The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has welcomed the Albanese Government’s Respect@Work Bill introduced into parliament today by the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
The Bill seeks to amend the Sex Discrimination Act to deliver on key recommendations called for in the Respect@Work report, which the previous government had largely ignored.
The key change made by the Bill is to introduce a positive duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work. This recommendation is critical in driving positive change at work, instead of relying solely on victims to raise complaints.
Further inclusions include provisions for the Australian Human Rights Commission to monitor and assess compliance with the positive duty, and for unions and representative bodies to make representative applications on behalf of people who have experienced unlawful discrimination in the federal courts.
ACTU President Michele O’Neil described the bill as “important and long overdue legislative change.”
“It’s welcome to see the Albanese Government taking steps to hold employers accountable for also preventing this type of harassment,” O’Neil said.
“We will not have gender equality while women are having to leave jobs because they feel unsafe.”
The ACTU is calling on the Opposition, Greens and crossbench to support this Bill.
The Albanese Government has also committed to further legislative changes to the Fair Work Act to deliver all Respect@Work recommendations.