A Positive Duty to eliminate sexual harassment and sex discrimination: What do I need to know?

Description

Since December 2022, most businesses and organisations, regardless of size, in Australia have a positive duty to eliminate sexual harassment and sex discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth). From 12 December 2023, the Australian Human Rights Commission will commence monitoring compliance and enforcing the positive duty.

This one hour seminar has been designed to:

give you a comprehensive overview of the new regulatory scheme
understand how to navigate the Australian Human Rights Commission's new Guidelines for Complying with the positive duty
understand how the positive duty interacts with existing work, health and safety duties, as well obligations under the Fair Work Act.

importantly, this seminar will provide an opportunity to ask questions from Australia's leading experts, and equip you with immediate practical actions you can take to start complying with the positive duty.

Who is it for?

This seminar is for business owners, senior leaders, managers human resource practitioners, legal practitioners and people and culture officers.

This event may qualify for 1 CPD point. Please refer to your respective state/territory legal practice rules on whether this event qualifies for CPD points.

Presenters

Prabha Nandagopal

Prabha is a leading human rights and discrimination lawyer with over 18 years of broad experience in a variety of areas from workplace culture reform to protecting the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. She is the founder of Elevate Consulting Partners, which she established to support and strengthen the work of organisations committed to positive social change.

Most recently Prabha led the development of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidelines on the new federal positive duty to eliminate sexual harassment and sex discrimination.

Prabha is an innovative changemaker renowned for her ability to challenge the status quo and develop achievable solutions to complex systemic problems. For twelve years Prabha held various senior positions at the Australian Human Rights Commission including Director of Human Rights Law and Policy and Director of Business and Human Rights. In 2021, she was the Director of Legal for the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces. In 2020, she was a senior legal advisor to the Respect@Work National Inquiry and helped shape the positive duty regulatory scheme. As one of Australia’s foremost experts on immigration detention law and policy, in 2014, she led the landmark National Inquiry into Children in Detention.

Leah Marrone

Leah Marrone is a Barrister and has been practising law for over 15 years, she has a particular interest in gender equity and access to justice, and an extensive history in lobbying for law reform in areas which effect women, some examples include lobbying for the decriminalisation of sex work to ensure worker safety and in sexual harassment law, particularly in the lead up to the Respect at Work reforms.

Leah practises in a wide range of areas, including employment, discrimination, work health and safety, criminal law, workers compensation, and public law.

Leah is the immediate past President of Australian Women Lawyers Ltd. and past President of the Women Lawyer’s Association of SA Inc. and remains a member of both of those boards.

Leah is a former member of the Equal Opportunity Committee of the Law Council of Australia where she worked extensively on the issue of addressing sexual harassment at work and in particular in the profession, and is a former member of the Premier’s Council for Women. Leah has received the Law Society’s Mary Kitson Award (Gender Equity in Law) and has also been named on the South Australian Women’s Honour Roll.

Leah went to the Bar in 2021 and has been listed as a Recommended Barrister in Employment and Work Health and Safety by Doyle’s Guide in 2022 and 2023.

Leah was appointed to the Law Foundation in 2022.

Leah was also appointed to the Respect at Work Council in 2022.