Overview
The Positive Duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth)
The positive duty is a legal obligation on organisations and businesses to take proactive and meaningful action to prevent relevant unlawful conduct from occurring in the workplace or in connection to work.
From 12 December 2023, the Commission has the power to enforce compliance by organisations and businesses with the positive duty.
The Commission:
- supports cultural change towards safer, respectful and fairer workplaces in Australia
- makes sure organisations and businesses comply with their new positive duty obligations.
The Commission has produced a Statement of Intent [PDF, 179 KB] that outlines how it will deliver on the Minister’s expectations [PDF 129 KB] with respect to fulfilling its statutory responsibilities.
Tell us
Please tell us about any concerns you have about an organisation or business complying with the positive duty by completing our Positive Duty Form.
You can also tell us about an organisation or business where you have experienced or seen sexual harassment, sexist behaviour, sex discrimination or related victimisation in connection with work.
Anyone can give us information. You don’t need to tell us your name, but some personal information may be useful.
For more information about what behaviour is covered by the positive duty see our Information Guide (PDF, 2 MB).
About your information
What we will do with your information
When we get your information in the completed Positive Duty Form:
- we will analyse it
- we will use it to inform our inquiries into organisations and businesses
- we will use it to decide where to focus our resources to bring about cultural change
See our Compliance and Enforcement Policy (PDF, 315 KB) for more information about how we make our decisions.
We aim to keep the information you provide to us in this form confidential, but there are circumstances where it may be necessary for us to disclose information, including personal information, for example to carry out our statutory functions or where disclosure is required by law. Our PDT Privacy Collection Notice and our Privacy Policy set out how we collect and use the personal information you disclose to us.
What we will not do with your information
When we get your information in the completed Positive Duty Form:
- we won’t act on your behalf to resolve individual disputes
- we won’t contact you or respond, unless we need further information from you, and only if you have provided consent.
The Commission also inquires into and conciliates complaints about discrimination and breaches of human rights. This is different to completing this Positive Duty Form. Make a complaint about discrimination or human rights breaches.