that there is a growth trend in these sorts of problems and common examples of institutional ineptitude, cover-ups, and even retaliation against those who report problems.  

Crisis Support

If this article has raised issues for you, these numbers may assist:

· Open Arms veterans and their families counselling service: 1800 011 046

· Defence Member and Family Helpline: 1800 624 608

· Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14

· Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

· Defence All-hours Support Line: 1800 628 036

· Beyond Blue counselling service: 1300 224 636

· Respect counselling for sexual assault, family, and domestic violence: 1800 737 732 Men’s Line: 1300 78 99 78

· Men’s Referral Service: 1300 766 491

· 13YARN: First Nations people in crisis. 13 92 76

Do you wish to make a submission? Submissions to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide can be made up until 13 October 2023, details here.

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