WGEA findings underscore critical areas where employers must take action to combat workplace sexual harassment

WGEA findings underscore critical areas where employers must take action to combat workplace sexual harassment

Recent results published by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) offer an initial insight into measures that employers are implementing following establishment of the positive duty to ensure a safe working environment for all employees.

In 2024, over 7,000 medium and large businesses in Australia, representing more than 5 million employees, disclosed updated details to WGEA regarding efforts to address and prevent sexual harassment.

WGEA findings underscore critical areas where employers must take action to combat workplace sexual harassment, showing that while nearly all employers now have formal policies addressing this issue, meaningful steps toward genuine culture change remain incomplete.

Policy coverage is strong, but culture change needs more

The latest results from WGEA indicate that numerous employers have established measures to address workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination; however, further effort is necessary to embed these protections into daily practice.

WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge said the new positive duty for employers, introduced in late 2022, requires effective action to commence with, but not be limited to, implementation of high-quality workplace policies. Businesses seeking practical guidance can refer to a Workplace Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Policy to support formal compliance efforts.

"While we are seeing comprehensive policy coverage, this is only a critical first step. Long-term culture change within organisations also requires employees and company leaders to know the policy, understand what's in it and the part they play in its implementation," Ms Wooldridge said.

Leadership engagement is uneven across organisations

One of the insights from the Respect@Work Report is that proactive engagement by leadership proves critical for long-term change. WGEA's new results show most CEOs stay highly engaged in reviewing, signing off on and communicating these policies (85%); however, just over half (55%) of their boards remain similarly involved.

This gap between executive and board-level involvement highlights an area where governance structures could better support gender equality outcomes across Australian workplaces.

What employers should do next

Employers now have a legal requirement to move beyond policy documentation toward active prevention and support. Practical next steps include:

• Ensuring policies are communicated clearly to every employee, not just documented for compliance purposes
• Training managers and staff on recognising and responding to workplace sexual harassment
• Embedding accountability at board level, not only within executive teams
• Reviewing prevention plans regularly to ensure they reflect current legal obligations

Organisations building out their prevention framework may find a Workplace Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Prevention Plan useful for translating policy into action, while broader wellbeing initiatives can be reinforced through mental health policies and plans that support employees affected by workplace harassment.

For businesses wanting to benchmark their own practices against sector peers, related coverage on how other regulators are addressing this issue is available in our article on how Comcare assesses measures implemented to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, alongside guidance for Queensland employers urged to implement proactive strategies to prevent sexual harassment.

Find further information here.