SafeWork NSW has launched a four-year Strategy (2023–2027) to support businesses across the state in preventing workplace sexual harassment and other gender-based harmful workplace behaviours. Through the Strategy, SafeWork NSW will educate NSW businesses on their duties to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment before it occurs and take appropriate enforcement action to protect workers.

The Strategy will be led by the SafeWork NSW Respect at Work Taskforce, reportedly one of the first Australian WHS regulators to establish a dedicated team focused on addressing gender-based harmful workplace behaviours. SafeWork NSW consulted over 60 stakeholders including worker, union, government and businesses representatives across 18 industries, who provided insights to inform the Strategy.

The Strategy features a dedicated NSW Government website with resources for workers and businesses on how they can help prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces and what they can do if they experience workplace sexual harassment. The SafeWork NSW Respect at Work Taskforce and NSW Government’s Centre for Work Health and Safety have also invested in research on evidence-based and prevention-led interventions to address workplace sexual harassment. The research project is a collaboration between the Respect at Work Taskforce, the Centre for Work Health and Safety, RMIT University and the University of Newcastle.

Head of SafeWork NSW Trent Curtin said workplace sexual harassment is unacceptably common, with one in three Australians in the past five years reporting experiencing it, and affecting 41% of women and 26% of men. “Everyone deserves to have a workplace which is free from bullying, harassment and all forms of discrimination. Through this Strategy, SafeWork NSW will help equip NSW businesses to create safer and respectful workplaces,” Curtin said.

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