Many of Australia’s leading businesses have publicly signed a pledge to stamp out sexual harassment in the workplace.
Coordinated by the Diversity Council of Australia, the zero-tolerance for sexual harassment pledge has been signed by more than 100 CEOs of major companies and organisations, including leading banks, professional and services firms, resource companies, multinational organisations, not for profits and universities.
The #IStandForRespect pledge asks the businesses who sign on to do two things:
- Stand against gendered harassment and violence in all its forms
- Commit to taking steps in their organisation to address sexual and sex-based harassment, to make the workplace safer for everyone
CEOs from more than 100 organisations including Salesforce, Crown Resorts, Hall & Wilcox, IKEA, Origin Energy, Network 10, Westpac, PepsiCo, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and the University of New South Wales have signed on to the pledge.
The movement from the private sector comes after the federal government finally accepted either “in full, in part or in principle” the recommendations made in Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins’ landmark Respect@Work report. The report, which was the result of a world-first national inquiry into the nature and prevalence of harassment in Australian workplaces, previously sat ignored by the government for well over a year.
CEO of the Diversity Council of Australia Lisa Annese, who founded the pledge initiative, said it was an opportunity for business show collective action on the issue of sexual harassment.
“Sexual harassment has been unlawful in Australian workplaces since 1984, yet it’s still a problem. Now is the time to move from words to committed, collective action,” Annese said.
“I believe addressing sexual harassment and gendered violence is the business of every business. Twenty-three per cent of women and sixteen per cent of men experience sexual harassment, so it’s not just a ‘woman problem’.”
Annese said sexual harassment has the potential to cause serious damage to a business, and that perpetrators need to be held to account.
“Sometimes, the personality that will predate and sexually harass will likely bully and intimidate and cause serious cultural damage to a business. Ironically, they are often allowed to do so because they are seen as ‘untouchable’ or ‘rain-makers’ in an organisation,” she said.
“No one makes it rain worth almost four billion dollars – which is what sexual harassment costs in terms of productivity loss and having to replace and rehire the people who are on the wrong side of a harasser.
“The bottom line is this: businesses can’t afford not to tackle sexual harassment. The #IStandForRespect pledge is a starting point, a way for them to be part of the change that will come.”
You can see more on the pledge here with the full list of CEOs below:
Katrina Lines, Act for Kids
Timothy Rabbitt, Acumentis
Tony Hale, Advertising Council Australia
James Montgomery, AFL SportsReady
Jason Harfield, Airservices Australia
Jane Bianchini, Alcami Interactive Pty Ltd
Michael Gollschewski, Alcoa of Australia Limited
Shayne Elliott, ANZ Banking Group Limited
Rob Wheals, APA Group
Kerryn Coker, Arup Australia Services Pty Limited
Bruce Armstrong, Aspen Medical
Stuart Ellis, Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC)
Anna-Maria Arabia, Australian Academy of Science
Kylie Walker, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
Adrian Cosenza, Australian Orthopaedic Association
Graham Gillies, Baker Hughes Australia
Lindsay Partridge, Brickworks
John Nicolades, Bridge Housing Limited
Hisham El-Ansary, Bupa
Brendan Crabb, Burnet Institute
Wendy Sturgess, Cafs/Child and Family Services Ballarat Inc
Mark O’Neil, Cambridge University Press Australia
Heidi Limareff, Can:Do Group
Susan Reisbord, Cardno
Belinda Parish, Carter Newell Lawyers
Manisha Amin, Centre for Inclusive Design
Richard Howes, Challenger Limited
Peter Hutchins, Charter Keck Cramer
Alan Kirkland, CHOICE
Ben Dawson, Cisco Systems Australia Pty Ltd
Ken Boal, Cisco Systems Australia Pty Ltd
Adnan Catakovic, City Fertility
Kane Thornton, Clean Energy Council
Matt Comyn, Commonwealth Bank
Lisa Claes, CoreLogic
Rainer Dittrich, Corning Optical Communications Pty Ltd
Peter Crinis, Crown Resorts
Xavier Walsh, Crown Resorts
Lonnie Bossi, Crown Resorts
John Cordery, Curtin University
Steve Rae, Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal Pty Ltd
Glenn Morgan, Deutsche Bank AG
Angus McPherson, Diageo Australia
Lisa Annese, Diversity Council Australia
Mark Dean, En Masse Pty Ltd
Cath Tanna, Energy Australia
Bronwyn Evans, Engineers Australia
Tony Johnson, EY Australia
Dipendra Goenka, Forever New
Andrew Polson, Frontier
Mark Pistilli, Gadens
Travis Heeney, GOTAFE
Mark Sheldon, GroupGSA
Tony Macvean, Hall & Wilcox
Kelly Quirk, Harrier Group
Richard Wynn, Harrier Group
Simon Meyer, Harrier Group
Angus Harris, Harris Farm Markets
Luke Harris, Harris Farm Markets
Tristan Harris, Harris Farm Markets
Andrew Pike, Herbert Smith Freehills
Justin D’Agostino, Herbert Smith Freehills
Linda Nguyen, Herbert Smith Freehills
Kimberely Hubble, Hudson RPO
Katrina Troughton, IBM Australia Limited
Andrew Barkla, IDP Education
Jan Gardberg, IKEA Pty Ltd
Melanie Evans, ING Australia
Richard Eskell, Inlogik Pty Ltd
Mike Morgan, Insight Enterprises
Corinne Proske, JobsBank
Dianne Jackson, Key Assets
Tim Tamlin, Kingston City Council
Gary Wingrove, KPMG
Paul Chase, Leidos
Stuart Irvine, Lion-Beer, Spirits & Wine Pty Ltd
David Newman, Maddocks
Steve Rayner, Mapien Workplace Strategists
David Bryant, Marsh McLennan
Jacob Varghese, Maurice Blackburn
Deborah Homewood, MAX Solutions
Liz Carnabuci, Medtronic Australasia Pty Ltd
Richard Nunn, MetLife Insurance Limited
Sharmini Wright, Michael Page International (Australia) Pty Ltd
David George, Michael Page International (Australia) Pty Ltd
Virginia Briggs, MinterEllison
Rene Sugo, MNF Group
Beverley McGarvey, Network 10
Jarrod Villani, Network 10
Stuart Fowler, Norman Disney & Young
Christine Zeitz, Northrop Grumman Australia
Alison Deitz, Norton Rose Fulbright Australia
Kate Spurway, NurseWatch
Frank Calabria, Origin Energy Limited
Andrew Hadley, P&N Bank
Andrew Hadjikakou, PACCAR Australia
Richard Brandweiner, Pendal Group
Danny Celoni, PepsiCo Australia and New Zealand
David Lamming, Plenary Group
Gregory Preston, Preston Rowe Paterson Sydney Pty Limited
Gregory Rowe, Preston Rowe Paterson Sydney Pty Limited
Nic Parkhill, Pride in Diversity
Frank Costigan, QBE Insurance
Alison Hernandez, Randstad RiseSmart
Frank Ribuot, Randstad RiseSmart
David Andrews, RANZCO
David Rankine, Reckitt Benckiser (Australia) Pty Ltd
Karen Mundine, Reconciliation Australia
Des Odell, Resolution Digital
Amber Williams, Resolution Institute
Kellie Parker, Rio Tinto Ltd
James Nicholson, Robert Walters Pty Ltd
Steve Wesselingh, SAHMRI
Pip Marlow, Salesforce.com, Inc
Sam Hallinan, Schroder Investment Management Australia Limited
OLIVIA CARR, Shhh Silk Australia PTY LTD
John Somerville, Slater and Gordon Ltd
Phillip Salem, Sparke Helmore Lawyers
Jack de Groot, St Vincent de Paul Society (NSW)
Roch Cheroux, Sydney Water
Brett Howard, TechnipFMC
Jeff Soo, Terumo
Alphia Possamai-Inesedy, The Australian Sociological Association
Ian Wishart, The Fred Hollows Foundation
Richard Enthoven, The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd
Peter McIntyre, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Judy Barraclough (Acting CEO), The Smith Family
Evan Tsirogiannis, Toyota Financial Services
Tim Ford, Treasury Wine Estates
Rob Seljak, TUH
George Ash, Universal Music Australia
Ian Jacobs, University of New South Wales
Peter King, Westpac Banking Corporation
Brad Chilcott (Executive Director ), White Ribbon
Meg O’Neill, Woodside Energy Limited
Dermot O’Gorman, World Wide Fund for Nature Australia (WWF-Australia)
Amanda Webb, Xplore