Rights and Responsibilities

What are your individual and organisational rights and responsibilities when it comes to sexual harassment in the workplace.

Diverse people having discussion in meeting room

A person who sexually harasses someone else is primarily responsible for their behaviour. However, in many cases organisations can also be held liable for sexual harassment by their workers, agents and contractors, unless they can show that they took steps to prevent the sexual harassment from occurring. This is known as vicarious liability.

Under the Sex Discrimination Act, to avoid vicarious liability an employer must take all reasonable steps to minimise the risk of discrimination and harassment occurring. All reasonable steps is not defined in the Sex Discrimination Act, but is determined on an organisation’s size and resources.

Reasonable steps could mean that an employer has: 

  • an appropriate sexual harassment policy
  • trained employees on how to identify and deal with sexual harassment
  • put in place an internal procedure for dealing with complaints
  • taken appropriate remedial action if and when sexual harassment occurs.

You may also have obligations under other laws, such as work, health and safety and industrial laws. 

For more information on effectively preventing and responding to sexual harassment in the workplace, see the comprehensive and practical Ending workplace sexual harassment : A resource for small, medium and large employers.

The below tables sets out broad individual and organisational rights and responsibilities and gives you links to further resources and information. 

INDIVIDUALS

Rights

Responsibilities

Resources

Individuals have a right to:

  • A safe and secure working environment free from bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination
  • Not have retaliatory action taken against them for exercising their workplace rights (this is known as protection against victimisation)
  • Be consulted by their employer on workplace health and safety matters
  • Access workers’ compensation if they suffer a work-related injury or illness
  • Natural justice and procedural fairness during administrative processes (e.g. if they make a complaint or a complaint is made against them)

Individuals have a responsibility to:

  • Not bully, sexually harass, or harass on the basis of sex, another person
  • Not engage in misconduct
  • Not cause, instruct, induce, aid or permit another person to engage in workplace bullying, sexual harassment or other discriminatory conduct
  • Abide by all lawful and reasonable workplace rules, policies and procedures
  • Comply and cooperate with any reasonable instruction given by their employer
  • Abide by the conditions and requirements of any settlement agreement or Court order given in the resolution of a workplace complaint

Further information:


 

ORGANISATIONS

Rights

Responsibilities

Resources

Organisations have a right to:

  • Natural justice and procedural fairness during administrative processes (e.g. when responding to a workplace complaint)

Organisations have a responsibility to:

  • Ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of their workers while they are at work (including work that occurs beyond the normal workplace and normal working hours)
  • Take all reasonable steps to prevent bullying, workplace sexual harassment or other discriminatory conduct
  • Not victimise (take retaliatory action against) a worker for exercising their workplace rights
  • Report notifiable WHS incidents to the WHS Regulator (i.e. incidents or conduct which creates a risk to an individual of, or results in, death or serious injury or illness)
  • Consult their workers on WHS matters
  • Have workers’ compensation insurance to protect their workers against workplace injury or illness
  • Ensure any dismissals of workers accords with employment law
  • Abide by the conditions and requirements of any settlement agreement or Court order given in the resolution of a workplace complaint

Further information:

 

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