What to do if you experience or witness work-related sexual harassment

The person conducting the business or undertaking (PCBU) must provide you with information and support on how to respond if sexual harassment is directed at you, what you should do if you witness it and how to report it.

How someone responds to sexual harassment may vary depending on the nature of the incident. For example:

  • If you feel safe and comfortable doing so, tell the person to stop their behaviour. They may not realise the effect their behaviour is having on you or others, and your feedback may give them the opportunity to change their actions.
  • Seek support from your supervisor, other workers, other people nearby or security personnel.
  • Remove yourself from the situation, such as retreating to a safe location, asking the harasser to leave the work area or disconnecting the harasser from a phone call.
  • You may decide to seek help from Police, for example if the behaviour involves violence or threats of violence.

If any person experiences or witnesses sexual assault, they should notify ACT Policing on 131 444, or 000 if it is an emergency.

From 9 June 2023, the PCBU must report workplace sexual assault incidents to WorkSafe ACT .

If you experience sexual harassment, you should:

  • Report it to a manager, supervisor, HSR or human resources or use the reporting processes at your workplace immediately or as soon as you are able
  • Seek support (including psychological support) from a colleague, helpline, counselling service, legal service or employee representative.
  • Keep a record of what happened, when and where it happened, who was involved and anything else you think may be important.

You can also talk to the Police about sexual harassment you have experienced .

For immediate emotional support, the following services may help:

If you witness sexual harassment, you should:

  • If you feel safe and comfortable doing so, tell the person to stop their behaviour
  • Support the person experiencing the harassment.
  • Report it to a manager, supervisor, HSR or human resources or using the reporting processes at your workplace immediately or as soon as you are able

Contacting WorkSafe ACT

When internal processes fail, you can report your concerns to WorkSafe ACT. If issues remain and your workplace does not make efforts to adequately address work-related violence, you can raise a psychosocial hazard complaint with WorkSafe ACT.

The Assistance from WorkSafe ACT webpage provides information on what WorkSafe ACT can and cannot do, steps on how to report and issue and an overview of what you can expect once an issue has been reported.

If the work-related sexual harassment caused physical or psychological harm and you had to take time off work, you may be able to claim workers’ compensation. Visit our workers compensation page for further information.

More information

Resources

On this page