NSW government survey finds workers face bullying, sexual harassment and misconduct

NSW government departments are rife with sexual harassment, bullying, threats of physical harm, and misconduct, according to tens of thousands of public servants sounding the alarm.

NSW government departments are rife with sexual harassment, bullying, threats of physical harm, and misconduct, according to tens of thousands of public servants sounding the alarm.

The latest NSW government People Matters Survey revealed 82 people in the Department of Premier and Cabinet were “aware of misconduct”, while 74 cabinet staffers experienced bullying.

The number of people reporting harassment in the department has increased 3 per cent since Labor came to government.

Meanwhile, close to 6000 staff across the Education Department and TAFE portfolio alleged they were the victim of bullying, while 6987 said they experienced threats of physical harm.

The negative workplace behaviours report for the NSW Public sector saw the number of instances of threats or assaults increase by 4 per cent in the NSW Education Department.

Nurses and doctors say they have been attacked and sexually harassed. Picture: Christian Gilles

Devastating figures from NSW Health revealed one in four respondents to the survey, or 21,271 doctors, nurses and support staff, witnessed bullying in our state’s hospitals, while more than 5700 employees reported experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace.

A further 9817 reported threats or physical harm, while 13,000 said they were bullied at work.

To put this into perspective, there are more reports of teachers, nurses, doctors, and support staff across Health and Education experiencing assaults and sexual harassment at work than incidents reported by NSW Police officers on the frontline.

NSW Health had massive numbers of bullying and assault allegations. Picture: iStock

A spokeswoman for the Premier’s Department said “all employees have a responsibility to demonstrate high standards of conduct and ethics in all aspects of their work”.

“The Premier’s Department and The Cabinet Office support a culture where staff operate effectively, ethically and lawfully,” she said.

The departments required staff to undertake mandatory “respectful workplaces training”, as well as sexual harassment prevention and response courses.

“A course for managers’ have been developed by the Office of the Public Service Commissioner and will be launched in the coming months,” the spokeswoman said.

“All complaints of misconduct are dealt with confidentially, in line with relevant Departmental policies and procedures.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Education Department said “the abuse or assault of any staff member is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated”.

“In March 2024 we implemented strong new Workplace Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response Standards that outline how all employees are required to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment,” he said. “At the same time, we introduced improved sexual harassment prevention training, as well as a suite of resources and information on the issue.”

Education has rolled out new Workplace Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response Standards. Picture: Getty Images

In response to the tens of thousands of nurses, doctors and support staff to raise the alarm of bullying, sexual harassment, threats and physical assaults inside the state’s hospitals, a NSW Health spokeswoman said negative workplace incidents “are not tolerated”.

“We continue to encourage all staff to come forward and speak up if they see or hear any bullying or harassment, and swift action is taken to address these issues when raised,” she said.

“While there is more work to do, a number of indicators in the People Matter Employee Survey continue to track positively as a result of our ongoing efforts to support our staff.

“Results that improved in the most recent survey include the number of staff that have experienced or witnessed bullying, the staff engagement and workplace culture indices, and the number of staff who report that culture in the workplace has improved.”