A ministerial taskforce will be created to make recommendations to government on how to make workplaces safer for women, Acting Premier James Merlino announced on Monday, International Women's Day.

The taskforce will focus on investigating a mandatory incident notification scheme that would require employers to notify WorkSafe of any incident of workplace sexual harassment.

It will also consider ways to strengthen the occupational health and safety framework to address sexual harassment and clarify employer obligations.

The taskforce will look at ways to encourage and support workers to speak up and consider measures to prevent the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in sexual harassment matters.

Women's Health Grampians chief executive Marianne Hendron said mandatory notification to WorkSafe would add 'teeth' to other workplace policies and procedures.

"Hopefully women, especially who have been subject to abuse in their workplace, are feeling this is a bit of a turning point for measures to try to prevent and address the impacts," she said.

"We know the culture of silence and cover up enables sexual harassment and sexual abuse to be able to thrive in all sorts of contexts.

"If we have laws and processes that make it more difficult to cover up then perpetrators are going to be less likely to feel able to carry out their offences.

"Frequently there is an imbalance of power and victims can feel there is too much to lose to speak up or call it out."

Australian Human Rights Commission data reveals one in three people have been sexually harassed at work in the past five years.

The taskforce will include union, employer and legal representatives and will deliver its advice to the government before the end of the year.

Ms Hendron said she would like to see the group have a strong focus on prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace.

"The legislative levers are very important, but it comes back to culture all the time," she said.

"It means having communities, workplaces, societies and governments that demonstrate consistently disrespect towards women, towards anyone, is not acceptable and we constantly see that being modelled."

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Women's Health Grampians focuses on primary prevention, particularly through its CoRE (Communities of Respect and Equality) program with 130 organisation partners and its Act @ Work cultural change program.

The organisation is in the process of developing the new four year strategy that will run in tandem with the Gender Equality Act rolling out in Victoria.

Ms Hendron said sexual harassment reform would sit well alongside gender equality work in the state.

"It is not just about women getting into positions of leadership or getting into non traditional roles, it is about them being safe when they do that," she said.

"Any workplace needs to be safe and respectful for any woman to want to continue to contribute there."

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The announcement about Victoria's taskforce comes amid the fallout from rape complaints at federal parliament.

Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped by a fellow ministerial adviser in the office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in 2019.

Attorney-General Christian Porter is on leave after it was alleged he raped a 16-year-old girl in 1988.

Mr Porter strenuously denies the allegations, stemming from when he was 17-years-old.

Ballarat-based human rights and workplace lawyer Elizabeth Lacey said the media's focus on these allegations in recent weeks highlighted gender equality and safety from abuse remained 'a long way from the reality'.

"There's no question that reforms are urgently required to prevent and better respond to sexual harassment in workplaces in Victoria, and throughout Australia," she said.

"There is a long way yet to come."

Ms Lacey's law firm Lacey and Co launched an independent and anonymous whistleblower disclosure platform called Anon in December 2019 and has been working with businesses on workplace safety.

Ms Lacey said she hoped the new taskforce would listen to those who have experienced workplace sexual harassment and assault and define the terms in a nationally consistent manner to allow for clarity.

She said she would like to see the taskforce provide clear pathways for support and advice which addressed the concerns of complainants, including to allow for anonymity and agency.

"The taskforce has the opportunity to truly address the absence of equality and safety that persist in Victorian workplaces, and to ensure that sexual harassment does not remain rife and continue to decimate the lives of targets as it does now, particularly where so many barriers to reporting exist," she said.

"We welcome change which supports a systemic and meaningful shift."

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Minister for Workplace Safety Ingrid Stitt said WorkSafe and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission had joined a new memorandum of understanding.

It will allow better cooperation in responding to sexual harassment complaints, sharing information and training of staff.

WorkSafe inspectors will also undergo targeted training on best-practice responses for sexual harassment incidents.

A new WorkSafe campaign, 'Let's Be Very Clear', was also launched on Monday to raise awareness of what workplace sexual harassment is, educate employers on their responsibilities and encourage workers to call out unacceptable behaviour when they see it.

"We know underreporting is rife, that is why we want to support measures that help people speak out without adverse implications for them and their career," Ms Stitt said.

"It is about strengthening the response from a health and safety perspective.

"The current system is not working. The numbers of people experiencing this type of behaviour in the workplace tells us we need to do more."

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