Hospitality workers have a higher-than-average chance of experiencing workplace sexual harassment*. In response SafeWork NSW, led by the Respect at Work Taskforce, visited 38 bar, pub and club venues across NSW in December 2024 and January 2025.
*Time for Respect: Australian Human Rights Commission, 2022
During the compliance visits, inspectors:
- assessed if businesses were proactively managing work health and safety (WHS) risks to prevent workplace sexual harassment of their workers, including key drivers such as alcohol and late-night work.
- provided businesses with education and resources to help them meet their WHS obligations, where required
- issued improvement notices in response to areas of non-compliance
A tailored guide and factsheet supported the compliance visits together with a communications campaign to raise awareness of this specific workplace hazard within the hospitality industry.
Compliance notices
Inspectors issued 16 improvement notices to 11 venues during this compliance project activity. Businesses were advised they must:
- establish better consultation processes with workers to identify, develop and implement WHS control measures to protect workers
- implement training for workers on risks relative to bar work, including sexual harassment and incident reporting
- consider a range of control measures to manage psychosocial risks including sexual harassment.
What we found
WHS awareness
While the level of knowledge about specific obligations varied, surveyed business owners stated that they were aware of their responsibilities regarding workplace sexual harassment.
Systems of work and control measures
Of the venues visited, 92% were identified as having a system of work in place to identify the risk of sexual harassment. A majority of venues (37 out of 38) were found to have some form of control measure in place to prevent sexual harassment.
Examples of control measures and processes implemented included:
- ensuring management representatives were present during peak and late-night shifts
- assigning inexperienced workers to work on shifts with more experienced colleagues present
- providing security escorts for staff leaving work late at night
- regular policy reviews
- well-lit outdoor areas with CCTV monitoring to enhance safety.
A smaller number of venues had ineffective control measures in place. These businesses were issued with improvement notices and advised on how to improve their current systems. Inspectors followed up to ensure compliance with the improvement notices.
Reviewing control measures
87% of venues were found to have systems of work in place to maintain and review the effectiveness of the control measures. However, a smaller number of venues were found to have inadequate systems for assessing sexual harassment risks.
Businesses should ensure risk registers contain:
- sufficient detail that outlines the hazards
- current control measures, and
- the regular review of these measures.
Proactive identification of risks by reviewing workplace design and rostering is also encouraged. Consultation with workers is integral to ensuring control measures are appropriate and effective.
Workers reporting experiencing or witnessing workplace sexual harassment
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Time for Respect survey highlighted that 33% of workers had experienced workplace sexual harassment over a five-year period to 2022.
Inspectors found 32% of workers within the venues visited had also experienced or witnessed sexual harassment in the workplace. This aligned with the AHRC survey findings. Encouragingly, the vast majority of workers spoken to said they felt comfortable reporting sexual harassment if they experienced it in the workplace.
Training and instruction for workers
82% of venues had some form of training in place for workers and managers on sexual harassment prevention. Several venues provide mandatory training for all workers, including e-learning modules and Respect at Work training.
Reporting pathways for workers
All venues, excluding one, had reporting pathways available to workers to report occurrences of sexual harassment. However, there were fewer venues that had a system of work to respond to risks of sexual harassment.
Ways to increase worker confidence in reporting concerns of workplace sexual harassment include:
- ensuring anonymous reporting mechanisms such as online surveys
- ensuring consultation mechanisms are effective to give a voice to workers to express concerns.
Future needs
Businesses expressed a need for ongoing support. This included continued access to inspectors for consultation on workplace sexual harassment issues.
Supporting businesses to prevent sexual harassment
We have developed a guide to help hospitality businesses understand their obligations and take proactive, practical steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.