Workplace Harassment

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:15): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the Attorney-General update the council on the recent announcement of funding to combat sexual harassment in the workplace?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:15): I certainly will and I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in this area. I was pleased recently to join my colleague in the other place, the Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, as well as the new commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon. Mark Dreyfus, in the federal parliament, in making an important funding announcement in this area.

We announced a commitment to provide funds to the Working Women's Centre of South Australia to allow for additional legal assistance for victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. In announcing the funding, I was very pleased to be able to visit the Working Women's Centre here in the city and speak directly with its director, Abbey Kendall, as well as one of the clients who had benefited from the service the centre provides.

We know that sexual harassment remains a significant issue in workplaces and it is never acceptable for someone to suffer that kind of abuse at work. We also know that it is overwhelmingly women who face this sort of behaviour in the workplace. We are fortunate in South Australia to have the services of the likes of the Working Women's Centre here in Adelaide, to support people who experience this kind of behaviour at work.

Our state's Working Women's Centre is exceptionally well regarded, both in South Australia and nationally, and we are pleased to be providing them this additional boost. It is a good example of state and federal governments working together to deliver results for the community. The funding provided is through the NLAP (National Legal Assistance Partnership) between our two governments. I have had the opportunity already to meet with the new commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon. Mark Dreyfus, in the short time since he has been sworn into the portfolio, and I am confident that we will have a productive working relationship that can deliver outcomes for South Australia.

One of the areas of collaboration between our governments has been the Australian Human Rights Commission's Respect@Work Report, which detailed the scale of sexual harassment and gender-based violence across the country. The funding for the Working Women's Centre is an important part in implementing recommendation 53 of that report, that all Australian governments provide an increase in recurrent funding to community legal centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services and legal aid commissions to provide legal advice and assistance to vulnerable workers who experience sexual harassment, taking into account the particular needs of workers facing intersexual discrimination.

I am pleased that we have been able to work with the commonwealth on delivering extra funds, and I look forward in the future to working with the Working Women's Centre and other providers of legal assistance for women who face harassment in the workplace.