The Albanese Government has the opportunity to take "bold and decisive action" to make workplaces safe and harassment-free, according to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC.
The WGEA is urging employers to boost part-time workers' access to management roles and implement gender-neutral leave policies, as gender pay gap research shows women make up less than half of the full-time workforce and are out-earned by men at every age.
After a wave of s-xual harassment and assault coming to light at remote mine sites, the FWC has told Rio Tinto it should conduct a "proper" investigation of what appears to be s-xual harassment of a former employee almost five years ago, but has ruled it has no power to make anti-harassment orders because he is no longer working for the resources giant.
Sydney Water has failed to quash a FWC finding that clears the way for a former employee whose image was used in a suggestive OHS poster to pursue more than $1 million in damages on the basis its botched response forced her to resign.
In a case that illustrates sexual harassment problems at remote mine sites, the Commission has upheld BHP Billiton's sacking of a service technician after he groped and pursued two young female cleaners, prompting one to leave the "too unsafe to return" worksite.
Victoria's Supreme Court has ruled that an employer might have treated a manager unfavourably because of her age and sex when it ignored her repeated requests to provide her similar over-agreement pay rates to those afforded to male colleagues, while it has also found that the State's equal opportunity laws enable consideration of "unconscious bias".
A tribunal has awarded a s-xually harassed and assaulted beauty therapist $150,000 in general damages, equal to $70 per day for the six years she has suffered and will likely continue to suffer the effects of the conduct.
