Employers will be required to report incidents of sexual assault to the ACT's workplace safety watchdog under new laws passed in the Legislative Assembly.
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The laws, introduced by Industrial Relations Minister Mick Gentleman, mean employers would need to report any sexual assault incident in the workplace to WorkSafe ACT as soon as they become aware of it.
Under the existing law, sexual assaults in the workplace are only required to be reported to WorkSafe if the victim receives medical treatment or is admitted to hospital.
"Historically, there has been a gap in legislation around the country that has meant workplace regulators, like WorkSafe ACT, have only had to be notified of workplace sexual assault incidents if there was a hospital admission or medical treatment provided. This should not be the case," Mr Gentleman said.
"Every employee in every business operating in the ACT is now protected by our new law.
"This reform is an important step forward in addressing psychosocial hazards in the workplace."
The new laws also included a ban on businesses insuring against their liability for work health and safety fines and penalties and clarifications about safety responsibilities.
The amendments to the Work Health and Safety Act implemented nine of the 34 recommendations from a 2018 review of work health and safety laws across Australia. The review was completed by Marie Boland.
The model included recommendations around mental health in the workplace, the rights and power of workplace health and safety representatives and on sexual harassment and gendered violence.
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Labor backbencher Marisa Paterson spoke about her experience of sexual harassment when she gave a statement in support of the bill in the Assembly's chamber.
"I was not planning to speak today so I have not prepared a speech but I feel compelled to talk. I was sexually harassed, sexually assaulted and stalked for two years through my job," she said.
"What this looks like and what it looked like for me was 15, 16 text messages a day of incredibly sexually explicit things that I did not consent to, that I did not want to hear and he was a very powerful person that had an international standing and I was an early career researcher at the time.
"It's not right, it should never happen. Everyone deserves to go to work and be safe and be treated respectfully and this is why I am incredibly proud that this legislation has been passed today and I'm very supportive of it."
Dr Paterson went public in New Zealand media in 2020 with allegations of sexual harassment perpetrated by a leading professor at an Auckland university.
Dr Paterson made a complaint to the Auckland University of Technology but this was not properly investigated. Earlier this year, Dr Paterson received an apology from the university over its handling of the complaint.
Opposition spokesman for workplace affairs Ed Cocks also spoke about the impact of bullying and sexual assault in the workplace
"I would like to reflect that across my own work journey I have witnessed and been the victim of bullying at different times and the impact that bullying can have on any worker is significant," he said.
"It makes it hard to get up in the morning, to go to work, to make a contribution.
"It leaves scars on your family life. It leaves people unable to fully engage in their community and in their workplace.
"For sexual assault those impacts are magnified."
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