One in five reports of sexual harassment at Qld Health took 200 days to resolve

An independent review into protections against workplace sexual violence within Queensland Health has found the “extensive” reporting system falls short on victim support, with some reports taking more than a year to resolve.

The newly released review found Queensland Health was fulfilling its legal obligations to its workers, in the way it responded to reports, but had created an inflexible and impersonal system.

“The current reporting and response framework has been primarily built to address grievances, deliver disciplinary outcomes and minimise legal liability and reputational risk,” the review states.

A review into workplace sexual violence within Queensland Health has found the sector’s response and prevention framework is “extensive”, but doesn’t cater well to individual victims’ needs.Credit: Dan Peled

“When workplace sexual harassment is viewed through a legal lens, it is often treated as an issue of legal risk rather than human harm.”

The review also found reports requiring disciplinary action were escalated easily, which could blow out response times.

Most reports – 53 per cent – that were escalated to disciplinary action were resolved in under 100 days.

About one in five took over 200 days to resolve, and the largest gap between a report and finalised response was 742 days – over two years.

According to the review, three in four leaders had not completed training on how to handle reports from their team and how to act when they witnessed sexual assault or harassment in the workplace.

Queensland Ambulance and hospital staff reported patients and clients were the most common aggressors in sexual harassment cases, and workers in the Department of Health said they were most likely to be harassed by a colleague.

Queensland Health said it welcomed the findings and expected to act on recommendations, which included better training, and focusing on victim support.

“This review is testament to our commitment to making sure our staff feel physically, mentally and emotionally secure while delivering care for Queenslanders,” a spokeswoman said.

The former state government commissioned the review in March last year, with then health minister Shannon Fentiman promising a “thorough and transparent examination” of workplace sexual violence in the public health sector.

The Australian Medical Association Queensland welcomed the review and Queensland Health’s commitment to the recommendations.

“We’ve been advocating for the safety of doctors and all medical professionals at work since we first began surveying junior doctors ten years ago,” said AMA Queensland President Nick Yim.

Yim said Queensland hospitals had collectively received a B- score for handling and incidences of bullying, discrimination, and sexual harassment on the AMA Queensland’s resident hospital health check.

“We know doctors, particularly those early in their career, are less likely to report any incidents of bullying, discrimination or sexual harassment because of a lack of faith in the reporting process, or a belief it would be too much of a hassle,” he said.

The review found about three per cent of all Queensland Health workers said they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace in annual surveys conducted from 2019 to 2024.

However, it noted the response rate in some hospital and health service centres was low.

Workplace sexual harassment laws were amended in Queensland in September, and now offer some of the strongest protections in the country.

The most recent provisions, which came into effect on March 1, require workplaces to create and publish a written sexual harassment prevention plan.

Additional prevention measures slated for July — that would place a positive duty on employers to stamp out behaviours linked to sexual harassment and assault — were delayed indefinitely in March, sparking outcry from the Human Rights commission.

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