One in 10 staff at government’s gender equality department report harassment
One in 10 employees in the federal government department responsible for implementing gender equality laws and protections against sexual harassment say they have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace.
A further 43 of the 565 attorney general department staff who responded to the survey, said they were unsure if they had experienced sexual harassment at work.
The survey, undertaken in April 2021 – shortly after the then attorney general Christian Porter, outed himself as the subject of a program on the ABC that alleged a cabinet minister had raped a fellow debater in the 1980s – was provided to Guardian Australia following a freedom of information request. Porter has strenuously denied the allegations and sued the ABC for defamation. The case was later settled.
There had also been further allegations about incidents in parliament house, including the alleged rape of a Liberal staffer, Brittany Higgins by a colleague.
The survey, in which a quarter of the staff took part, revealed:
16% of staff reported hearing sexually suggestive comments or jokes 10% reported intrusive questions about their private life
10% reported intrusive comments or jokes about their physical appearance, and
5.9% reported inappropriate and unwelcome touching.
The department has a high proportion of female staff, with about threequarters of the survey respondents being women.
The survey found that while 81.14% of respondents had not experienced sexual harassment at the department, 67 said they had, although some said it occurred in a previous workplace, and a further 43said they were unsure.
In a letter to staff, Sarah Chidgey, chair of the department’s sexual harassment review steering committee said: “These numbers are much higher than the number of reports we receive through human resources, which is in line with trends around underreporting.”
Of those who reported experiencing sexual harassment, more than threequarters said it had occurred in the last five years.
Almost half said they told a col
league and 20% said they reported it to their manager. But despite working in the department responsible for Australia’s sexual harassment laws, 40% said they did not report it.
Of the 34 who said they did report it, nine said there was informal management of the complaint, three said they made a formal complaint, three said the department suggested they move and another three said they were asked to move to a new work area.
Only 17% said they were satisfied with the department’s policies and procedures, while 32% said they were unsatisfied and 51% said they were somewhat satisfied.
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The department is now drafting a new policy and considering how it will address and prevent sexual harassment.
Guardian Australia also asked a number of other departments for any surveys they had done to determine the prevalence of sexual harassment. None had undertaken the detailed type of surveys that attorney general’s department did.
Treasury said it had responded to an annual survey by the Australian Public Sector Commission, which asked about unacceptable behaviour in the department.
Under the heading, bullying and harassment, 7% of staff said they had been subjected to bullying or harassment in the department and a further 5% were unsure. But this included a much wider range of workplace behaviours and the questions did not focus on sexual harassment. Sixty-five per cent said they did not report the behaviour.
The department of Home Affairs and the department of Education said they had no records of any surveys by their departments on sexual harassment undertaken in 2021.
Comment has been sought from the attorney general’s department.
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