Vic Govt. launches sexual harassment taskforce

A Melbourne hospitality worker has spoken out about being sexually harassed at work, saying Victorian workplaces have a culture that makes victims feel powerless and unsafe.

Grace Dowling has been a Melbourne barmaid for over 10 years and in that time she has experienced all types of harassment such as sexual innuendo, physical violence and intimidation.

Ms Dowling believes that harassment has become normalised and victims are left scared to speak out.

“I’ve had workplaces where I’ve had relatively serious things happen to me and those around me and we haven’t felt safe raising it with anyone around us – we didn’t feel supported by management, and we didn’t have employers who were ready to listen,” she said.

“It’s only been in the last few years having conversations with each other that we’re identifying this as problematic.

A ministerial taskforce for sexual harassment in the workplace was launched by the Victorian Government on Monday that aims to tackle these issues.

The taskforce will develop reforms for the prevention of harassment in the workplace and to improve the response to the issue in Victorian workplaces.

The taskforce will comprise of government, union, employer and legal representatives and will look at options such as forcing employers to report any sexual harassment to WorkSafe.

A code of conduct for members of parliament is also being developed by the Victorian, in response to multiple allegations of rape in federal politics in recent weeks.

9th March 2021