The Law Council of Australia reiterates that all employers have a duty to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation.
The Law Council believes that every woman is entitled to feel safe and to be treated with fairness, dignity, and respect in the workplace. Sexual harassment is both unlawful and entirely unacceptable.
In the view of the Law Council, those entrusted with positions of power in our society have a special responsibility to uphold the law and the rights of others, including the rights of women to be treated with respect and dignity in the workplace. Those in positions of power should be alert to the vulnerability of junior staff members and of their duty of care to protect junior staff from exploitation in all its forms.
Allegations of misconduct regarding public or elected officials require an appropriate framework for investigation, which is why the Law Council has long called for an integrity commission to be established at the federal level with appropriate powers and definitions of misconduct.
