ºÚÁÏÇ鱨վ

Back to projects Community Policing Partnership Project News Report available - Building Trust: Working with Muslim communities in Australia: a review of the Community Policing Partnership Project (25 March 2011) The Community Policing Partnership Program supported the development of local partnerships between police and Muslim communities across Australia. Joint community and police…

This page has moved. If you are not redirected automatically please click here: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/education/esl/ The new page will load in a few seconds.

In a modern workforce where men and women work side by side it is important that employers protect their employees from unwanted behaviour that is not only harmful to the employee involved but also unprofessional and unproductive for the workplace. Sexual harassment is one form of unwanted behaviour that attempts to exclude individuals from the workplace by focusing on the sex of the person…

The information available in relation to each of the 152 complaints varied. As such, it was not always possible to determine each finding in relation to all of the complaints. For each of the findings below, the number of complaints for which the particular information was available is noted in brackets.

Sexual harassment has been unlawful across Australia for almost twenty years with 2004 marking the twentieth anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (Sex Discrimination Act). [2] Over that period, community awareness of the existence of sexual harassment, particularly in the area of employment, has grown considerably.

Sexual harassment is an unwelcome sexual advance, unwelcome request for sexual favours or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated, where a reasonable person would anticipate that reaction in the circumstances. [11] The Sex Discrimination Act defines the nature and circumstances in which sexual harassment is unlawful. [12]

The majority of reported sexual harassment was targeted at women, involved multiple forms of harassing behaviour and occurred on more than one occasion. In over one in five cases, the harassment continued for more than 12 months. Verbal harassment was often a precursor to physical forms of harassment.

A significant number of sexual harassment complaints received by the Commission involve small businesses. Employers should be aware of the potential for sexual harassment to occur in the context of close working relationships where staff are on familiar terms with one another and should take appropriate precautions to avoid this risk.

This Chapter compares the results of HREOC's review of sexual harassment in employment complaints reported in A Bad Business with the findings of the telephone survey on the incidence and nature of sexual harassment in the workplace in relation to:

Sexual harassment is unlawful under the SDA and complaints of sexual harassment are managed by HREOC under the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (Cth) ("HREOCA"). This Chapter provides a short overview of the public policy framework which governs sexual harassment and examines some of the implications of the survey results for public policy, particularly in…

A telephone survey questionnaire of eight to ten minutes duration was designed by HREOC in collaboration with the Gallup Organization. A copy is attached at Appendix B.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual conduct which makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/or intimidated where that reaction is reasonable in the circumstances. Sexual harassment in employment is unlawful under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth).

HREOC's release of its interim paper, Valuing Parenthood: Options for paid maternity leave sparked an extraordinary community debate about the difficulties of combining work and family responsibilities in modern Australia.

Recommendation 2: That a national scheme of paid leave at the time of birth of a child be provided for women. The exceptions to this, where payment can be made to a woman's partner, should include where the mother has died, where the mother is not medically able to care for the child (based on a doctor's opinion), or where the child has been adopted.

The consultation invited comments on the potential benefit of federal laws protecting people from discrimination and harassment. Overwhelmingly, participants argued that introducing such protections would result in significant benefits for the Australian community as a whole. A small number of participants argued that there would be no benefit from these protections.

The consultation was directly concerned with how protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation might be included in federal law. Section 6 above outlines what the consultation heard about the benefits of these protections. This part outlines:

The consultation was directly concerned with how protection from discrimination on the basis of sex and/or gender identity might be included in federal law. Section 6 above outlines what the consultation heard about the benefits of such protections. This part outlines:

During the consultation, the Commission received a number of comments regarding exemptions from potential federal protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sex and/or gender identity. Many participants who supported new protections from discrimination argued that there should either be narrow or no exemptions at all. Some participants, particularly those affiliated…

The consultation received a number of suggestions about other ways in which the Australian Government could protect the human rights of LGBTI people in Australia. Many participants argued that while anti-discrimination legislation is an important step towards equality, it is essential that it is accompanied by other actions. Suggestions were often informed by personal experiences of…