On 8 April 2021, the Australian Government released ‘A Roadmap for Respect: Preventing and Addressing Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces’. The Roadmap for Respect responds to all 55 of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s recommendations outlined in the Respect@Work: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces (Respect@Work) report.
The Inquiry examined the nature and prevalence of sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, its impact on individuals and businesses, the drivers of this harassment and measures to address and prevent sexual harassment.
Consistent with the Government’s Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) requirements, the Respect@Work report has been certified by the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) as meeting the requirements of a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS).
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) does not assess the quality of independent reviews and RIS-like documents used in lieu of a RIS, but does assess relevancy. The OBPR assessed that the options analysed in the Respect@Work report are sufficiently relevant to the Government’s proposed responses.
The AGD assessed that it is not anticipating that there will be a significant regulatory impact on business, community organisations or individuals, arising from the Report and the Government’s response to that report. The AGD noted that, at this point in time, it is not expected that there will be any mandatory costs to business associated with the Government’s response to the Report itself and that the Government will have opportunity in the future to consider and address any potential costs to business arising from the Government’s response to the Report.