The Australian Border Force (ABF) marine unit is “a workplace that is not safe for women”, an exclusive report from Guardian Australia has revealed.
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wrote a secret report for the ABF, which was viewed by Guardian Australia, making 42 recommendations to improve workplace conditions for women.
Dr Anna Cody, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, reportedly conducted an anonymous survey of 50 respondents, on top of interviews with 17 focus groups and 32 individuals. More than 100 people participated in the AHRC’s research, Guardian Australia reports. The survey took place in September and October of 2023.
One hundred per cent of women who responded to the survey said they had witnessed sex-based discrimination and/or harassment within the ABF’s marine unit. More than three in four (78 per cent) said they had personally experienced harassment or discriminatory behaviour.
This is compared to one third (33 per cent) of men who witnessed discrimination or harassment on the basis of sex, while 18 per cent of men experienced it.
Sexist and misogynistic/misandrist comments, jokes or banter were the most common forms of discriminatory behaviour experienced by women in the survey of the marine unit: 67 per cent of women in the survey said they had experienced it, compared to 8 per cent of men.
More than half (56 per cent) of women in the survey said they were subjected to intrusive comments about their private life or their physical appearance, compared to 5 per cent of men.
Experiences of sexually suggestive comments or jokes were also common amongst women (44 per cent) and rare for men (3 per cent).
The ABF’s Commissioner Michael Outram told Guardian Australia he had “proactively commissioned” the report in April 2022 and now accepts the 42 recommendations made by AHRC’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody.
Dr Cody said “immediate intervention” is required in the ABF’s marine unit to “prevent inappropriate behaviour” from escalating. Noting the “slow” improvement of the culture in the ABF, she said “significant improvement” is still required.
While women make up 44 per cent of the ABF’s entire workforce, just 10 per cent of the marine unit are women.
According to Guardian Australia, the report was never intended to be made public. The ABF’s marine unit is involved in a five-year partnership with the AHRC to improve gender equality and the ABF’s workplace culture.
The Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP) 2021-26 consists of five priorities for the ABF: to improve support for staff on parental leave and staff returning to work following leave; to provide flexible working arrangements; to enhance workplace culture, inclusion and intersectionality; to become more gender balanced in leadership and recruitment; and to build off the success from the ABF’s previous Gender Equality Action Plan from 2017-20.
By December 2020, more than half (52.9 per cent) of the 70 board positions in the ABF’s Home Affairs Portfolio were filled by women, exceeding the 50 per cent target of the 2017-20 Plan.