Build Like a Girl offers practical and relevant training designed specifically for on the ground/site-based labourers, tradespeople, and WHS advisors, as well as a tailored approach for supervisors, managers and leaders.
Designed and facilitated by senior vocational educational experts with, lived experience in construction, the Respect Onsite program embeds a practical understanding of what sexual harassment and abuse is, its consequences, and the practical actions everyone can take to prevent its occurrence in the workplace.
Respect@Work: The regulatory context
Respect@work is a legal compliance framework enforced by the Human Rights Commission and FairWork Ombudsman. Commonwealth workplace laws impose a positive duty on employers to prevent workplace sexual harassment, sex discrimination and victimisation.
It’s estimated that 29% of women and 8% of men in the Australian construction industry have suffered workplace sexual harassment.
Respect Onsite: The program
Respect Onsite is a one-day onsite workshop that:
- Creates a psychologically safe environment for discussing sensitive topics and concepts such as consent and intent vs impact
- Adapts in real-time to each group’s dynamics and culture, reducing the risk of disengagement or avoidance
- Enables participants to hear colleagues’ perspectives and build a shared commitment to behavioural change
- Includes practical activities so participants can practise responding to harassment with confidence
- Combines cost-effective and practical self-paced learning with face-to-face facilitated workshops to maximise engagement and efficacy
Respect Onsite: The business case
The Construction Industry Culture Taskforce’s Checklist for Gender Safety Inductions requires:
- Training for every employee to explain gender-based violence, discrimination, and harassment
- Training that covers the zero-tolerance approach, reporting avenues, and available support services
Respect Onsite is designed, and delivered specifically for Australian construction sector workplaces by qualified female adult education professionals with lived construction experience and nationally recognised expertise achieving workplace cultural change in diversity and inclusion.
Respect Onsite content is aligned with the AHRC’s Good Practice Indicators Framework for Preventing and Responding to Workplace Sexual Harassment, complements Fair Work Ombudsman, SafeWork Australia and CICT resources, and is contextualised to the Australian construction industry. It is:
- Built to address its specific challenges
- Highly specific to its operating environment, culture, and workforce learning needs
- Focussed on practical solutions for direct application onsite
- Reflective of industry laws, codes, and scenarios
Respect Onsite drives behavioural change by:
- Embedding a practical understanding of what sexual harassment and abuse is, its consequences, and actions everyone can take to prevent its occurrence on site
- Addressing the drivers of non-compliance with workplace laws including ignorance, indifference, and silence
- Embedding cultural change and cooperative workplace practices
There are two delivery models for Respect Onsite outlined as follows;
Pre-workshop resources and reflection
Program outline:
- sexual discrimination and victimisation?
- What is the impact on individuals and organisations?
- What is my personal responsibility?
Learner outcomes:
After this module, participants will be able to:
- Define sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and victimisation and provide examples relevant to the construction industry
- Identify personal responsibilities and behaviours to prevent/respond to inappropriate conduct
Face-to-face on-site workshop (1 day)
Program outline:
- What does the law say and how does sexual harassment apply in the construction industry?
- How do consent and boundaries apply on site?
- What are my responsibilities as a bystander?
- What is vicarious trauma?
- What is emotional intelligence and why does it matter?
- How to build personal resilience
- How to have courageous conversations
- How managing psychosocial hazards on-site is a critical prevention strategy
- Practical tools and strategies for preventing and stopping sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and victimisation
- Practical strategies for building a safe and respectful workplace
Learner outcomes:
After this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Explain the legal framework and how it applies in construction
- Explain concepts of consent and personal boundaries, and describe how they apply on site
- Recognise a bystander’s responsibility of, and demonstrate appropriate ways to intervene
- Identify signs of vicarious trauma exposure and understand its impact
- Describe emotional intelligence and explain how it contributes to a respectful and psychologically safe workplace
- Apply personal resilience strategies
- Demonstrate techniques for having courageous conversations
- Confidently apply and implement practical strategies that contribute to a respectful workplace culture.
- Identify workplace psychosocial hazards and implement strategies to minimise risks
Activities:
- Facilitated discussion to explore and consolidate knowledge developed in module 1
- Construction industry specific simulations and/or role plays to practice and build confidence in preventing, recognising and responding to workplace sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and victimisation.
Post-workshop resources and assessment
Program outline:
- Step by step guide to reporting sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and victimisation
- Self-care: Why it’s important and techniques to maintain personal mental health and wellbeing
- Links to information sources and additional resources
Assessment:
- Scenario based assessment using case studies and multiple-choice questions.
Learner outcomes:
After this module, participants will be able to:
- Describe the reporting process
- Identify the importance of self-care and apply practical techniques
- Locate and use reliable information sources/support services
- Apply knowledge in real-life contexts making informed, respectful, and compliant decisions.
Pre-workshop resources and reflection
Program outline:
- What is sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and victimisation?
- What does the law say and how does it apply to my employees and business?
- What is “positive duty” and what are the consequences?
Learner outcomes:
After this module, participants will be able to:
- Define sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and victimisation, and recognise how these manifest in the workplace.
- Interpret relevant workplace laws and obligations and understand how they apply
- Identify the WHS, legal, financial, reputational, and cultural consequences of failing to meet legal obligations
- Explain the concept of “positive duty” including the proactive steps leaders must take to eliminate unlawful conduct and foster safe, inclusive workplaces
Face-to-face on-site workshop (1 day)
Program outline:
- Early warning signs: How to recognise psychosocial hazards on-site
- What is my role in identifying and managing psychosocial hazards, and building a culture and processes that support psychological safety?
- How to eliminate or minimise psychosocial risk
- Strategies for building trust and creating a safe and respectful workplace culture
- Practical ways to make respect on site BAU
- How to implement/monitor effective preventative strategies
- Leading with emotional intelligence
- Personal courage and resilience
Activities:
- Facilitated discussion to explore and consolidate knowledge developed in pre workshop learning and workshop learning
- Construction industry specific simulations and/or role plays to practice and build confidence in preventing, recognising and responding to workplace sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and victimisation.
Learner outcomes:
After this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify psychosocial risks and hazards on construction sites
- Apply risk management principles to proactively minimise/mitigate psychosocial hazards
- Recognise workplace trauma and respond with appropriate support
- Integrate respect and safety into daily site operations
- Implement/monitor effective preventative strategies
- Lead with emotional intelligence
- Demonstrate personal courage and resilience
- Demonstrate leadership behaviours to create/ maintain psychological safety
- Confidently apply leadership in preventing, recognising, and responding appropriately to workplace sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation.
Post-workshop resources and assessment
Program outline:
- Step by step guides, tools and frameworks for monitoring and acting on sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and victimisation in compliance with positive duty obligations
- Self-care: Why it’s important and techniques for doing it
- Links to official information sources and additional best-practice resources
Assessment:
- Scenario based assessment using case studies and multiple-choice questions.
Learner outcomes:
After this module, participants will be able to:
- Explain their legal/ethical responsibilities
- Apply processes for proactively identifying, monitoring, and responding to workplace misconduct
- Recognise the importance of self-care and demonstrate self-care techniques
- Apply best-practice resources to support ongoing learning and compliance
- Demonstrate the ability to make appropriate, ethical, and legally sound decisions.
- Reflect on leadership in implementing positive duty strategies for a safe, respectful, workplace culture.