Respect@Work Positive Duty Training for Senior Leaders

Individuals in leadership roles from Senior Leaders to Board Members. Check out our leaders course for individuals in leadership roles (supervisors-management) or our employees course for individuals in non-leadership roles.

The following content is covered within this program. We collaborate with you to align the content to your organisation, industry and areas of focus.

• Moving beyond #MeToo, understanding the current context around sexual harassment in Australia
• Key learnings from the Australian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces (2020)
• Great workplace cultures in 2025 – SmartCulture® model – Safety, Measurable, Awareness, Respect & Team
• Understanding sexual harassment in the workplace and in your industry – definitions/ prevalence & drivers
• Sexual harassment as a WHS psychosocial hazard – time for a risk management approach
• Key Respect@Work legislative changes and what they mean for leaders and your organisation
• New statutory positive duty – “Reasonable and proportionate measures”
• The relevant unlawful conduct – sex discrimination/sexual harassment/sex-based harassment/conduct creating a hostile workplace environment & victimisation
• Satisfying the positive duty – overview of the AHRC Guidelines for Complying with the Positive Duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) released in August 2023 – the guiding principles and seven Standards – Leadership/Culture/Knowledge/Risk management/Support/Reporting and response/Monitoring, evaluation and transparency
• The four guiding principles of the Guidelines – Consultation/Gender equality/Intersectionality/Person-centred & trauma-informed
• Key legal duties & Accountability (individual & organisational) and potential consequences/liability
• Recent Australian cases/case studies – throughout program

The How – Shifting from Reactive to Proactive

• Importance of building a strong Speak Up culture – with key strategies and tools – with key strategies and tools
• Your Speak Up process – what is it & how to promote it and build psychological safety
• Responding to concerns – focusing on Safety/Support/Listen/Facts model & person-centred and trauma-informed approach – interactive scenario component with tailored scenarios
• The Bystander Intervention Approach – 5Ds of Bystander Intervention – guidance and tailored scenario component
• Prevention: Leading a safe and respectful culture as a leader – Walking the talk in practical terms
• Momentum – Group reflection activity – where to from here?
• Open discussion throughout.

Participants receive a comprehensive program toolkit including printed course materials for face-to-face session and electronic course materials for virtual-live sessions).

To ensure the program is a success, we will hold a pre-program conference with you as part of the development.

This conference is invaluable for us to ensure we have a proper understanding of your organisation, your training goals/risk areas, systems and processes (e.g. your current WHS/HR systems and reporting process).

We find this conference provides us with critical insight and information to develop a program that aligns with your organisation and capability levels of your participants.

SmartCulture® is not a law firm and therefore does not provide legal advice. SmartCulture® presenters/ consultants endeavour to provide current and accurate information at all training courses, within all training materials and consultancy work completed. All information provided by presenters and consultants is intended to be general and should not be relied upon as legal advice applying to specific circumstances.