UnionsACT Gendered Violence in the Workplace Report 2021
UnionsACT Gendered Violence in the Workplace 2021 Report
UnionsACT has released a report about gendered violence in the workplace in the ACT. The UnionsACT Women’s Committee surveyed over 1000 workers asking about their experiences of gendered violence in the workplace as well as questions about the culture of their workplace and the Work Health and Safety policies and procedures they were aware of. Respondents were mostly female (66.8%) and mostly over the age of 35 (69.9%). Industries with the highest number of responses were Health Care and Aged Care (22.2%), Government and Public Service (22.1%) and Education and Training (13.71%). Over half of those surveyed were full time workers and just under half were working in large workplaces with 100+ employees.
Respondents conveyed the prevalence of workplace violence in the ACT. When respondents were asked if they had ever felt unsafe, uncomfortable or at risk in their current or previous workplaces, only 13.8% of women and gender diverse people said ‘no’ compared to 26.1% of male respondents. Workplace violence was not only evident in the psycho-social hazards, but also in physical hazards identified by respondents.
1 in 3 women and gender diverse respondents reported that they have been physically hurt by another person whilst at work. Fewer than 1 in 5 male respondents reported having experienced being physically hurt by another person at work.
The Reports recommendations include a call for the ACT Government to amendments to the Work Health Safety Act to improve regulation around gendered violence and psychosocial hazards, the development of a Code Of Practice and to fund workplace rights training for all secondary school students including information on workplace gendered violence in the secondary school curriculum.
