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CALDERN Sex Discrimination Hub
Explore resources for culturally and linguistically diverse Emergency responders in Australia that may confront sex discrimination .
Sexual Harassment in Australia's Emergency Services
Background
In the last 5 years, one in 3 Australians (33%) have been sexually harassed at work (41% of women and 26% of men) 2022.11.18_Time for Respect 2022 (Full Report).pdf (humanrights.gov.au). The majority of workplace sexual harassment in Australian workplaces is carried out by men. Half of incidents are repeated and of those, half are ongoing for more than one year. Unfortunately, the proliferation and use of Non-Disclosure Agreements has limited a true assessment of the experience in Australia. The below list is just a small sample of incidents and reviews of some emergency responder areas:
Sex discrimination, sexual harassment and predatory behaviour in South Australia Police
Victoria Police: Sexual harassment horror stories emerge from the VEOHRC | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
Independent Review of Victoria Police | Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
Six in 10 Australian women of colour experience discrimination at work, survey finds - ABC News
AFP: Report finds harassment and bullying of women is rife within Australian Federal Police | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
Femal firefighter calls out sexual harassment in Victorian fire service (theage.com.au)
Qld to make fire service better for women | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
A ‘culture of retribution’, sex discrimination, harassment and bullying – the undue costs of women working in Ambulance services in Australia (womensagenda.com.au)
New wave: Surf clubs crack down after review finds sexual harassment, bullying rife - InQueensland (inqld.com.au)
Overuse of NDAs in sexual harassment cases in Australian workplaces - The University of Sydney
CALD Experience
Research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies has indicated that women from CALD backgrounds may be more vulnerable to exploitation—including sexual harassment and assault—and can experience a number of barriers to reporting. These are often complex and intersectional and include, among others: Culturally and linguistically diverse | Respect@Work (respectatwork.gov.au)
the amount of time spent in Australia;
language proficiency;
insecure work or visa status.
not understanding their rights or where to go for help;
in many cases, actively distrusting government or official complaint channels,
and concerns about career progression or place in community.
The respect at work report also asserts that in contrast to the 2018 National Survey findings, the 2018 University of Sydney Women and the Future of Work report found that women born in Asia, and more broadly, women of CALD background, reported experiencing sexual harassment at twice the rate of the surveyed population. Sexual harassment can have a unique manifestation for ‘CALD’ women – for example, where sexual comments made are related to the person’s race, such as implying that people of a certain culture have certain sexual characteristics, which is a consequence of cultural fetishisation and racism. In November 2024 a survey of more than 3,000 migrant women has found 51 percent have experienced workplace sexual harassment. Three in four of those women did not report the sexual harassment to anyone, over fears about jeopardising their immigration status or being punished.Sexual harassment of migrant women rife in Australian workplaces, report finds - ABC News
The low rates of participation in Australian Emergency Services of people from diverse cultural backgrounds is exacerbated by the barriers CALD women confront in the workplace. CALDERN seeks to inform, support, represent and advocate for CALD persons aspiring to such roles and challenge the vileness of sexual harassment and discrimination. To this extent the below resources provide information relevant to each jurisdiction and the avenues of action including a dedicated contact email dignity@caldern.org. CALDERN recommends that you also communicate any concerns regarding discrimination to a source outside of your employer. Any action taken by the employer against your reporting is subject to the provisions of the FAIR WORK ACT 2009 - SECT 342 Meaning of adverse action (austlii.edu.au) Protections at work - Fair Work Ombudsman and other provisions of discrimination law.
Diverse Resources
Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), organisations and businesses now have a positive duty to eliminate, as far as possible, the following unlawful behaviour from occurring: Federal Register of Legislation - Sex Discrimination Act 1984
Discrimination on the grounds of sex in a work context
sex-based harassment in connection with work
sexual harassment in connection with work
conduct creating a workplace environment that is hostile on the grounds of sex
related acts of victimisation
A HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT IS :
Section 8A Workplace environment that is hostile for 2 or more reasons
For the purposes of this Act, a workplace environment may be offensive, intimidating or humiliating to a person by reason of:
(a) the sex of the person; or
(b) a characteristic that appertains generally to persons of the sex of the person; or
(c) a characteristic that is generally imputed to persons of the sex of the person;
if it is offensive, intimidating or humiliating by reason of 2 or more matters that include the sex or the characteristic, whether or not the sex or the characteristic is the dominant or substantial reason.
47C Duty to eliminate unlawful sex discrimination etc.
Positive duty
(1) An employer or a person conducting a business or undertaking (the duty holder) must take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate
Sex Discrimination | Australian Human Rights Commission Complaints under the Sex Discrimination Act | Australian Human Rights Commission
Sex Discrimination - HRC (act.gov.au) Complaints - HRC (act.gov.au)
Sex discrimination (nsw.gov.au) How to make a complaint (nsw.gov.au)
Discrimination | NT Anti-Discrimination Commission NTG Online Forms - Introduction - NT Anti-Discrimination Commission discrimination report Complaints | NT Anti-Discrimination Commission
QHRC : Sex discrimination QHRC : Making a complaint
Types of discrimination | Equal Opportunity SA Making a complaint | Equal Opportunity SA
Equal Opportunity Tasmania : Discrimination Equal Opportunity Tasmania : Complaints
Sex discrimination | Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Make a complaint | Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
Equal Opportunity Commission (www.wa.gov.au) Make a discrimination, harassment or victimisation complaint | Western Australian Government (www.wa.gov.au)
Support Networks
Supporting people from CALD, migrant and refugee experiences of violence | 1800RESPECT
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-migrant-refugee-women-sexual-racism.html
Women’s Populations: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Women – Women's Health Hub (awhn.org.au)
Chapter 4: Gender and Culturally and Racially Marginalised Employees | genderequalitycommission.vic.gov.au
Intersecting racism and transphobia put transgender women at risk | Western Sydney University
We provide information on supportive community networks dedicated to combating discrimination in emergency response careers for diverse individuals in Australia.
Contact Us
Reach out for support and resources regarding sex discrimination in the emergency responder sector. Email dignity@caldern.org , call 0432095618 or use the contact form.