The Federal Government has approved a code of practice on sexual and gender-based harassment. Safe to Work investigates what mining companies and workers need to know.
The Commonwealth Code of Practice on Sexual and Gender-based Harassment aims to provide practical guidance to employers about how to protect workers against workplace sexual harassment.
The Code gives effect to the model code of practice developed by Safe Work Australia on sexual and gender-based harassment endorsed by all states and territories.
Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt said it is important to make health and safety a permanent part of work safety culture.
“Safer workplaces are better workplaces,” Watt said. “A code of practice assists duty holders, such as employers, to ensure workers and others are not exposed to risks to their psychological or physical health and safety.
“It’s crucial that workplaces develop safe working procedures. By helping duty holders to make workplaces safer, the code will help prevent more Australians from experiencing sexual and gender-based harassment.”
Codes of practice are admissible in court proceedings under work health and safety (WHS) laws and courts may rely on the code in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances.
The new Code recognises that:
- women, young workers, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, LGBTQIA+ workers and workers with disability are more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment
- the likelihood of harassment increases in workplaces where there are power imbalances along gendered lines
- workplaces with low worker diversity (i.e. dominated by one gender) and a culture which tolerates or accepts workplace sexual and gender-based harassment can contribute to the prevalence of such harassment.
The Code will be implemented in conjunction with the Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards at work, as sexual and gender-based harassment can often occur in conjunction with other psychosocial hazards.
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