Australian retail workers face onslaught of aggression, intimidation and violence

Retail worker Christine Smith was viciously assaulted at Kmart. She’s now speaking out to help protect others as many employees say they are afraid to come to work.

Exclusive: One worker was held at knifepoint. Another was spat on. A third had their car smashed up by an angry customer. Then there are the death threats.

The nation’s retail workers are under siege daily.

Retail worker Christine Smith, 70, was devastated when the woman who viciously assaulted her at a Kmart in Campbelltown, in Sydney’s southwest, got off an appeal.

The brutal attack left the grandmother with two black eyes and triggered the introduction of news laws by the Minns State Government in June 2023 that aimed to crackdown on retail violence.

“I put my hand on the trolley and she just double whammed me,” said Mrs Smith.

“She hit me in the drawer, then hit me between the eyes, she was like a boxer. And that was the end, I went down.”

Christine Smith was assaulted while working at a Kmart in Campbelltown. Picture: Supplied

Christine Smith’s horrific assault triggered new laws cracking down on violence against workers. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The brutal assault was caught on CCTV and Mrs Smith’s attacker was at first sentenced to a nine-month suspended sentence.

“I was quite happy with that [sentence] because she [attacker] was held accountable,” she said.

“But she appealed it and got off, so there was no consequence for her at all.”

About 62 finalised charges have been laid under the laws introduced in the aftermath of Mrs Smith’s case that made it a specific offence to assault, harass, intimidate, stalk or throw projectiles at retail workers.

It took months for Christine Smith to recover from the violent attack. Picture: Supplied

It took months for Mrs Smith to recover from the violent attack in 2019 that she says left her jaw “out of whack”.

She still works at the same Kmart outlet and said shopper behaviour had not improved.

“At least once a week you’ll get someone telling you to f**k off and it’s just because you’re doing your job.”

In a separate incident at a Bunnings, a thug punched a team member, a customer and a security guard in separate incidents over four days, despite being arrested after each attack.

Staff called police after the man first hit the team member but Victoria Police were unable to hold him for longer than 12 hours.

Bunnings manager Olivia Tsiaras has employed tactical guards at the warehouse in northern Melbourne after violent attacks against staff. Picture: Tony Gough

Bunnings manager Olivia Tsiaras said when the man was released, he returned to the hardware store and attacked a customer with a sharp object.

“He literally got released, came back in and punched a customer,” she said.

“He had a sharp object in his hand, so actually punched the customer with the sharp object, injured the customer and again got locked up. He then came back and punched a security guard. So, at that point, we sort of felt a little bit helpless.”

Ms Tsiaras said police told her laws prevented them holding the serial assailant for longer than 12 hours at a time and they couldn’t do much else.

An assault on a worker in a Bunnings store in Victoria. Picture: Supplied

Ms Tsiaras said she hired a counsellor to come into the hardware store to help staff impacted by the onslaught of aggression, intimidation and violence.

She has since employed tactical guards at the warehouse she runs in Melbourne’s north and said one worker had quit out of fear.

“It’s definitely the worst I’ve seen in my 20-plus years in retail,” she said.

“It’s getting to the point that team members are actually afraid to come to work. It feels like the people that are coming in and being threatening and aggressive know that there are no implications from police.”

Originally published as Australian retail workers face onslaught of aggression, intimidation and violence