Section 1: Introduction
Harassers have diverse behaviours and
motivations, and exist across all age
groups, industries and social strata.
The 2018 National Survey does provide
some insights into harassers in the
Australian workforce. When people who
said they had experienced workplace
sexual harassment in the last five years
were asked about the most recent
incident:
• the majority (64%) said they were
sexually harassed by a single
harasser26
• most (79%) said that one or more
of their harassers was male27
• where the most recent incident
involved a single harasser, more
than half (54%) indicated that the
harasser was aged 40 or older28
• victims said that the harasser
was most commonly a co-worker
employed at the same level (27%
for single harassers, and 35% for
multiple harassers).29
Through the Inquiry process, the
Commission also heard from individuals
whose experiences reflected the National
Survey data on harassers. However,
better research is required to understand
the behaviours and characteristics of
harassers, as a means to develop targeted
prevention initiatives and improved
responses.
Workplace settings
Sexual harassment is more prevalent
in some workplace settings than in
others. The 2018 National Survey data,
information from submissions and
consultations, academic research and
government reviews (both Australian
and international) show that a range
of characteristics and practices specific
to particular industries, professions or
workplaces may increase the risk of sexual
harassment.
Workplace settings where there is a higher
risk of experiencing sexual harassment
include those that:
• have been found by the 2018
National Survey to have a
higher prevalence rate of sexual
harassment than the rate
across all industries of 31% (for
example, the information, media
and telecommunication industry
and the arts and recreation
industry)
• are male-dominated (for
example, the construction and
mining industries), because of:
» the gender ratio
» the over-representation of
men in senior leadership
roles
» the nature of the work being
considered ‘non-traditional’
for women
» the masculine workplace
culture
20