{
  "id": 9244015,
  "title": "Inclusive workplaces have lower rates of sex harassment",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/22/inclusive-workplaces-have-lower-rates-of-sex-harassment",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-22T21:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Discovered",
    "slug": "discovered",
    "url": "https://examiner.com.au/story/9355628/inclusive-workplaces-have-lower-rates-of-sex-harassment"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A report from the Diversity Council Australia has revealed that inclusive workplaces have significantly lower rates of sexual harassment. Despite sexual harassment being illegal for over four decades, nearly one in five workers still experience it. The council's Power of Inclusion report, based on a biennial survey of 3,000 workers, found that inclusive teams have workers who are three times less likely to have experienced sexual harassment in the past year.\n\nInclusive teams create an environment where employees feel respected, valued, and connected to their team, leading to a reduced risk of harassment. The report highlights that workers in non-inclusive teams are more than twice as likely to experience sexual harassment compared to those in inclusive teams. Workers with inclusive managers are also significantly less likely to face harassment.\n\nThe risk of sexual harassment is higher in workplaces where most employees, supervisors, or managers are men, the workforce lacks diversity, disrespectful behavior is accepted, and there is no policy on expected standards of behavior. Discrimination, stereotyping based on age, gender, race, culture, religion, disability, and sexual orientation, and incorrect stereotyping are strongly linked to an increased risk of sexual harassment. Workers who have been incorrectly stereotyped are more than five times more likely to experience harassment.\n\nDr. D Almada-Remedios emphasized the critical role of inclusion in workplace health and safety and its contribution to preventing psychosocial harm and supporting workers' wellbeing. She stressed that organizations need to prioritize inclusion as a key prevention measure against sexual harassment, implementing deliberate steps and providing diversity and inclusion training for staff at all levels. Senior leadership's genuine demonstration of the importance of inclusion is crucial in creating an inclusive environment.\n\nCatherine Fitzpatrick, the council's recently appointed CEO, criticized the current approach of workplaces, stating that the persistence of sexual harassment warrants a more proactive strategy. She urged organizations to embed inclusion into their workplace health and safety frameworks and take action before harm occurs. Workers are encouraged to report incidents of sexual harassment to 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}