All Queensland practices must have a written plan to manage the risk of sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment from 1 March 2025
Workplace sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment remains a serious issue across Australian workplaces, and all Australian employers have a positive legal duty to take proactive steps to prevent relevant unlawful conduct occurring in the workplace or in connection with work.
In a significant move to further combat these issues, Queensland work health and safety (WHS) regulations1 now require every practice in Queensland to implement a sexual harassment prevention plan to eliminate identified risks from 1 March 2025. These laws apply to every Queensland practice, large and small.
What is a sexual harassment prevention plan?
Every Australian practice has a general WHS legal obligation to identify and manage psychosocial risks associated with work. In Queensland, these laws now expressly require every practice to proactively identify risks associated with sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment in the workplace or in connection with work.
For all practical purposes, there is a risk of sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment in the conduct of any practice.
A written sexual harassment prevention plan must be implemented by Queensland practices to manage and eliminate identified risks to the health and safety of workers or others from sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment at work. These laws double down on the obligation to take proactive steps to stop these forms of harassment and implement control measures to manage the associated psychosocial risks. It is not enough for practices to merely respond to complaints of harassment after the fact.
What are the specific requirements for a sexual harassment prevention plan?
The WHS regulations are very prescriptive about what must be included in a sexual harassment prevention plan where a risk of sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment is identified. This includes that the plan must:
- be in writing;
- specify each identified risk in the workplace;
- include a list of the control measures that have been implemented, or are to be implemented, to manage each identified risk;
- identify the matters considered by the practice in determining the control measures;
- outline the consultation process undertaken with workers in compliance with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld);
- outline the process for reporting sexual harassment or sex or
gender-based harassment at work, including how the report will be
investigated, including:
- how a person can make a report;
- how the report will be investigated;
- that the person who made a report has the right to be represented by a representative (eg a union delegate or lawyer);
- how the person who made the report and other parties will be informed of the results of the investigation; and
- that the person who made the report may also use issue resolution and dispute resolution procedures under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (QLD); and
- ensuring the plan is expressed in a way that is readily accessible and understandable to workers; and
- will be reviewed each time a report of sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment at work is made, at the request of a health and safety committee, or otherwise at least every three years.
Practices must consult with workers about implementing the prevention plan.
Risks of non-compliance
Fines of up to $9,678 per breach apply for non-compliance if a Queensland practice fails to prepare, implement and/or review a prevention plan. Each failure is a separate offence, meaning that practice can be separately fined if they fail to prepare, and implement, and review a compliant prevention plan.
Action required to comply
All Queensland practices should promptly review their existing policies to ensure they meet the prescribed requirements, conduct a workplace risk assessment in relation to sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment, develop and implement a prevention plan for the practice in consultation with workplace participants, and train all workers in relation to the prevention plan and the practices' associated policies prohibiting sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment at work.
Footnote
1 Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation 2024
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
