WATCH THE FULL STORY AND INTERVIEW WITH TRACEY SPICER ABOVE
Since 1984 Australia’s had a Sex Discrimination Act - the whole point being to eliminate sexual harassment at work - but the data’s still not good.
A 2016 Bureau of Statistics survey found 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men will experience sexual harassment in their lifetime.
In the past twelve months, our own ‘#MeToo’ cases have emerged - including allegations against actor Craig McLachlan, gardening guru Don Burke and former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle. But we’ve not seen those stories gain the same traction as similar tales in the United States.
The group’s founder Tracey Spicer says that may be down to the fact Australia has tough defamation laws, and lacks ‘First Amendment’ – free speech – protection. That means these stories take time to come out, but when they do, they’re robust and researched.
She’s calling for changes to be made not just in the workplace but on a broader scale – to include consequences for serial perpetrators and better protections for those who speak out.
NOW Australia is hoping to raise $250,000 through crowdfunding to help Australian victims of sexual assault. While they’re using star power to get the word out, the group says they’ll work with all socio-economic levels. The group’s reportedly already received more than 1600 responses, from workers in all different industries.
But while the necessity for change is clearly there – is now really the time we’ll see it happen?
