Three chief executives who are Ballarat residents are founding members of a new organisation to address sexual harassment in the workplace.
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UFS Dispensaries chief executive Lynne McLennan, Victorian Responsible Gambling Commission interim chief executive Janet Dore and Dental Health Services Victoria chief executive Deborah Cole are part of a group of female leaders who banded together in 2018 to form new organisation Not in My Workplace.
Sad doesn’t describe how I feel that we are still having to talk about this.
- Lynne McLennan
UFS Dispensaries chief executive Lynne McLennan said the group was ‘exasperated’ with current responses to sexual harassment, particularly the #metoo movement, and saw a need for resources for leaders to ensure the safety of staff.
“We wanted to put together a set of tools and training opportunities for leaders of any organisation to minimise the risk of sexual harassment happening in workplaces, but also so we know how to deal with it without subjecting victims to secondary damage when they call it out,” she said.
“There are about 30 women working to pull this organisation together. We all have our own experiences of sexual harassment in the workplace.”
Not in My Workplace will officially launch with a Summit at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre on February 21.
The Summit will provide key insights into addressing the cultural and behavioural issues that contribute to sexual harassment.
Ms McLennan said it would not be a collection of war stories – ‘there is no point in hearing more war stories’ – but a discussion about practical actions leaders can take in their workplace to reduce and address incidences of sexual harassment, particularly in workplaces where there is power imbalance.
“We are hoping it it will catalyse change to a culture of equality in many organisations,” she said.
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, the definition of sexual harassment is ‘an unwelcome sexual advance, unwelcome request for sexual favours or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/or intimidated, where a reasonable person would anticipate that reaction in the circumstances’.
Ms McLennan said it was important to understand the serious impact that workplace harassment can have on a person’s health and well-being.
“Sad doesn’t describe how I feel that we are still having to talk about this,” she said.
“I was a young feminist in the 70s. A number of us who have been in the workforce for 40 years are still looking at each other wondering how this is still happening.”
Visit notinmyworkplace.org for more information.