Developing a Standardised Sexual Harassment Training Rating Scale

By Haniene Tayeb, University of Melbourne, CSW, 2022

Haniene is studying at the University of Melbourne in the Faculty of Business and Economics. Her policy paper focuses on Developing a Standardised Sexual Harassment Training Rating Scale.

Executive Summary

The Respect@Work Inquiry, released in 2018, highlights the prevalence of sexual harassment within Australian workplaces. In response to its’ publication, employers have rapidly expanded conventional workplace training programs, despite evidence that programs of such nature are ineffective in reducing the incidence of sexual harassment (Magley et al. 2016; Roehling and Huang, 2018; Zelin and Magley, 2020). The current training institution market is unable to meet organisational demands for relevant and effective sexual harassment training. This is particularly due to the outsourcing of workplace training, inconsistency in training content and delivery style, and the use of conventional training methodologies. In response to these shortcomings, this policy paper proposes a standardised sexual harassment training rating scale be established. Where this is expected to increase the quality of training, encourage transparency in employers’ commitment to safe workplaces, and, ultimately, reduce the level of workplace sexual harassment.

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