'Don't Cross the Line': Victoria launches campaign to curb work-related aggression, violence

Aggression and violence from public 'getting worse,' says expert

BY Dexter Tilo 02 Apr 2025

The Victorian government has kicked off a new campaign that aims to reduce work-related aggression and violence towards employees in public-facing roles.

The campaign, dubbed "Don't Cross the Line," calls on the public to consider the impact of yelling, swearing, and hostility towards employees.

"There is never a place for aggressive or violent behaviour and this campaign is asking Victorians a very simple thing – to treat workers with the respect they deserve," said Deputy Premier and Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC Ben Carroll, in a statement.

The campaign, which will run across different multimedia platforms, showcases situations where the public may feel frustrated and let out their feelings on employees.

In these situations, the government will encourage members of the public to stop, think, and act better in the moment.

"Aggression in the workplace is a community problem and needs a community response, so we're asking all Victorians to step up and the next time you're getting frustrated in a workplace, pause and ask yourself – am I crossing the line?" Carroll said.

Materials for employers

On WorkSafe Victoria's website, the campaign has downloadable posters that employers can print and display in their workplace to remind the public of work-related aggression and violence.

The website also compiles a collection of work-related violence guides that can help employers control the risk of work-related violence.

According to WorkSafe, some examples of aggressive behaviour are:

Aggressive gestures or expressions such as eye rolling and sneering
Verbal abuse such as yelling, swearing and name-calling
Intimidating physical behaviour such as standing in a worker's personal space or standing over them
Physical assault such as biting, spitting, scratching, pushing, shoving, tripping and grabbing
Extreme acts of violence and aggression such as hitting, punching, strangulation, kicking, personal threats, threats with weapons, sexual harassment and assault

Cases of work-related aggression

The new campaign follows the revelation from WorkSafe Victoria that almost 1,000 workers were seriously injured last year because of suspected incidents of work-related aggression or violence.

Included in this count are 316 workers who suffered mental injuries, as well as 100 workers who were aged under 25.

The problem of aggression and violence from the public is not new to Australia, according to WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin. But he noted that the problem is "getting worse."

"Every day, too many workers are reduced to tears, sent home from work early, or turn up to their shift with a knot in their stomach because of repeated encounters with aggressive or violent people – enough is enough," Jenkin said in a statement.