People who experienced sexual harassment in the workplace

1.5: Workplaces are safe from all forms of gender-based violence and are actively preventing sexual harassment and discrimination.

Increased use of best practice for preventing and responding to bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace.

The proportion of people who experienced sexual harassment in the workplace (in the last 5 years).

A decrease in the proportion of people who experience sexual harassment at work will indicate improvements in workplace safety.

Sexual harassment is one form of gender-based violence that can be experienced in the workplace. Sexual harassment is expected to fall over time where systems and institutions are effective and supporting and protecting people impacted by gender-based violence.

2022

People aged 15 years and over.

The number of people who experienced sexual harassment in the 5 years prior to the survey.

Data element: Person—experienced sexual harassment
Data source: AHRC National survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces
Data source type: Survey

The number of people aged 15 years and over.

Data element: Person
Data source: AHRC National survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces
Data source type: Survey

A person is considered to have experienced sexual harassment if they experienced 1 or more of the specified sexual harassment behaviours in the 5 years prior to the survey. 
This measure is expressed as percentage of all people surveyed.

100 × (Numerator/Denominator)

Not available for first release.

In the AHRC National survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, sexual harassment is measured by providing a respondent with a legal definition and an extensive list of behaviours. A person is considered to have experienced sexual harassment if they had been sexually harassed according to the legal definition, or if they had experienced any of the behaviours. 
The list of behaviours provided includes acts, such as actual or attempted rape or sexual assault, which would be measured elsewhere as sexual assault. Sexual harassment in this context includes sexual assault. 
Estimates are based on information obtained from a sample survey and are therefore subject to sampling variability. Sampling error in survey estimates is calculated using Relative Standard Errors (RSE).

In 2022, the sample size was 10,157. 
Due to small numbers, additional detail about actions taken cannot be observed for sexual harassment that occurs in the last 12 months. Detailed data about sexual harassment in the workplace are only available for incidents of harassment that occurred within the last 5 years. This includes age, sexual orientation, intersex status, disability status, language spoken at home and country of birth. As reporting periods may overlap between surveys, these data are not suitable for measuring and reporting progress. However, the data may provide additional information about experiences for priority population groups.
Where the RSE for numbers and estimates is between 25% and 50%, this will be indicated in the data visualisation and any accompanying data tables. Where the RSE is greater than 50%, the data will not be published.