One in three workers in Australia have experienced sexual harassment in their workplace over the last five years, according to a new national survey, while just half say their employers have provided information on how to report an incident.
The survey shows the rate of sexual harassment has remained unchanged from the previous national survey, and just 18 per cent of sexual harassment incidents are reported.
The survey of over 10,000 Australians was conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission, with Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins saying although disappointing, the results are not surprising.
“It is unacceptable that so many Australian workers continue to experience sexual harassment,” Jenkins said.
The survey found just half of respondents said their employers provided information on how to report an incident, and even fewer (two in five) said they had attended training on sexual harassment.
“Though disappointing, it is not surprising that these results are similar to the previous survey’s results because most of the recommendations from the Resepect@Work report have only recently been acted on, and some are still being implemented,” Jenkins said.
According to the survey, younger people, those who identified as LGBTQA+, people with intersex variation, First Nations people and those with disability were most likely to experience sexual harassment.
Harassment is shown to occur across all industries. However, Media and Telecommunications were reported to have the greatest prevalence.
Sexual harassment has clear negative impacts on mental health, with two thirds of people who experienced sexual harassment reporting negative mental health impacts. Decreased job satisfaction and reduced self-esteem and confidence also had big impacts on workers following sexual harassment.
Jenkins noted the importance of the government’s implementation of the recently passed Respect@Work bill, which among many improvements, will place a positive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment from occurring in their workplace.
Jenkins said if employers and government take the task of implementing the recommendations of the Respect@Work report seriously, we may see better statistics in the next national survey on sexual harassment.
“The actions that governments and workplaces around Australia are now taking will have an impact, but it will take time. I urge them to continue implementing change now, so that results of the next national survey may be greatly improved,” Jenkins said.
“It is concerning that only 18% of sexual harassment incidents are reported. The website respectatwork.gov.au provides information for workers and businesses on how to respond to incidents and resources to help create respectful workplaces, free from harassment.”
The Human Rights Commission noted a positive appetite for change in the workplace, with three quarters of respondents believing their workplace’s leaders were committed to ensuring a safe working environment free from sexual harassment.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins addressed the National Press Club on Wednesday. You can watch her full address below.