Sexual Harassment Bill Passes Parliament
22-188 | 2 December 2022
Relevant for Directors and CEOs
Member clubs are advised that the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 (the Bill) was passed by Federal Parliament on 28 November 2022.
The Bill implements seven of the recommendations from the Respect@Work Report (released in March 2020) and significantly strengthens the legal and regulatory frameworks relating to workplace sexual harassment in Australia.
The new laws include a positive duty for employers to prevent workplace sex discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
Key changes for clubs to be aware of are:
- Positive duty to eliminate unlawful workplace sex discrimination
- Sexual harassment by customers
- Commissioner's powers.
The details of these changes and the recommended course of action for clubs can be found in Circular 22-147.
Amendments to the Bill – Legal Costs
The Bill initially proposed to limit the ability of successful parties in discrimination proceedings (not just sexual harassment) from recovering their legal costs from the other party.
ClubsNSW, through Clubs Australia, led the opposition to this proposal. Given the significant costs of defending an action in the Federal Court, ClubsNSW was concerned that the inability to recover costs would deter clubs from defending themselves and, in turn, embolden complainants to demand substantial settlement amounts. These changes would have impacted the club industry, which tends to have a disproportionate number of discrimination complaints, reflecting clubs’ significant community footprint.
ClubsNSW welcomes the Government’s decision to withdraw this proposal and instead undertake further consultation.
ClubsNSW will keep clubs informed of any further developments on the legal cost issue.
Commencement
These new laws will commence the day after the Royal Assent. The only exception is the Commission’s new functions to monitor and assess compliance with the positive duty which will commence 12 months after the Bill was enacted (28 November 2022). The delay will ensure clubs have sufficient time to understand their obligations under the positive duty requirements and implement changes, if necessary.
For further information, contact ClubAssist on 1300 730 001 or via enquiries@clubsnsw.com.au.