More than half of employees in the Nine Network’s broadcast division have experienced bullying, discrimination or harassment at work, a review into the network’s workplace culture has found.
On Thursday, Nine released a report from an external review into the company, following several complaints and allegations against the culture, especially from senior leadership.
The review was commissioned by the Nine Board and Mike Sneesby, who recently stepped down from his role as CEO of the media organisation. His resignation followed that of former news boss Darren Wick in May and former Chair Peter Costello in June.
The report brought to light several allegations of public humiliation, “white-anting”, belittling comments or conduct, aggressive or intimidating behaviour and sexual misconduct – all which had been normalised and was commonplace in the workplace.
Catherine West, the new Chair of Nine, said the release of the findings from the review marks “an incredibly difficult day for Nine”.
“The behaviour outlined in the report is unacceptable,” West said.
“Abuse of power, bullying, sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct is not okay. This behaviour has no place at Nine.
“We acknowledge that too many of our past and present employees have been harmed by poor workplace culture, the prevalence of inappropriate workplace behaviours, and an inadequate response in the past from Nine to those behaviours.
“To any individual who has experienced inappropriate conduct that does not meet the values of Nine, we are deeply sorry. On behalf of the Board, I unreservedly apologise.”
Acting CEO Matt Stanton said the report on the review, which was conducted by Intersection, “makes for a hard reading”.
“It was personally distressing for me to read these stories from our people,” Stanton said.
“The behaviour experienced by many of our people right across the business is not acceptable in any workplace and falls well below what our people should expect in the work environment.”
What were the findings?
The report made damning claims against employees in management or senior roles within the network. Across all divisions in the network, more than half (52 per cent) of employees either witnessed or experienced abuse of power or authority.
Meanwhile, nearly half (49 per cent) of employees said they had experienced bullying, discrimination or harassment, and nearly a quarter (24 per cent) had experienced sexual harassment.
One in six (16 per cent) said they had experienced all three – abuse of power, sexual harassment and bullying and discrimination.
Employee experiences with inappropriate behaviour and misconduct at Nine is gendered to a large extent. While 49 per cent of men said they experienced abuse of power, 55 per cent of women reported the same.
When it comes to bullying, discrimination or harassment, 44 per cent of men reported experiencing one or another, compared to 55 per cent of women.
The gender gap is starker for sexual harassment: 35 per cent of women, compared to 15 per cent of men, reported experiences of sexual harassment.
There were low levels of reporting incidents, according to the report: just 15 per cent of victims reported an incident of bullying, discrimination or harassment, and 7 per cent of victims of sexual harassment reported the incident.
In May this year, several Nine employees made serious allegations against the former news boss Darren Wick, including drunkenly groping female staff and other incidents of poor behaviour.
The review’s findings within the news broadcast division reflected some of the allegations: more than half (57 per cent) reported experiencing bullying, discrimination or harassment, and almost one in three (30 per cent) experienced sexual harassment.
Nine Chair Catherine West thanked those who took part in the review, commending their “strength and courage” in speaking up and sharing their stories.
“Despite the proactive culture change agenda already underway, the reality is much more needs to be done and a cultural reset is required,” West said.
Matt Stanton, acting CEO, echoed the call to move past the reflection stage and “move forward with a resolve to do better”.
“We have a responsibility to our people to create a safe and respectful work environment to ensure they can perform at their best,” Stanton said. “Our people deserve nothing less.”