By Gaby Grammeno Contributor

The Work Health and Safety (Sexual and Gender-based Harassment) Code of Practice 2025 provides practical guidance on work health and safety duties in the face of harmful gender-based behaviours.

Sexual and gender-based harassment can cause physical and psychological harm to the person it is directed at and others witnessing the behaviour. It can also lead to significant social and economic costs for workers, their families, their organisation and the wider community.

The new code sets out how to identify, assess and control the risks, how to support workers, and details the duties of officers, workers and others in relation to this issue.

Following an approved code of practice will help employers comply with their duties under WHS laws. Inspectors may cite the code when issuing improvement or prohibition notices, and courts may rely on the code in determining what an employer could reasonably have done to address the problem.

 

What has changed?

The new code reflects recent research on workplace technology‑facilitated sexual harassment and is consistent with the approach in the existing code of practice for Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work, which should be applied alongside it.

It also complements the positive duty of employers and other PCBUs under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate certain forms of unlawful sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, as far as possible.

Sexual harassment is any 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.

Sexual harassment can be a form of gender-based harassment. The term gender-based harassment is used in the code to describe unwelcome conduct based on a person’s gender, sex or sexuality.

The harassment can take the form of a one-off incident or repeated behaviour. It can be obvious, or subtle.

It is not limited to actual or attempted rape or sexual assault. Unwelcome touching, hugging, kissing or cornering can amount to harassment, as well as sexualised comments about a person’s appearance or clothing, sexist or gender-based insults or ‘jokes’ of a sexually suggestive or explicit nature, or intrusive questions or comments about a person’s private life.

These or other relevant behaviours can happen wherever a person is working, including where the worker is engaging in work-related activities such as conferences, training, trips, or other work-related events. It can also occur by phone, email or online (such as through social media platforms), or by misusing shared workplace technologies (such as shared calendars).

Recognising that some workers are more vulnerable than others, the code notes that:

  • Women, young workers, those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, LGBTQIA+ workers and workers with disability are more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment.
  • The likelihood of harassment increases in workplaces where there are power imbalances along gendered lines.
  • Workplaces with low worker diversity (dominated by one gender) and a culture which tolerates or accepts workplace sexual and gender-based harassment can contribute to the prevalence of such harassment.

 

Developing a culture of respect

Failure to manage and appropriately respond to instances of harassment and discrimination at work may encourage a culture of disrespect and increase the likelihood of sexual and gender-based harassment occurring.

The code supports the implementation of recommendation 35 of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report (2020). This recommended that WHS ministers agree to amend model WHS laws to deal with psychological health and develop guidelines and a code of practice on sexual harassment.

The code emphasises the importance of consulting with workers and other duty holders at all stages of the risk management process, and specifies useful methods of identifying sexual and gender-based harassment, including observing and considering people’s behaviours and having a reporting mechanism in place, as well as the physical environment, workplace demographics and the design of work.

It also provides detailed guidance on how employers should investigate and respond to reports of gender-based harassment, including the selection of an investigator, and the confidentiality of reports.

It stresses that a lack of reports does not necessarily mean that sexual and gender-based harassment is not happening, as only a fraction of workers who experience harassment report the conduct.

Nor is it sufficient to have a workplace policy addressing harmful behaviours. Though such a policy can help set clear expectations about behaviours at the workplace and during work-related activities, it is only an administrative control measure that may not be the most effective, particularly when used in isolation.

Manager and supervisor training is critical in adequately dealing with the issue, as is leadership and the workplace culture, given that management sets the tone.

Coming at a time when nationwide rallies are calling for action on gendered violence – over 100 women having died violent deaths in the last 15 months – the code presents a fresh opportunity for business leaders to show the way to achieve positive social change at workplaces and in the wider community.

Read the Sexual and Gender based Harassment Code of Practice 2025