Employment law update: Special Edition:

New Queensland sexual harassment laws will impose the strictest requirements for employers of any Australian jurisdiction

As you may know, new sexual harassment laws are commencing next month on 1 March 2025, courtesy of the second limb of the Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation 2024 (WHS Amendment Regulation). These new reforms requiring employers in Queensland to implement proactive measures to prevent and eliminate workplace discrimination and harassment based on specific characteristics of their workers and work environment will impose the strictest requirements of any Australian jurisdiction for employers.

 

Context: First limb of amendments to work health and safety laws took effect 1 September 2024

The first limb of the WHS Amendment Regulation took effect last year on 1 September 2024, introducing an express obligation on employers in Queensland to:

• manage gender and sex-based harassment at work, through sexual harassment risk assessment measures; and
• consider characteristics of the workers, workplace and work environment in implementing control measures.

While persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) have long since had an obligation to proactively manage psychological risks under Queensland’s WHS legislation and a positive duty to eliminate, so far as possible, sexual harassment and other unlawful conduct under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), the first limb of the WHS amendments goes one step further to require the explicit contemplation of the specific risks arising from the characteristics of their workers (such as their age, gender, sexual orientation etc.,) and the characteristics of their workplace environment (such as a lack of diversity in the workplace).

 

The second limb of the amendments to work health and safety laws take effect 1 March 2025

However, the second limb of the reforms to take effect 1 March 2025 will require employers to prepare and implement a written sexual harassment “prevention plan” identifying the risks, control measures, and consultation processes to prevent sexual or gender-based harassment in their workplace.

There are a range of requirements for the prevention plan to be compliant, such as that it must be reviewed each time a report of sexual harassment or gender-based harassment is made, or otherwise every three years. Reasonable steps must also be taken to make workers aware of and understand the prevention plan and how to access it.

Companies who contravene these new obligations will face civil penalties, regardless of whether any sexual harassment actually occurs, of up to $9,678 per breach. It comes as the Queensland Human Rights Commission has also been given additional powers to conduct investigations and commence enforcement action in the case of non-compliance with new obligations.

We strongly recommend that employers, even those national businesses with employees in Queensland, seek dedicated employment law advice given the new ‘high water mark’ for compliance.

Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation 2024

 

 

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