The following article discusses material of a sensitive nature that may be triggering for some individuals.
Can you provide an overview of the services provided by the Respect team to Services Australia staff and how they were shaped by legislation?
The Respect team was established in April 2022 in response to the need for improved procedures and support for staff who experience or witness inappropriate behaviour including bullying, sexual harassment, and discrimination. It was designed using a human-centred approach to create a triage service for staff.
Our team is specially trained to provide trauma-informed support, and a swift, empathetic, and effective response. This often includes empowering staff and their leaders to consider how they can resolve matters locally. The service also allows us to escalate serious misconduct matters to our Conduct Standards team, resulting in more timely action. Team Leaders and Managers can contact us if they require assistance when managing difficult situations and workplace conflict as we manage the agency’s mediator network, which is a network of staff who are trained and accredited mediators.
The service provided by the Respect team also encompasses the Services Australia’s Staff Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) Line. This is a referral service for staff experiencing FDV. Our staff managing the phone line are trained to recognise and respond appropriately to FDV, and also provide guidance and support to Team Leaders and Managers who may have a team member experiencing Family or Domestic Violence.
In December 2022, the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022 (Cth) amended the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) introducing a positive duty on employers to eliminate, as far as possible, the following unlawful behaviour from occurring:
- discrimination on the grounds of sex in a work context
- sexual harassment in connection with work
- sex-based harassment in connection with work
- conduct creating a workplace environment that is hostile on the grounds of sex
- related acts of victimisation.
Having already had the Respect team in place by this date meant the Agency was well placed to respond to this amended legislation. There is also the added benefit that having a centralised team allows us to identify trends or hot spots that may require additional preventative measures and supports.
What measures are taken to ensure data is secure and remains anonymous when required?
When calling the Respect team, staff have the option to remain anonymous and not share their details or information. We let them know that this may mean there are more limited actions that we can take to consider and address their report and depending on what information is provided.
Additionally, staff can identify themselves to the Respect Manager and request their name remain confidential and be withheld if the Respect Manager needs to engage with their business area.
We let staff know up-front in our discussions that whilst we can maintain their confidentiality as far as reasonably practicable, there may be some instances where we would be required to disclose their information. For example, where natural justice principles require, this may include serious misconduct matters, or where there is a concern for the immediate safety of themselves or another person.
Information that we hold is stored securely in case management systems which limit who can view the information to those within Human Resources. We also use our discretion to take additional measures to ensure sensitive data is secured to only the Respect team where required.
Do you use data to identify trends and influence the initiatives you incorporate into your service offering? What trends have you noticed?
All contacts to the Respect team are categorised by themes and recorded securely. Regular analysis of data occurs to identify trends and our HR business partners can engage with the Respect team where tailored support may benefit a particular business area or location.
For staff contacting the Respect team regarding Family and Domestic Violence there is very limited information captured and recorded due to personal safety and security reasons of those contacting the service.
Since the team commenced, we have found the majority of contacts relate to incivility in the workplace with the second most common contact relating to behaviours of individuals. Knowing this, we can tailor our staff communications and learning modules to include a focus on promoting respectful and inclusive workplace behaviours and appropriately and respectfully calling out incivility and inappropriate behaviours.
What barriers do you think prevent individuals seeking support from your team? How are you addressing these barriers?
Given the size and geography of Services Australia, it can be a challenge to let staff know we exist. We also know that staff and leaders will sometimes contact with expectations of resolving matters on their behalf.
To overcome these barriers, we launched the introduction of the team with a detailed communication strategy to get the message out there. We have a dedicated staff intranet page about what we do, and we deliver information sessions to teams informing staff and leaders about our service offer and what they can expect from us when reaching out to our team. It’s important to us that we continually promote the work we do to our staff and leaders, so that everyone is aware of the support available, including our new staff.
When staff contact us, to help manage their expectations, we ensure that they understand what we can do to assist and what is outside of the scope of what we can facilitate, so that they know what resolutions are possible.
We also know that people can feel extremely vulnerable when connecting with our team. We have engaged in additional training (provided by our Inclusion and Diversity team) about the specific barriers our diverse staff may experience when reporting bullying and harassment and how we can foster a safe environment for people to contact and report their experiences.
As well as providing reactive support for staff, does your service offer include any preventative measures to help stop these issues before they occur?
In addition to our information sessions to employees and leaders, we undertake regular communications to remind staff of their obligations and promote respectful behaviour through a number of different channels, such as Viva Engage. This includes promoting days of significance, such as the recent Bullying No Way: National week of action.
We have an internal sharepoint page on our staff intranet with a number of resources including a Respect Works Toolkit and a Respectful Conversation series, which supports employees and leaders with guidance on how to respond to difficult situations.
We also coordinate and govern our Harassment Contact Officer network. Harassment Contact Officers (HCOs) provide a confidential peer support service to staff who believe they may have experienced or witnessed unreasonable behaviours in the workplace. HCOs are trained to assist staff with concerns about specific forms of unacceptable workplace behaviours, including workplace bullying and sexual harassment. Our HCOs also assist our managers to deliver our Workplace Respect Toolkit presentation to their teams.
The agency has a number of learning products to inform employees of accepted behaviours and the policies and procedures in place to address bullying and harassment. These include induction training, the Mandatory Refresher Program (undertaken by all agency staff annually) and various e-learning modules.
We also mentioned above the trend analysis work to identify hot spots for additional support and assistance. We are continuing to look at ways to improve and add to our preventative measures, including through consultation with staff and their representatives, to incorporate their feedback and ideas.
What support services are in place to ensure those in the Respect team are supported and their wellbeing is maintained?
The Respect team have a number of strategies to support the wellbeing of our team members including:
- Training - appropriate training on commencement with the team.
- Debriefing support - as part of the Respect Manager training, team members are informed of the option to both receive and provide debriefing support after difficult calls or case consults.
- Wellbeing checks - Respect Managers have the option of participating in quarterly wellbeing checks with our Employee Assistance Program.
- Daily stand ups - where the team connects, laugh, share updates, provide peer support to each other, and discuss de-identified cases to share learnings and gain insights.
- Coaching - regular coaching occurs with Respect Managers. Respect Managers connect with their leader and the coaching conversation involves their wellbeing and how they are tracking with the role. Respect Managers are encouraged to let their leaders know if they are feeling a need for a break or change of work duties or a change in team.