Workplace Health and Safety Sexual Harassment
On 1 September the Workplace Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Regulation 2024 came into effect. Sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment are workplace hazards that can cause psychological and physical harm to workers.
From 1 September, these hazards and the risk they pose to the health and safety of workers must be proactively eliminated or minimised by the people conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) - in other words the business owner. The legislation already required business owners to proactively manage the risk of sexual and sex or gender-based harassment as part of their duty to manage psychosocial risks.
What are the changes?
The Workplace Health and Safety (WH&S) Regulation is now more explicit in stating that the risk of sexual and sex or gender-based harassment must be managed. This means there is an obligation for employers to take proactive steps in preventing and addressing sexual harassment, sex discrimination and victimisation in the workplace.
Employers need to prove they took steps to:
- stop the offending conduct
- consider the matters when determining control measures and
- record and implement prevention measures such as the implementation of a written prevention plan for any identified risks.
These new regulations will require employers to prepare and implement a written prevention plan to protect workers from 1 March 2025. The prevention plan must:
- identify the control measures implemented
- identify the matters considered in determining the control measures and
- set out the procedure in dealing with complaints of workplace sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment, including how:
- to make a complaint
- it will be investigated and
- relevant parties will be informed of the results and investigation.
Failure to prepare a written prevention plan, implement the prevention plan, take reasonable steps to ensure staff are made aware of the prevention plan and/or review the prevention plan could result in fines for each failure.
Our Toolkit subscribers have already been advised of the changes to the Respect at Work Policy. Do you have a policy in place? Please reach out the AMA Queensland Workplace Relations Team if you require any assistance with putting a policy in place or are interested in becoming a Toolkit Subscriber. You can contact the team on 07 3872 2264 or email us at workplacerelations@amaq.com.au