Sydney Jeweller Ordered to Pay Record Amount of General Damages for Sexual Harassment This week, the Federal Court ordered a record amount of general damages in a sexual harassment case in Sydney. Justice Anna Katzmann awarded Fiona Taylor $268,233.64 in damages after she was found to have been sexually harassed by Simon Grew, owner of […]
Transgender Guidelines in High-Performance Australian Sport Released The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has released its inclusion of transgender and gender diverse guidelines for high performing athletes this week. The guidelines serve as a reminder for sport’s governing authorities to obey Australian law and promote a “spirit of inclusion.” According to the article, the new guidelines[…..]
Former FIFO Worker Found Guilty of Raping Colleague at BHP Mine Site Fly-in fly-out (FIFO) worker Ryan Zabaznow was found guilty this week of raping a co-worker at a regional mine site in Western Australia. The case was highly publicised amongst several allegations of sexual harassment in the mining sector. Zabaznow was accused of sexually[…..]
Survey Finds 4 out of 10 Workers Bullied in South Australian Local Government A recent survey by the Australian Services Union (ASU) has found that almost 1 in 2 South Australian local government workers have experienced workplace bullying. According to the article, of the 385 local government workers surveyed, 45% of respondents had witnessed bullying[…..]
Victorian Government Faces Criticism Over Bullying and Harassment Reforms to WorkCover The Victorian government has faced criticism this week following its announcement to reform WorkCover through the exclusion of workplace bullying and harassment in mental injury claims. The government previously stated last month that WorkCover was “fundamentally broken” and “unsustainable due to the ballooning costs[…..]
Independent Review Finds Sexual Harassment in Australian Antarctic Division An independent review into the workplace culture at the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) has uncovered that 24% of female workers have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Further, of this 24% who experienced sexual harassment, 55% occurred in Antarctica, with 80% of incidents remaining unreported. The[…..]
Poor Management: The Biggest Risk Factor For Workplace Bullying The University of South Australia has released a paper titled Workplace bullying as an organisational problem: Spotlight on people management practices. The paper was led by Professor Michelle Tuckey in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Queensland and Auburn University. The researchers developed a screening[…..]
At Last, WA Equal Opportunity Act has Been Reviewed On 17 August, Western Australian Attorney General John Quigley tabled the review of the Equal Opportunity Act to Parliament. The review was conducted by the Law Reform Commission and began in 2019. WA Premier Mark McGowan announced that Parliament is accepting most of the 163 recommendations.[…..]
First Imprisonment for Individual PCBU for Industrial Manslaughter The first individual to be convicted in Australia for industrial manslaughter has been sentenced to five years imprisonment. Industrial manslaughter laws exist in Qld, Victoria, ACT, NT and WA. While the conviction related to a death of a volunteer when a load from a fork lift struck[…..]
Football Australia Fines Melbourne Victory $5000 For Slurs Directed at Adelaide United’s Josh Cavallo Melbourne Victory has been fined $5000 over an incident where Victory fans directed homophobic slurs at Adelaide United’s player, Josh Cavallo. Melbourne Victory was deemed to be in breach of Football Australia’s National Code of Conduct and Ethics. Football Australia reiterated[…..]