Respect@Work enforcement is in full swing. Is your workplace ready?

I’ve worked with thousands of workers in a range of industries. The themes I hear are consistent, writes Prabha Nandagopal.

Over the past two years, I’ve worked closely with businesses across Australia to help them meet their obligations under the Sex Discrimination Act, particularly the positive duty introduced after the Respect@Work National Inquiry. A common question I hear, especially from HR professionals, is: What does enforcement actually look like? Is the Australian Human Rights Commission really taking action?

We now have a clear answer: yes, and it’s already happening.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has moved decisively from education to enforcement. Last week, it announced that in 2024–25, it launched four formal inquiries into employers across retail, hospitality, finance, and transport – covering approximately 7,500 workers. These inquiries were triggered by information from a variety of sources, including workers, media reporting, and other regulators, signalling a shift to proactive, intelligence-led compliance.

Alongside this, the commission has supported 35 other employers, across 12 industries, through voluntary compliance work to help them understand and meet their obligations under the positive duty. In 2025–26, there will be targeted compliance and enforcement strategies in retail trade and hospitality, sectors known for insecure, casualised workforces and heightened risks of sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, work health and safety regulators across the country are sharpening their focus on psychosocial hazards.

In Victoria, WorkSafe has been taking real action on psychosocial hazards. In a 2023 landmark case, Court Services Victoria was fined nearly $380,000 after the suicide of a lawyer exposed a toxic workplace culture at the Coroners Court. In a separate case earlier this year, a company was fined $100,000 for having no formal systems to address inappropriate behaviour – relying instead on a single monthly meeting.

Since 1 March 2025, under the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011, all organisations in Queensland are required to have a prevention plan in relation to sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment at work.

In NSW, the government recently committed $127.7 million over four years to strengthen SafeWork NSW’s capacity to respond to psychosocial harm in workplaces. The funding will:

• Increase SafeWork’s inspector numbers by 27 per cent, from 370 to 469.
• Recruit 51 new inspectors, including 20 psychosocial specialists and five dedicated investigators.
• Establish a psychosocial advisory service – staffed by qualified professionals and expected to deliver 25,000 consultations each year.
• And transition SafeWork into an independent regulator from 1 July 2025, expanding its powers and autonomy.

For employers, these developments are a wake-up call. Regulators are no longer just providing guidance – they’re equipped, resourced, and are indeed taking enforcement action.

So, what does this mean for HR professionals?

It means shifting from crisis response to prevention – your workplace systems, culture, and leadership must be ready to mitigate psychosocial hazards, including stopping harmful behaviour before it happens, not just responding after it does.

And crucially, HR can’t do it alone.

Yes, HR are often the ones designing the systems, facilitating the training, and managing complaints. However, leaders, boards, CEOs, and executive teams must own the responsibility. Compliance isn’t an HR task; it’s an organisational obligation. Without visible, active leadership support and financial investment, culture change won’t take root.

I’ve worked with thousands of workers in a range of industries. The themes I hear are consistent: fear of speaking up. Past experiences of harm. A deep fatigue with systems that don’t hold perpetrators to account and lead to change. That’s why it’s critical to centre trauma-informed design, effective education, anonymous reporting, and intersectional risk assessments. Because when people don’t feel safe, they won’t come forward – and when they don’t come forward, harm continues unchecked.

You don’t need to have everything perfect. But you do need to show that you’re taking reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent harm, yhat you’ve identified risks and acted on them, that workers feel safe to speak up, and that leaders are accountable for listening.

Not sure where to start? Here are some questions to guide you:

• Have our leaders been briefed on their positive duty obligations and psychosocial risks?
• Are we effectively consulting with our staff, especially those most at risk of harm?
• Are we addressing the root causes of psychosocial harm – not just the symptoms?
• Are our workers aware of what constitutes unlawful and inappropriate behaviour? And do they know what their rights and responsibilities are?
• Do our workers trust our reporting systems enough to use them?

When people feel safe, included and respected, they stay longer, contribute more, and help build stronger, more innovative organisations. That’s the real return on investing in workplace culture – not just legal compliance, but a thriving, high-performing workplace.

Prabha Nandagopal is the founder of Elevate Consulting Partners.