Two years of promoting positive duty compliance: building safer, more respectful workplaces
Explore two years of positive duty compliance progress: how organisations are building safer, more respectful workplaces and preventing discrimination.
Positive duty update
Over the past two years, the Commission has promoted positive duty compliance through:
- Focusing resources on high-risk industries such as retail and hospitality
- Undertaking inquiries and proactive monitoring and engagement with employers
- Partnering with regulators and universities to support effective strategies to eliminate sexual harassment, sex discrimination, sexist conduct and related victimisation from workplaces
- Developing educational resources and delivering training and information sessions to build awareness and capability
12 December 2025 will mark two years since the Commission’s regulatory function under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) came into effect. The positive duty represents a major cultural shift – away from responding to individual incidents after they occur to taking proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment, sexist behaviour, sex discrimination and related victimisation in Australian workplaces.
'It’s been encouraging to see engagement from organisations and businesses, with many taking proactive steps to meet their obligations and build safer, more respectful workplaces. The positive duty is about driving real change and creating workplaces where all Australians can be free from sexual harassment and discrimination.'
'We must continue to strengthen the positive duty so it becomes a powerful, proactive tool to eliminate sex discrimination and harassment in every workplace.'
What we're doing now
Proactive work: Focus on retail and hospitality
The Commission’s current focus is on the retail and hospitality industries where workplace sexual harassment risks are high. In our 2022 national survey, 40% of retail workers and 34% of hospitality workers reported experiencing workplace sexual harassment in the previous five years. This is above the national average. Frequent customer interaction, a young and casual workforce and low job security all contribute to the risk settings for sexual harassment in these industries. The Commission is working with retail and hospitality industry stakeholders in a variety of ways to support change and ensure organisations take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment, sexist behaviour and victimisation covered by the positive duty in the Sex Discrimination Act.
Inquiries and proactive monitoring
The Commission has 4 active inquiries and is actively monitoring 14 other organisations or businesses that are engaging with us in a voluntary capacity to ensure their compliance with the positive duty. The 4 ongoing inquiries are into:
- a hospitality business
- a financial services provider that retails financial products
- a transport and logistics company
- an adult entertainment retailer.
Proactive monitoring and compliance in retail
We are seeking information from 8 large retailers about their compliance with the positive duty. The retailers employ a combined total of approximately 35,000 workers. Our engagement is focused on supporting them to improve their practices and keep their workers safe.
Collaborating with Safe Work Australia
The Commission is collaborating with Safe Work Australia to deliver a forum for senior leaders of large retailers in February 2026. The forum will focus on the alignment of obligations of senior leaders under both the workplace health and safety and positive duty frameworks. Alongside the forum, we’ll launch a practical toolkit developed with Safe Work Australia and Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety to help retail leaders better understand their responsibilities and how to take proactive steps to create safer and more respectful workplaces.
As summer and the holiday season kicks off, we put out a joint statement with Safe Work Australia calling for Australian retailers to be aware of their positive duty obligations and take steps to keep workers safe.
You can read the statement here.
Bringing regulators together
In September 2025, the Commission hosted our second National Regulator Roundtable in Sydney. This expanded format built on the success of the first roundtable held in Melbourne in 2024. The two-day event focused on exploring regulatory effectiveness and impact. Fourteen agencies were represented from work health and safety, fair work, anti-discrimination, and human rights’ jurisdictions. The event provided an opportunity to share insights into leading practice, strengthen partnerships, and identify collaborative opportunities and strategies that enhance regulatory efficiency. In keeping with our obligations as a Commonwealth regulator, the Commission is committed to continuous improvement, being risk-based and data-driven and collaborating with other regulators and stakeholders to support employers to comply with the positive duty and foster safe and respectful workplaces.
Research partnerships
The Commission has partnered with two major research projects funded by the Australian Research Council. Bridges at Work brings together a multidisciplinary research team from the University of South Australia, Griffith University, and the University of Queensland. Additional research partners include: SafeWork SA, SafeWork NSW, Comcare, Return to Work SA, Queensland Human Rights Commission, SA Equal Opportunity Commission, and SA Working Women’s Centre.
This 3-year project will explore new evidence and develop practical tools to help regulators, like the Commission, prevent workplace sexual harassment by addressing the root causes before harm occurs. You can learn more about Bridges at Work here.
The second research project will examine early career experiences of workers in retail, hospitality, electrical trades and nursing. This 2-year project is being led by Professors Rae Cooper and Elizabeth Hill at the University of Sydney. The research will inform evidence-based strategies to improve safety in frontline occupations with a focus on young workers. Other project partners include the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association, United Workers Union, the Electrical Trades Union, and the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association.
Are we having an impact?
While cultural change takes time, there are positive signs about the impact of the positive duty. In early 2025, the Australian Human Resources Institute surveyed 619 senior decision-makers. They reported that the Respect@Work reforms, including the positive duty, had the biggest positive impact of any workplace change in the previous 3 years. Approximately one in 3 organisations reported making changes directly because of the Respect@Work reforms. We need to build on this start.
Industry bodies and associations are also producing guidance and education materials that align with and reinforce the Commission’s resources on employer’s positive duty responsibilities. For example, with the Commission’s input, the AICD and the ACSI produced a resource for company directors about the positive duty. The Australian Industry Group also produced a suite of materials including a template Prevention and Response Plan for its members.
For more information and resources on the positive duty, visit the positive duty page here.
