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Current system must be disrupted to end sexual harassment
A group of mostly male executives from Australia’s top companies has stated that the current system must be changed to end the “insidious state of sexual harassment”, in a new report aimed to tackle the issue at a time when the country is facing a number of scandals in the professional level.
Tony Zhang
The Male Champions of Change group, which has members from the country’s major organisations, sectors and industries said companies should work to ensure sexual harassment never takes place rather than just respond to cases when they happen.
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All 260 members of the Male Champions of Change have signed a new guidance report calling for sexual harassment to be treated as a workplace health and safety issue and pushing to scale back non-disclosure agreements, among other recommendations.
Developed over the past two years, the coalition believes it will set a new standard for all organisations across Australia and the world.
Founder of Male Champions of Change, Elizabeth Broderick AO, says current strategies focused on compliance and managing cases have not worked for employees, organisations or the community given the well-documented persistence and prevalence of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces.
“We are saying that unless leaders take action to intervene against sexual harassment, they remain part of the culture that enables it. We are suggesting a totally new approach, that aims to eradicate this insidious and deeply harmful behaviour from organisations and our community,” Ms Broderick said.
James Fazzino, chair of Manufacturing Australia, added that disrupting the system requires a major rethink on how the issue is managed.
The report acknowledged while the current legal system has been important in giving rights and avenues for redress to victims, the current system “silences people” and recognises this approach “hasn’t been effective in eradicating sexual harassment.”
“The use of non-disclosure agreements in particular has silenced people impacted, allowed the behaviour to continue and at times, appeared to condone it. In the past, many organisations have prioritised legal responses and ‘shutting down the issue’, driven by reputation management,” the report stated.
“This can have the perverse outcome of protecting and/or emboldening higher-status employees at the expense of complainants, their co-workers and the broader interests of the organisation and the community in naming and tackling sexual harassment.”
MCC has also called for sexual harassment to be listed in annual reports, and for CEOs to be financially penalised if cases are not quickly resolved.
It recommends significantly reducing the use of non-disclosure agreements to be used at the request of the victim only, as well as for strategies that encourage staff to speak up, listening to and respecting employees who have experienced harassment, and promoting more gender equality.
The proposals come as Australia is being shaken by corporate scandals, which have prompted companies to review their codes of conduct and propelled the issue to the top of their agenda.
For the legal profession, the explosive investigation into Justice Dyson Heydon’s alleged misconduct revealed an independent High Court inquiry found he had sexually harassed six judge’s associates during his tenure.
Mr Heydon has denied “emphatically any allegation of sexual harassment or any offence”.
Another system shift proposed is a new approach to balancing confidentiality and transparency in the management and reporting of sexual harassment cases.
Noor Blumer, the prominent Canberra lawyer who said former High Court Judge Heydon groped and tried to forcibly kiss her at a law ball in 2013, said victims of harassment fear being labelled “dobbers”, or that they will be sued for defamation.
“The greatest barrier to speaking out is fear,” Ms Blumer told the webcast. “Why should those of us who have done nothing wrong feel afraid?”
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins said Australia lags international standards in preventing and responding to cases of sexual harassment, according to a recent inquiry and Legal Services Commissioner John McKenzie previously said that the legal profession comes out pretty badly compared to other professions.
“Australia is at a real turning point,” Ms Jenkins said adding the country was also responding to the global #MeToo movement against sexual abuse and misconduct.
“These organisations now realise it is critical that they act if they want to have successful profitable businesses and [that] the long-term tolerance is no longer cutting it for big business,” she said.
“Commercial settlements and non-disclosure agreements often reinforce this view and ensure issues are kept out of the public domain and opportunities to learn from cases are diminished.”
