Australia’s peak workplace health and safety body is urging the industry to treat sexual harassment as a preventable hazard and embed its prevention directly into work health and safety (WHS) systems.
Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, the Australian Institute of Health & Safety (AIHS) has released a new position statement calling on business leaders and employers to move beyond treating sexual harassment solely as an HR or behavioural issue.
The AIHS Position: Managing Work-Related Sexual Harassment Risk highlights that strong laws are already in place, including the Positive Duty under the Sex Discrimination Act and existing WHS obligations. The focus now, the agency said, should be on consistent implementation across workplaces and “ensuring sexual harassment is managed with the same rigour and accountability as any other workplace hazard”.
AIHS chair Celia Antonovsky said International Women’s Day is a timely reminder that safe and respectful workplaces are fundamental to equality.
“Every worker has the right to feel safe, respected and supported at work. Preventing sexual harassment is essential to protecting women’s wellbeing, confidence and participation in the workforce,” she said.
Latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows women are significantly more likely than men to experience sexual violence, with 318,000 women reporting work-related sexual violence since the age of 15.
Antonovsky said sexual harassment must also be considered alongside other workplace risks that disproportionately affect women, including menopause, psychosocial hazards and pregnancy-related risks.
The 2025 AIHS Member Survey found that only 60 per cent of WHS professionals believe workers feel safe to report incidents. ABS data also shows just 7.2 per cent of women who experienced physical assault by a male in the past decade sought advice or support from a colleague or manager.
“These figures remind us that persistent barriers to reporting still exist and that deeper cultural challenges remain within workplaces,” Antonovsky said.
“Too many workers do not feel safe or supported to speak up, and sexual harassment continues to be under-recognised as a serious workplace health and safety risk.”
She said organisations must move beyond policy and integrate prevention into everyday WHS systems, leadership decisions and workplace culture.
“Sexual harassment cannot be handled behind closed doors or treated as a standalone HR matter. It is a workplace hazard that must be systematically prevented.”
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