Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this important bill. Respect at work is a right that every person should have, and this bill addresses that. The Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 represents a significant step forward in implementing the government's commitment to preventing sexual harassment at the workplace.

We have committed to fully implementing the recommendations in the landmark Respect@Work report. That is an important first step. I say that because I believe that, as a country, we have dropped the ball on this issue. We were once regarded as being at the forefront of tackling sexual harassment globally. States including my home state of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria enacted antidiscrimination laws covering the ground of sexual harassment in the late 1970s. However, the report finds that, in Australia over the past 35 years, the rate of change has been disappointingly slow, and that is not a good sign. Australia now lags behind other countries in preventing, and responding to, sexual harassment.

The Australian Human Rights Commission found that sexual harassment in Australian workplaces is widespread. In its 2018 survey, it found that one in three people had experienced sexual harassment at work in the past five years. That is totally unacceptable. When you think about that, those numbers are enormous. We also found that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were found to be even more likely to have experienced workplace sexual harassment. It's up to us to stand up and demand that we as a nation do better. We must. Workplace sexual harassment is not inevitable. It is not acceptable, full stop, and it is preventable. We are all responsible for creating safe, gender-equal and inclusive workplaces—in all workplaces. This is why we are so supportive of this bill.

This bill will significantly strength and clarify the legal and regulatory frameworks relating to sexual harassment in Australia. In particular, the bill introduces a positive duty on employers and business owners. In addition, the bill will amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 and the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. This is important because the commission and the act need to have the capability of enforcing and ensuring these changes in the workplace. It will also provide the commission with a broad ability to inquire into systematic unlawful discrimination.

We are committed to ensuring that Australia gets back to being the leading force on equality and wiping out workplace sexual harassment. We don't want any Australian being held back because of gender or any other form of discrimination. This is why this government is investing $7 billion to drive gender equality. It is also why we are delivering cheaper child care for 96 per cent of Australian families and why we are expanding the Paid Parental Leave scheme up to 26 weeks by July 2026. It is also why we are addressing the growing gender pay gap by investing $20.2 million to establish two new expert panels on pay equality. And we are making gender equality an objective of the Fair Work Act 2009 and legislating a statutory equal renumeration principle.

We are also investing $42.5 million to implement all the recommendations of the Respect@Work report. This includes funding women's centres in all states and territories which provide free advice and assistance to women, the implementation of 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave, and additional crisis and transitional housing options for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness.

The changes proposed by this bill are an important part of these widespread reforms, so I commend the bill to the House.

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