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Some of the 24 total proposals forwarded to WA’s mining industry
and State Government as part of the inquiry

The register
An industry-wide list of offenders that would allow future employers in the
sector to view their past behaviour
The forum perienced rape over a period spanning at
Appointing a forum to hear and document historical allegations of sexual least five years.
harassment in the industry with potential to pursue compensation for victims “This is not the kind of company we
want to be,” Rio Tinto chief executive Ja-
The dismissal kob Stausholm said at the time. “I offer my
A zero-tolerance policy where employers dismiss workers who engage in heartfelt apology to every team member,
inappropriate behaviour towards colleagues past or present, who has suffered as a re-
The new security sult of these behaviours…I feel shame and
Tighter security for job sites including improved lighting and CCTV coverage enormous regret to have learned the ex-
to allow vulnerable employees to feel safer in remote areas and on work tent to which bullying, sexual harassment
camps and racism are happening at Rio Tinto.”
Rio Tinto’s report not only outlined spe-
The expert group cific instances of behaviour that was in-
An expert unit working within WorkSafe WA to investigate and deal with new appropriate, but also revealed constant
reports of sexual harassment everyday sexism made negative impacts
on female workers’ self-esteem, personal
relationships and health.
“My view of most problems is it requires
a community to solve them,” she said. “It’s Acts of sexism included unwanted com-
not just a top down or bottom up thing, it’s ments on appearance, assumptions of
both. Top down can empower those below competence and that they were only hired
to address issues while bottom up can to “fulfil female-diversity quotas”.
drive the grassroots need for change.” As a result, some female workers said
Acting Chamber of Minerals and Energy they ate meals alone in their room to avoid
WA chief executive Rob Carruthers was in harassment or being out late after dark.
favour of bringing new ideas into the indus- The study also showed 28% of Rio
try when given they are viable. Tinto’s female employees reported experi-
“Any such process needs to be practical ences of sexual harassment. For men, it
and drive better outcomes, so we’d review was 7%. Accounts of sexual harassment
that in full detail,” he said. were also seen as more frequent on FIFO
“To those that have been impacted by work camps.
sexual assault and harassment in our in- Meanwhile, BHP last year committed
dustry, on behalf of our industry, I apolo- $300 million to funding security upgrades
gise.” DLA Piper partner Leanne Nickels – including guards, CCTV cameras and
Mettam did sing praise for the strides better lighting – after designating sexual
made by WorkSafe WA, an agency within tor to raise the standards of respect to- assault as a safety risk in 2018.
the Department of Mines, which has in- wards their female colleagues. Nickels hopes the industry continues
cluded plans to improve data collection “The Government of Western Australia to scrutinising its policies, as well enact a
on sexual assault and harassment at mine stands with victims and we want to sup- change in attitude towards these issues
sites. port them in any way that’s possible,” he raised from the inquiry.
However, she said despite leaders in the said. “This inquiry really shifts the focus
industry stressing an importance on safety “This is a timely reminder of the work from sexual harassment being an HR or
and curbing sexual harassment, little ma- that needs to be done by men to improve discrimination issue to being a safety is-
terial change has been made. the situation in this state.” sue,” she said. “We’ve seen this industry
“All companies told us that staff safety During the publicised allegations to- make significant improvement in its safety
was their highest priority. The level of sex- wards the sector’s majors over the past record when it’s given attention both from
ual harassment in their companies indi- two years, a number of companies had the top but also at a grassroots level.
cates that this was not the case,” she said. taken it upon themselves to undertake in- “We’ve seen recent changes in the
“The failure of companies to understand ternal reviews or discipline workers. legislation in the safety space and that’s
what was happening in their workplaces Since 2020, BHP Ltd has fired 48 staff meant many organisations are looking at
must be seen as a sign of corporate fail- for inappropriate behaviour, while Rio their policies, plans and approaches to
ure. Tinto Ltd terminated at least 12 workers safety.
“It was clear that company processes for sexual assault or harassment. “Moving this topic into the safety space
were often ineffective; a more honest Rio Tinto took the initiative of releasing means it’s no longer a gender-based is-
reading could suggest they were more fo- its own internal review earlier this year sue, but an organisational imperative to
cused on protecting companies and their which included accounts of bullying, rac- get it right because safety concerns eve-
reputations than serving the best interests ism and sexism. rybody on a site.”
of people who had been harassed.” The report saw more than 20 women – Fraser Palamara
WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum of a total 10,300 respondents come for-
Bill Johnston called upon men in the sec- ward with allegations of attempted or ex-

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