13 OctRespect @ Work legislation to be introduced
On 27 September 2022, the Federal Government introduced the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 into Parliament.
The Bill seeks to amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) to introduce a positive duty on all employers to ‘take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate, as far as possible, specified forms of unlawful sex discrimination including:
- discrimination on the ground of a person’s sex
- sexual harassment, or harassment on the ground of sex
- hostile workplace environments
- acts of victimisation in response to allegations, assertions, complaints, or proceedings.
What does this mean for ECEC employers?
Given these changes and the new positive duty on employers to eliminate unlawful sex discrimination, it is critical that employers consider what is being done within their service to address and eliminate unlawful sex discrimination.
The new ‘positive duty’ will require employers to:
- have clear policies in place, which make it clear that sex discrimination (including sexual harassment) is against the law and that employees may face disciplinary action, up to and including the termination of their employment, for breaches of such policies.
- ensure that employees are aware of the policies and receive appropriate training, and
- ensure that any complaints about unlawful sex discrimination are dealt with appropriately.
