Positive duties to prevent sexual harassment at work: Treat the symptom or cure the disease?

Abstract

This article examines one of the recommendations made by the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work Report – to amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) – to implement a positive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment at work. This article argues that such a duty would not only improve the Act’s effectiveness but could minimise the pervasive problem of sexual harassment in the Australian workforce and achieve a more meaningful state of gender equality.