In 2020, the AHRC Respect@Work report called out sexual harassment as fundamentally a WHS issue, to which safety policy makers and regulators ought to take a greater education and compliance role. Following on from the release of that report, SafeWork Australia has released its 2021 guidance material on Preventing Workplace Sexual Harassment and we expect an increased focus on this issue from jurisdictional safety regulators.

Partners Aaron Anderson (Brisbane) and Drew Pearson (Sydney) and Special Counsel Nerida Jessup (Sydney) discussed the employment and WHS obligations employers need to be aware of to prevent sexual harassment and gendered violence in the workplace, as well as considerations and risks in employer intervention and response to incidents and complaints.