Wednesday, 14 August 2024

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:10): Across the country today there are victims of workplace sexual harassment who have lost their right to use their voices, victim-survivors who have endured sexual harassment at work and who have then been silenced. These victims – and we know these victims are overwhelmingly women – are being asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, known as NDAs, often during times of enormous distress. What is also really being signed away here is their silence, compelling victims to hide terrible, terrible experiences from families and friends, even from their doctors.

It does not just silence victims, it also protects perpetrators. I have spoken to women who have been affected by this practice. They have told me how important it is to bring change to this area. One survivor called Kim said it leaves perpetrators to continue their behaviour, it leaves them without consequences to their career and it leaves others vulnerable to their behaviour. Another, Billie, said she was traumatised and suffering anxiety because of how she had been treated. She could not stay working but she had to pay rent, so she signed an NDA.

We are seeing too often NDAs are being weaponised against women like Billie and Kim, and it must stop, which is why this week I announced that our government would be leading consultation – nation-leading consultation – on laws to restrict the use of NDAs in workplace sexual harassment cases. Submissions are open now, and I am encouraging victim-survivors to provide their thoughts and their experiences, and they can do so anonymously and confidentially. We are doing this because my government believes women, respects women and elects women. We even let women speak. We let women speak, and when they do speak, we listen to them.