Sexual harassment

Key findings

Reports of sexual harassment:

• fell to 5% of respondents from 12% in 2016

Respondents who experienced sexual harassment:

• 46% were harrassed by a colleague
• 39% were harrassed by clients, customers, patients or stakeholders
• said intrusive questions, comments on physical appearance and sexually suggestive or explicit comments or jokes were the most common types.

Defining sexual harrassment

Sexual harassment is non-consensual or unwelcome sexual behaviour that could cause an employee to feel offended, humiliated or intimidated.

It can have an immediate and long-term negative impact on those involved, including those who witness sexual harassment.

Respondents who experienced sexual harassment

This chart shows the percentage of respondents who experienced sexual harassment.

Year 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2017 Filter by industry Whole of public sector Public entities Victorian Public Service Creative industries, finance, transport and other Police and emergency services Public health care TAFE and other education Water and land management Government schools Filter by demographic Overall Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Age Full-time or part-time Ongoing, fixed-term or casual Ongoing or fixed-term Cultural identity Disability Gender Gender identity Religion Headcount Full-time equivalent Employers Percentage of all employees by headcount Percentage of all full-time equivalent employees Remuneration Remuneration gap as an amount Remuneration gap as a percentage View as a number or percentage Percentage Number Salary Percentage of industry Percentage of total public sector workforce

 

---

 

Type of sexual harassment

In this chart, respondents who experienced sexual harassment said what type they experienced.

The results may add up to more than 100% because respondents could choose more than one answer.

Year 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2017 Filter by industry Whole of public sector Public entities Victorian Public Service Creative industries, finance, transport and other Police and emergency services Public health care TAFE and other education Water and land management Government schools Filter by demographic Overall Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Age Full-time or part-time Ongoing, fixed-term or casual Ongoing or fixed-term Cultural identity Disability Gender Gender identity Religion Headcount Full-time equivalent Employers Percentage of all employees by headcount Percentage of all full-time equivalent employees Remuneration Remuneration gap as an amount Remuneration gap as a percentage View as a number or percentage Percentage Number Salary Percentage of industry Percentage of total public sector workforce

 

---

 

Source of sexual harassment

In this chart, respondents who experienced sexual harassment said who did it.

The results may add up to more than 100% because respondents could choose more than one answer.

Year 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2017 Filter by industry Whole of public sector Public entities Victorian Public Service Creative industries, finance, transport and other Police and emergency services Public health care TAFE and other education Water and land management Government schools Filter by demographic Overall Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Age Full-time or part-time Ongoing, fixed-term or casual Ongoing or fixed-term Cultural identity Disability Gender Gender identity Religion Headcount Full-time equivalent Employers Percentage of all employees by headcount Percentage of all full-time equivalent employees Remuneration Remuneration gap as an amount Remuneration gap as a percentage View as a number or percentage Percentage Number Salary Percentage of industry Percentage of total public sector workforce

 

---

 

Working relationship

In this chart, respondents who experienced sexual harassment said what their working relationship is with the person who sexually harassed them.

Year 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2017 Filter by industry Whole of public sector Public entities Victorian Public Service Creative industries, finance, transport and other Police and emergency services Public health care TAFE and other education Water and land management Government schools Filter by demographic Overall Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Age Full-time or part-time Ongoing, fixed-term or casual Ongoing or fixed-term Cultural identity Disability Gender Gender identity Religion Headcount Full-time equivalent Employers Percentage of all employees by headcount Percentage of all full-time equivalent employees Remuneration Remuneration gap as an amount Remuneration gap as a percentage View as a number or percentage Percentage Number Salary Percentage of industry Percentage of total public sector workforce

 

---

 

Response to sexual harassment

In this chart, respondents who experienced sexual harassment said how they responded to it.

The results may add up to more than 100% because respondents could choose more than one answer.

Year 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2017 Filter by industry Whole of public sector Public entities Victorian Public Service Creative industries, finance, transport and other Police and emergency services Public health care TAFE and other education Water and land management Government schools Filter by demographic Overall Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Age Full-time or part-time Ongoing, fixed-term or casual Ongoing or fixed-term Cultural identity Disability Gender Gender identity Religion Headcount Full-time equivalent Employers Percentage of all employees by headcount Percentage of all full-time equivalent employees Remuneration Remuneration gap as an amount Remuneration gap as a percentage View as a number or percentage Percentage Number Salary Percentage of industry Percentage of total public sector workforce

 

---

Why respondents didn’t submit a formal complaint

In this chart, respondents who experienced sexual harassment said why they didn’t submit a formal complaint.

Understanding why employees don’t submit a formal complaint helps organisations provide better support.

The results may add up to more than 100% because respondents could choose more than one answer.

Year 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2017 Filter by industry Whole of public sector Public entities Victorian Public Service Creative industries, finance, transport and other Police and emergency services Public health care TAFE and other education Water and land management Government schools Filter by demographic Overall Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Age Full-time or part-time Ongoing, fixed-term or casual Ongoing or fixed-term Cultural identity Disability Gender Gender identity Religion Headcount Full-time equivalent Employers Percentage of all employees by headcount Percentage of all full-time equivalent employees Remuneration Remuneration gap as an amount Remuneration gap as a percentage View as a number or percentage Percentage Number Salary Percentage of industry Percentage of total public sector workforce

 

---

 

Satisfaction with how the complaint was handled

In this chart, respondents who experienced sexual harassment and submitted a formal complaint said if they were satisfied with how it was handled.

Year 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2017 Filter by industry Whole of public sector Public entities Victorian Public Service Creative industries, finance, transport and other Police and emergency services Public health care TAFE and other education Water and land management Government schools Filter by demographic Overall Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Age Full-time or part-time Ongoing, fixed-term or casual Ongoing or fixed-term Cultural identity Disability Gender Gender identity Religion Headcount Full-time equivalent Employers Percentage of all employees by headcount Percentage of all full-time equivalent employees Remuneration Remuneration gap as an amount Remuneration gap as a percentage View as a number or percentage Percentage Number Salary Percentage of industry Percentage of total public sector workforce