NOTEPAD
Eliminating sexual harassment in Australian workplaces
ANROWS Notepad | 22 April 2021
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO RESPECT@WORK REPORT
A Roadmap for Respect
ANROWS welcomes the Australian Government’s response to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) Respect@Work: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces. The Respect@Work report, drawing in part on ANROWS resources and activities, outlines 55 recommendations designed to address and prevent sexual harassment in Australian workplaces.
Implementation of these recommendations is urgently needed: 33 per cent of people in the workforce in the past five years have been affected by sexual harassment (39 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men), and it is estimated to have cost the Australian economy $3.8 billion in 2018.
The Australian Government’s response to the Inquiry, A Roadmap for Respect: Preventing and Addressing Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces, addresses each of the 55 recommendations contained in the Respect@Work report. It demonstrates a commitment to improving women’s safety not only through implementation of the Respect@Work report’s recommendations but also through the development of the next National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. Of the 55 recommendations, five have been agreed to in principle, nine have been noted, and 41 have been agreed to in full or in part.
Two of the recommendations that have only been noted (17 & 18) involve the amendment of the Sex Discrimination Act to incorporate a positive duty on all employers “to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation, as far as possible”.
ANROWS encourages the Australian Government to reconsider their position on these recommendations, and supports the AHRC and the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins in their response. Commissioner Jenkins said, “It will be a missed opportunity to not introduce a positive duty to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment in the Sex Discrimination Act, so I am happy to assist Government with the evidence provided to the National Inquiry as they further assess this recommendation.”
ANROWS, too, would be pleased to lend its support to further assessment of Recommendation 17, in particular, and we look forward to aiding the AHRC in this endeavour. We also look forward to working with the Workplace Sexual Harassment Council (now called the Respect@Work Council) to produce a National Sexual Harassment Research Agenda as recommended (Recommendation 4) in Respect@Work.
2020–2022 ANROWS CORE GRANT RESEARCH PROGRAM
Research team to examine DFV and interdependent issues for families with child protection involvement using the NSW Human Services Dataset
Led by Amy Conley Wright of the University of Sydney, “Analysis of linked longitudinal administrative data on child protection involvement for NSW families with domestic and family violence, drug and alcohol issues and mental health issues” will analyse the NSW Human Services Dataset, baseline data for which in 2018 included more than 3 million children. The project will generate new evidence about the interdependence of domestic and family violence, drug and alcohol issues and mental health issues for families with child protection involvement, with a focus on families living in rural or geographically remote areas in New South Wales.
The project’s research team is the first research team examining these issues using the NSW Human Services Dataset, and the team has the rare opportunity to conduct a population-level analysis, which will enable examination of the data from a policy perspective.
ANROWS WEBINAR
Evaluation in the violence against women sector
Undertaking evaluation in the violence against women sector is often complex and requires managing various risk, safety and ethical issues.
In this ANROWS webinar, an expert panel will draw on examples of evaluations they have implemented, and share strategies and tips for workers in the violence against women sector.
ANROWS has developed a range of resources on evaluation in the sector, including our Evaluation Quick Guides and a guide for evaluating behaviour change programs for men who use domestic and family violence.
This webinar is a must-see for staff of community-based organisations working in the domestic and family violence sector. For more information, and to register, please visit the event page on the ANROWS website.
The webinar is open to anyone, and free to attend. A recording of the webinar will be made available on the ANROWS website following the event.
REGISTER NOW
WORKUP QUEENSLAND
Intersectionality webinar series
WorkUP Queensland is running a four-part online series on intersectionality, beginning on 30 April with a workshop taking an applied approach to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations.
Facilitated by Jatinder Kaur, director of JK Diversity Consultants, the interactive and stimulating series of half-day courses will assist professionals in exploring the topic of intersectionality and how to respond to diverse populations.
Interested individuals can register for one or more of the sessions, which include CALD populations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, LGBTQ and intersex communities, and bringing it all together using a life-course frame.
REGISTER NOW
ANROWS WEBINAR RECORDING
Policy levers to address economic insecurity – Part 2
“Trauma-informed systems [are vital], so no matter who is having that conversation with victims and survivors, the conversation is empathetic, trauma-informed and provides the right referrals to appropriate agencies and supports.” Moo Baulch, Director of Primary Prevention, Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre (WAGEC) and advisor to CommBank’s Next Chapter financial abuse program
Financial abuse, an often under-reported aspect of domestic and family violence, can have devastating consequences for women, often lasting for decades. And for women who are not subject to tactics of financial abuse, the economic impact of domestic and family violence can still be immense. Policies across the social security, banking, gambling, housing and homelessness, and domestic and family violence systems aim to address these issues. However, these policies are found to both alleviate and exacerbate stressors.
On Monday 12 April, an expert panel facilitated by Hayley Boxall (Research Manager, Violence against Women and Children Research, Australian Institute of Criminology) continued the conversation on financial abuse and economic insecurity that they began at the ANROWS National Research Conference, and the webinar is now available to view via the ANROWS website.
WATCH NOW
New research and resources
You can access the resources in this list and all the other articles in Notepad in the ANROWS Library.
Books and reports
Cullen, P., Baffsky, R., Beek, K., & Wayland, S. (2020). How frontline domestic and family violence workforce in Australia kept connected to their clients and each other through the pandemic: Practitioner report. UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute. https://www.humanrights.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/2021-03/COVID%20DFV%20Report_V2.pdf?mc_cid=cf14b4a45b&mc_eid=83d4f18a53
O’Donnell, M., Buvinic, M., Kenny, C., Bourgault, S., & Yang, G. (2021). Promoting women’s economic empowerment in the COVID-19 context. Center for Global Development. https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/promoting-wee-during-covid.pdf
New research articles
You can access the resources in this list and all the other articles in Notepad in the ANROWS Library.
Dowling, C., Boxall, H., & Morgan, A. (2021). The criminal career trajectories of domestic violence offenders. Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice (no. 624). https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi624
Fanslow, J., Malihi, Z., Hashemi, L., Gulliver, P., & McIntosh, T. (2021). Change in prevalence of psychological and economic abuse, and controlling behaviours against women by an intimate partner in two cross-sectional studies in New Zealand, 2003 and 2019. BMJ Open, 11(3), e044910. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044910
Riding, S., Thévenon, O., Adema, W., & Dirwan, G. (2021). Looking beyond COVID-19: Strengthening family support services across the OECD. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers (no. 260). https://doi.org/10.1787/86738ab2-en
Robinson, S., valentine, k., & Idle, J. (2021). Disability and family violence prevention: A case study on participation in evidence making. Evidence & Policy: A Journal of Research, Debate and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426421X16143457505305
Saltmarsh, S., Tualaulelei, E., & Ayre, K. (2021). “A damn sight more sensitivity”: Gender and parent–school engagement during post-separation family transitions. Gender and Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2021.1902483
Read
The court said she was lying about being abused. She did a year on home detention. She wasn’t lying—Stuff NZ
He had a QC, she couldn’t afford a lawyer. Is that justice?—Stuff NZ
How a health check-up helped one woman break a cycle of domestic violence—ABC News
“Still very much a state emergency”: What family violence statistics tell us—SMH
Welfare concerns for children exposed to more family violence during COVID-19 lockdowns—ABC News
A new campaign is starting a conversation around LGBTIQ+ people facing family violence—SBS News
Your guide to SBS Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month programming—SBS
Domestic violence in regional Australia on the rise—ABC News
Conferences & events
26 APRIL 2021: Policy and practice in family violence in the UK and Australia: How do they compare?
27 APRIL 2021: Evaluation in the violence against women sector
5 to 6 MAY 2021: Restoring trust: Ending officer involved domestic violence (OIDV)
11 MAY 2021: Disability and domestic and family violence – Effective organisational responses for the disability workforce
19 MAY 2021: Family violence workforce wellbeing during COVID-19
21 JULY 2021: Victim-survivor experiences and advocacy during COVID-19
7 TO 8 OCTOBER 2021: Indigenous Wellbeing Conference
Opportunities
BREACHES OF FAMILY LAW PARENTING ORDERS: SURVEY
The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has been commissioned by ANROWS to undertake research into the compliance with and enforcement of family law parenting orders. The research will involve multiple studies, including a survey of legal and non-legal professionals working in the family law system.
You are invited to take part in this survey if you are a legal professional (including judicial officers, barristers and solicitors) or non-legal professional (including family dispute resolution practitioners, family violence sector professionals, and professionals working in post-separation support services, such as parenting order programs).
STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CONFERENCE
The Stop Domestic Violence Conference, to be held on the Gold Coast from 1 to 3 December 2021, is currently inviting applications. The conference is an opportunity for presenters to share best practice and provide real solutions to ending domestic and family violence, and to help improve access for victims and survivors, perpetrators and the wider community to critical resources, information and services.
Applications are encouraged in a variety of areas, such as Aboriginal self-determined and de-colonised practice; intersectional experiences including disability, LGBTQ and CALD; and research, evidence and emerging concepts.
Submissions are open until Friday 30 July, 2021.
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