Working group co-chair Liberty Sanger, Maurice Blackburn’s lawyer, said confidentiality agreements could cause more harm to victims who are barred from speaking.
The Victoria Employers Association, Ai Group, and the Victoria Law Institute welcomed the proposed changes, but said victims’ confidentiality must be protected.
Ai group leader Tim Piper said the changes needed to be nuanced.
“In some circumstances, NDAs are a positive thing,” he said.
Law Institute president Tania Wolff said the agreements had been used in the past to protect perpetrators and hampered efforts to eradicate sexual harassment.
“However, the changes … we need to look at how to preserve the confidentiality of the victims because not all victims have the same desires as another in terms of the outcome they are trying to achieve,” he said.
Loading
WorkSafe will also receive $ 7 million over the next three years to treat work-related gender-based violence and sexual harassment in the workplace as an occupational safety and health issue. Employers will need to disidentify and report sexual harassment incidents to WorkSafe on their site
work placement.
The government did not support a recommendation that would have allowed unions to mount civil cases, including group claims, where companies had not provided harassment-free jobs.
Victorian Trades Hall Council deputy secretary Wil Stracke said sexual harassment was more likely to thrive in environments where there was a significant gender imbalance.
“[Expanding] the OHS [occupational health and safety] Laws require an employer to create a secure job and take preventative measures to manage risks, rather than … trusting individual women to raise their hand and say something, ”she said.
Opposition leader Matthew Guy said he wanted to work with the government in a constructive and sensible way, but noted that reforms should be led by the victims.
“Under certain circumstances, recovering from an NDA may not be the best for victims,” Guy said. “We don’t want to discourage a victim from showing up. We want to make sure they feel comfortable when filing their complaint.”
The morning edition newsletter is our guide to the most important and interesting stories, analysis and knowledge of the day. Register here.