Tracey Spicers’s sexual harrassment support service admits ‘errors’

A support group founded by Tracey Spicer has apologised for how it handled sexual harassment complaints.

Journalist Tracey Spicer.

The support group founded by journalist Tracey Spicer has ­issued an apology to the women who approached it to report sexual harassment, admitting it made “early errors and missteps” since it was launched amid a blaze of publicity.

NOW Australia in a statement said it had been “rightly criticised” for its handling of sexual harassment complaints, or ‘‘disclosures’’, from women in early 2018.

“As a board and an organisation, we acknowledge the dis­appointment in the survivor community. We know that disclosure is a highly personal process that deserves time, care, honour and meaningful action if requested,” the group said.

The statement followed a weekend report by BuzzFeed that chronicled the organisation’s struggles to deliver on its early promises, confusion over the group’s role and tensions around Spicer.

The group was co-founded by Spicer in the wake of the MeToo movement in early 2018. The former newsreader issued a public call for women to come forward with their examples of harassment. NOW Australia was initially envisaged as a triage service that would connect victims of harassment with legal support and counselling.

But NOW said it had changed direction after finding it was not equipped to meet its goals.

“It quickly became clear that we did not have adequate resources nor enough legal or counselling expertise to support survivors in a trauma-informed way,” the group said.

Spicer, who said in June she was diagnosed with a depressive disorder and has stepped away from the group, is scheduled to accept the Sydney Peace Prize next month for her work.

NOW acknowledged it had not done enough to make clear to women that they shouldn’t ­approach it with disclosures about harassment.

“We came to the view that we couldn’t, shouldn’t and wouldn’t be taking disclosures as an organisation, given we did not have the necessary scale, expertise or resources,” it said.

NOW said it was now working with legal service Justice Connect on an online sexual harassment tool for people seeking help.