Is Your Business Prepared for Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Prevention?

The Queensland Government has introduced new requirements for stronger regulation of sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment at work.  From 1 March 2025, section 55H of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) (“the Act”) came into effect.  This section essentially puts a duty on persons conducting a business or undertaking (“PCBUs”) to be proactive about preventing sexual and sex or gender-based harassment in the workplace.  What does this mean for Queensland businesses?

Queensland businesses are to have in place a prevention plan with the PCBUs being liable if there is no prevention plan.  The new section sets out that a PCBU must prepare and implement a prevention plan for sexual and sex or gender-based harassment.

What is sexual harassment?  Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual behaviour that a reasonable person could anticipate may make another person feel offended, intimidated or humiliated in that situation.

What is sex or gender-based harassment?  It is the harassment of a person on the basis of the person’s sex or gender, by unwelcome conduct of demeaning nature, with the intention of offending, humiliating the person or in circumstances where a reasonable person would have anticipated the person would be offended, humiliated or intimidated by the conduct.

So, what needs to be in the sexual and sex or gender-based harassment prevention plan?  The requirements of the prevention plan are set out in section 55H of the Act. These requirements are that the plan must:-

• be in writing;
• state each identified risk;
• identify the control measures implemented, or to be implemented, to manage each identified risk;
• identify the determining control measures relating to the characteristics of workers, the workplace, work environment and psychosocial factors;
• describe the consultation undertaken by PCBUs with workers;
• set out the procedure for dealing with reports of sexual harassment or sex or gender-based harassment at work; and
• be set out and expressed in a way that is readily accessible and understandable to all workers.

The PCBUs must take reasonable steps to ensure workers are aware of the prevention plan and know how to access it.  The PCBU must also review the plan:-

1. as soon as practicably possible, if a report of sexual or sex or gender-based harassment is made; or
2. as soon as practicably possible, after the health and safety committee or a worker’s health and safety officer request a review of the plan; or
3. alternatively, every three years.

If the above requirements implemented by s 55H of the Act are not complied with by a PCBU, they will be liable to a maximum penalty of 60 penalty units in other words a fine up to $9,678.00.  So the question is, has your business implemented a sexual and sex or gender-based harassment prevention plan?  Are you liable to be fined $9,678.00?

If you have not yet completed a prevention plan, the Queensland Government have provided an example of a sexual and sex or gender-based harassment prevention plan here and the prevention plan template can be found here.