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neWs

Enough is enough: Inquiry slams

‘appalling’ behaviour

estern Australia’s mining indus- policy changes proposed as part of the re- “If there’s no NDA and no confidentiality
Wtry may soon undergo strict policy port but conceded they could pose logisti- agreement, then the culture of silence is
changes to better protect its employees cal nightmares. removed and the industry is small enough
who have been victim to, or are vulner- “We have recommended the industry that repeat offenders will come to light.”
able to, sexual harassment and assault. explore options, which could operate ef- Following the report, Mettam labelled it
More than 20 potential strategies were fectively and fairly to prevent habitual sex- a “corporate failure” that the WA Govern-
submitted to the industry and WA Gov- ual harassment offenders continuing to be ment and employers had failed to prevent
ernment after a 178-page parliamentary re-employed in the mining workplace,” she wrongdoing at work sites.
inquiry titled “Enough is Enough” fielded said, referring to the “blacklist” register. “This represents a failure of the industry
nearly 100 accounts of alleged harass- “It is a complex policy issue but it’s too to protect its workers and raises real ques-
ment, assault and rape in just over a year. important an issue to ignore.” tions about why government was not bet-
Proposals from the inquiry included a Nickels also thought implementing the ter across this safety issue,” she said.
registered offender “blacklist” which would register could be “challenging” but said “To hear the lived reality of the taunts, at-
track the behaviour of workers as they industry-wide changes were imperative to tacks and targeted violence, the devasta-
move between companies and work sites prompt open conversations. tion and despair the victims experienced,
to notify employers of past misconduct. “We’ve seen some debate over the last the threats or loss of their livelihood that
Other proposals included a government few years about the use of non-disclosure resulted, was shattering and it’s complete-
forum to further investigate culture issues, agreements for these types of incidents,” ly inexcusable.
dismissal of employees that ask for sexual she said. “What I’m seeing now is there “It is simply shocking this could be tak-
favours from colleagues, improved camp- is much less appetite for confidentiality ing place in the 21st century in one of the
site security such as CCTV coverage and or NDAs to be used in resolving these is- State’s most lucrative industries.”
improved lighting, sharing data between sues at the workplace level. This means Nickels said any new change to culture
the industry and police, and appointing an individuals and employers would be able would not only come from the top execu-
expert panel within WorkSafe WA to inves- to disclose these incidents during formal tive level, but in a combination with atti-
tigate new reports of misconduct. or informal reference checks. tudes from the ground floor.
DLA Piper partner and labour law spe-
cialist Leanne Nickels said although the
industry has made past policy changes to
curb harmful behaviour, the inquiry could
now fuel a sector-wide shift.
“We have seen some changes already
being implemented over the last couple
years such as restrictions on alcohol con-
sumption,” Nickels told Paydirt. “Over the
years, working with clients in this space,
I have found people and companies are
changing in terms of their practices but I
now think this inquiry will accelerate some
of those changes at an industry wide level,
rather than at just specific work sites.”
The inquiry followed a string of allega-
tions from female employees at major
mine sites across the State, some that
employ up to hundreds of people, which
prompted major coverage in the media.
Inquiry chair and WA Shadow Health
Minister Libby Mettam labelled the latest
bout of misconduct allegations as an “ap-
palling range of behaviours”.
Specific allegations detailed a number of
women being touched without permission
in front of other colleagues, while others
were propositioned for sexual favours by
superiors and one even recounted being
“knocked unconscious” to find her pants
“around her ankles”.
Mettam is eager to enact some of the
WA Shadow Health Minister Libby Mettam chaired the inquiry which contained nearly 100
complaints of sexual harassment and assault from mining employees in just over a year
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