Queensland’s Sexual Harassment Prevention Plan Obligations: What Employers Need to Know

From 1 March 2025, the Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation 2024 introduced a requirement for employers to have a written Sexual Harassment Prevention Plan in place This article examines the new regulatory framework, the elements a compliant plan must address, and the practical and legal considerations that will determine whether an employer’s response is sufficient under the standard the legislation demands.

The Regulatory Background

The Work Health and Safety (Sexual Harassment) Amendment Regulation 2024 introduced a requirement for every person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to manage the risk of sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment as a recognised psychosocial hazard under the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011. From 1 March 2025, that requirement was extended to include the preparation and implementation of a written prevention plan wherever a risk of sexual harassment has been identified.

Queensland is currently the only Australian jurisdiction to impose a written prevention plan requirement through Work Health and Safety legislation. This obligation operates alongside, and does not displace, the positive duty under federal law requiring employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

Non-compliance carries material consequences. The WHS Act provides for improvement notices, prohibition notices, financial penalties, and in serious matters may create criminal liability. Officers of a PCBU, including directors and senior executives, bear personal due diligence obligations under the Act and may face individual liability where those obligations are not met. The scope of enforcement activity in this area is expected to increase as the obligation matures.

What a Compliant Prevention Plan Must Address

Generic commitments and broad principles will fail to withstand scrutiny under the new regulations. A compliant prevention plan must involve a specific assessment of risk whereby all control measures are identified and justified.

Under the regulation, a compliant plan must:

• Identify each specific risk to worker health and safety;
• Set out the control measures implemented, or to be implemented, for each identified risk, having regard to relevant worker and workplace characteristics;
• Establish a procedure for receiving, investigating, and resolving harassment reports, including communication of outcomes to all parties;
• Show consultation with employees in relation to identified risks and implemented control measures;
• Be expressed in plain language that workers can readily understand;
• Be reviewed at least every three years, or earlier if a harassment report is made.

In doing so, the regulations are clear that prevention plans built on training programs and generic policy documents will fail to satisfy the requirement. Rather, prevention plans call for a considered, evidence-based approach to eliminating or minimising risk that is implemented after genuine consultation with employees.

Necessary Steps for Employers in Queensland

The first step in approaching a Sexual Harassment Prevention Plan is for employers to review their own records to assess previous risks and incidents in the workplace. The regulation requires risks to be identified with specificity, and that level of specificity can only come from material that is grounded in the actual experience of the business.

Secondly, where employers face generating policies over a number of different workplaces, the regulation is clear that each location must be assessed on its own merits. The risks associated with a particular workplace will logically differ from the possible risks present in another workplace. Employers must be aware of this in formulating their prevention plan and should adopt appropriate control measures to ensure compliance.

Finally, as we have already flagged it is imperative to consult changes and identification of risks with workers. The regulation requires this to be genuine and must offer employees a real chance to contribute before the finalisation of the plan.

The Broader Compliance Context

Queensland is presently the only Australian jurisdiction to have introduced a written prevention plan requirement through WHS legislation. This does not mean that employers outside Queensland are without comparable obligations. The federal positive duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 requires employers across the country to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment. The Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidelines on the positive duty set out a clear expectation that employers take proactive and preventative measures to eliminate sexual harassment, rather than limiting their response to incidents after they occur.

The direction of travel in this area of law is consistent and well established. Employers that build sound, evidence-based prevention practices now will be better placed to satisfy both current and emerging obligations, and to demonstrate to regulators and courts that the safety of workers is treated as a genuine priority rather than a matter of formal compliance.

We’re With You

 At Chamberlains Law Firm, we help businesses stay ahead of the constant changes in employment law. Our workplace law team has extensive expertise in drafting and advising on workplace sexual harassment policies, procedures and prevention plans. Our team can even provide your business with the required workplace sexual harassment training to ensure that your business is well equipped and protected.

Contact our experts who can assist you with ensuring compliance and practical protection for your business, our Workplace Law Team is here to support you.

This article was prepared by Isabella Turner.