Workplace harassment
is bad for business
November 2022
New sexual harassment laws now apply to all businesses
In late 2022 the Federal Government changed the laws around sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. The new laws impose a new positive duty on all businesses, which includes early learning service providers.
This "positive duty" requires employers to shift their focus to actively prevent workplace sexual harassment and discrimination, rather than respond to it only after it occurs.
Simply responding to sexual harassment complaints is no longer enough to comply with the law.
IMPORTANT NOTE: An employer not meeting their positive duty can lead to various statutory contraventions, including those of the Sex Discrimination Act itself.
The Federal Court recently fined a small business retailer $268,000 in a sexual harassment case brought against them by an employee.
The decision reveals that damages for sexual harassment offences are now increasing. You can read ABLA's summary about the case here.
What is required of an employer to comply with the new law?
The law unfortunately doesn’t actually tell employers or businesses exactly what they need to do to be compliant. That is, the law is not prescriptive - it just states that the employer must be taking reasonable and proportionate steps to eliminate unlawful conduct as far as possible.
This makes it difficult for an individual early learning service provider to know how to make sure they have ticked off all requirements under the new law.
How we can help
It is in this context that the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) has joined forces with Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors (ABLA) to provide you with a simple, practical Sexual Harassment Positive Duty Toolkit for early learning service providers.
We've taken the pain out of doing the research and finding out about the finer detail - just follow the simple steps in our toolkit to make sure your service is doing everything possible to meet your legal obligations.
Our aim is to simplify the process for our members
"The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) is proud to partner with the Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors (ABLA) to help our members meet their new positive duty obligations around the risk of workplace sexual harassment.
We have negotiated a special ACA-member exclusive price so you can access ABLA's Sexual Harassment Positive Duty Toolkit at a fraction of the usual cost. We hope you take advantage of this valuable offer."
Paul Mondo
ACA President
Meeting your legal obligations shouldn't be hard
“I am pleased to be working with ACA to help you manage your new ‘positive’ compliance obligations in an efficient way, tailored to the size and nature of your service.
Nigel Ward, CEO and Director of the Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors (ABLA)
Our exclusive offer
to ACA members
To make sure our members have easy access to the information they need, ACA has negotiated that our members pay only:
- $950 (plus GST) to order the Sexual Harassment Positive Duty Toolkit
For a resource of such high value, this is a very affordable price.
Sign up today!
Click on the red button below to purchase ABLA's Sexual Harassment Positive Duty Toolkit.
Upon receipt of payment, you'll receive an email providing you with everything you need to get started.
