'Over 75%': WA unveils progress on Respect@Work recommendations

'Work is well underway to complete the rest'

BY Dexter Tilo 23 Dec 2023

The Western Australia government says it is now satisfying over 75% of the recommendations from the Respect@Work Report.

In its Implementing Respect@Work 2023 Progress Report, the government revealed that it has completed 14 out of the 18 recommendations.

According to the WA government, the recent measures it took to satisfy some of the recommendations include:

Launching the National Plan to end Violence Against Women and Children-2022-2032 and allocating $1.3 billion through the Federal Budget 2022-23
Mandating consent education in the WA school curriculum for pre-primary to year 10 students which will take effect from 2024
Implementing the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022, which came into effect in December 2022
The development of WA's first Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Strategy
The implementation of key strategies including WA's Plan for Gender Equality and Path to Safety: Western Australia's strategy to reduce family and domestic violence 2020-2030

"Over 75% of recommendations from the Respect@Work Report have now been implemented and work is well underway to complete the rest," said Women's Interests Minister Sue Ellery in a statement.

Recommendations around equal opportunity, discrimination

On the remaining recommendations, the WA government said the drafting for a new Equal Opportunity Act is underway and is targeted for alignment with the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

Second, the Western Australian Training Accreditation Council is also now working closely with relevant parties on the review and piloting of revised Standards for Registered Training Organisations.

Third, the Council of Attorneys-General also approved in July 2020 the Model Defamation Amendment Provisions, which are a set of proposed changes to Australia's defamation laws to allow more protection for freedom of expression and public interest journalism.

Lastly, the state government is also working with the Commonwealth and other states and territory governments to identify working models for women's centres that will best meet Western Australia's needs.

The Respect@Work Report is national inquiry into sexual harassment in Australia workplaces that was released in 2020.

It outlined 55 recommendations to all levels of government, industry, business, and the community to prevent sexual harassment in workplaces. Among these recommendations, 18 apply to State and Territory governments.