By Andrew Tobin, Partner and Rebekah Foster,
Associate
Employers need to familiarise themselves with recent changes to
the Sex Discrimination Act, as increased protection now
provided by federal law could result in more claims of sexual
harassment or sex discrimination within workplaces.
Here, Associate Rebekah Foster looks at the changes and
highlights key aspects of which employers need to be aware.
Among the changes is a lowering of the standard in the federal
jurisdiction for what constitutes sexual harassment and also
protection of employees from sexual harassment in a wider range of
workplace contexts. These additional protections place new
obligations on employers to take all reasonable steps necessary to
protect their staff from discrimination and harassment.
