Australian Human Rights Commission, March 2020
This Inquiry examined the nature and prevalence of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, the drivers of this harassment and measures to address and prevent sexual harassment.
Since 2003, the Australian Human Rights Commission has conducted four periodic
surveys on the national experience of sexual harassment. The most recent survey showed that sexual harassment in Australian workplaces is widespread and pervasive.
One in three people experienced sexual harassment at work in the past five years.
Underpinning this aggregate figure is an equally shocking reflection of the
gendered and intersectional nature of workplace sexual harassment. As the 2018
National Survey revealed, almost two in five women (39%) and just over one in
four men (26%) have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in the past
five years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were more likely to have
experienced workplace sexual harassment than people who are non-Indigenous (53%
and 32% respectively).