Employers would have to take a proactive approach to preventing sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace under laws to be introduced into parliament on Tuesday.

Australia’s human rights watchdog would be empowered to enforce a positive duty on businesses to protect their workers from harassment after the government committed to fully implementing the recommendations of the landmark 2020 Respect@Work report.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins’ Respect@Work recommendations will be implemented in full.Credit:Arsineh Houspian

The changes, to be introduced under the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill, implement seven recommendations from Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, including expressly banning hostile conduct on the basis of sex, and requiring the public sector to report on its performance on gender equality.

A joint statement from Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke, said one in three people experienced workplace sexual harassment over the past five years, with women experiencing higher rates than men.

“Sexual harassment is by no means inevitable and the passage of this bill will move Australia forward in our efforts to prevent workplace sexual harassment from happening in the first place,” the statement said.

Gallagher said ending sexual harassment in the workplace was an economic issue as well as a women’s safety issue, “with the social and emotional cost tearing $3.8 billion a year out of the Australian economy due to lost productivity, staff turnover and absenteeism”.

“The widespread nature of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces is a national disgrace and the introduction of the respect at work bill is a step in the right direction in stopping sexual harassment before it starts,” she said.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors, Business Council of Australia and mining giant BHP have previously backed legislative change. Earlier this year, Westpac’s human resources boss, Christine Parker, called on corporate Australia to lead the way in protecting women in the workplace, saying companies needed to move away from reactive, complaints-based systems.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ai Group also support the positive duty but have warned of the need to ensure any new system does not increase complexity or have unintended consequences.

The former government had agreed to implement a range of Jenkins’ recommendations, but not the positive duty, which it argued already existed in workplace health and safety laws. It also wanted further evidence of the need to add it to anti-discrimination rules, as Jenkins had called for.

Under Labor’s overhaul, the Australian Human Rights Commission would have the ability to serve compliance orders on businesses not meeting their legal requirements, a recommendation Ai Group head Innes Willox previously said raised possible questions over impartiality, given the commission’s existing mediation services relating to sexual harassment.

Burke will separately amend the Fair Work Act to specifically prohibit sexual harassment.

So far, Victoria is the only jurisdiction to have a positive duty for employers to prevent sexual harassment. Last month, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission revealed the results of its first compliance investigation, targeting bakery chain Bakers Delight.

The investigation was not sparked by a specific complaint. The watchdog chose Bakers Delight because the retail industry is a high-risk area for sexual harassment and the gendered nature of bakery work means men are usually employed as bakers and young women as servers.

The commission’s general counsel, Emily Howie, said the enforcement powers of the Victorian agency and the federal watchdog should be given more teeth.

Bakers Delight joint chief executive Elise Gillespie said the findings had prompted the company to overhaul its procedures nationwide and backed consistent legislation across Australia.

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