The Australian Federal Police has a major problem with sexual harassment and bullying, along with a culture that makes it difficult for victims to come forward.
According to a survey of staff by former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Liz Broderick, a massive 46% of women reported being sexually harassed, that’s almost one in two women, and twice the national average. Twenty per cent of men report feeling sexually harassed. Meanwhile, 66% of women reported being bullied and harassed at work.
As Broderick said, that indicates it’s a culture that’s become — or has always been — normal. These aren’t one-off incidents, or unfortunate (but still unacceptable) things that occur at the Christmas party. This is a culture where it’s almost expected it will happen, and a culture with few consequences for perpetrators.
Nor is this an organisation that can blame ‘tradition’ and archaic practices and reporting infrastructure as reasons for such behaviour, given its only 37 year old.
As one woman quoted in the report said: “I was assaulted by an executive a few years ago. I didn’t report it because I have a lack of faith in how the executive would handle it.”
Meanwhile another female study participant said: “There is an alpha-male culture here that just allows for sexual harassment to happen.”
Where do you go from here? The AFP has an excellent example to get started on what can be done: the Australian Army. Already former Army head and now Australian of the Year David Morrison has contacted AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin to offer advice. Morrison told Fairfax papers he believes Colvin and his leadership team are up for the challenge. Indeed Colvin indicated as much during a press conference for the release of the report, declaring it has “exposed pockets of behaviour that I can only describe as criminal”. The organisation will be shocked by the findings, he said, and any criminal behaviour will be dealt with immediately. “We have to take a stand on this,” he said. “We cannot be an organisation of law enforcement integrity if within our own organisation we have people who are flouting the rules.”
He added the report makes it clear a ‘boys’ club’ exists across the AFP “It’s incumbent on all of us, particularly those in senior management … To stop, pause and to reflect and to [ask] ‘where in my career could I have done better?'”
He also conceded the organisation has taken its eye off the ball and hasn’t been as focused on organisational health as it should have been. The fact he didn’t make excuses, and also gave Broderick unfettered access to the organisation in order to get the work done, indicates it’s serious about opening itself up to scrutiny.
Colvin has agreed to implement all 24 recommendations outlined in the report, including immediately establishing an independent and “safe place” for victims to come forward. With the study also indicating around 30 people may have been the victim of rape or attempted rape, Colvin is particularly urging them to come forward.
A problem that’s this established and this ‘normal’ requires immediate and dramatic intervention. It must come from the very top, with statements and actions that indicate harassment and bullying is not acceptable. It needs the full force of the statement that “if you don’t like it then get out”, a zero tolerance attitude that says no matter how senior you are, there are no excuses and no soft justifications for bullying and harassment.
