Tackling Workplace Bullying
and Other Fair Work Changes
T
he Australian Federal
Government has
responded to the House of
Representatives Standing
Commission on Education and
Employment Inquiry Report
Workplace Bullying “We just want
it to stop” by introducing changes
to the Fair Work Act (FW Act)
in the Fair Work Amendment Bill
2013, which was passed on 6 June
2013, but is still awaiting Royal
Assent and a Proclamation date. The
changes that relate to bullying and
harassment will enable a worker
who reasonably believes that they
have been bullied at work to apply
to the Fair Work Commission (FWC)
for an order to stop the bullying.
The dates relating to the bullying
and harassment changes are to
be fixed by proclamation, which
is interesting, because some of
the other changes do not take
effect until 1 January 2014.
Currently the health and safety
laws in each state and territory
give work health safety regulators
the power to investigate serious
bullying complaints. Also, it is
not uncommon for allegations of
bullying to be raised as issues
in other proceedings under
general protections legislation
and anti-discrimination laws.
The changes amend the FW Act
by defining workplace bullying as
repeated, unreasonable behaviours
that are directed towards a worker
or group of workers, that creates
a risk to health and safety. A
new subsection will be included
in the FW Act to clarify that
reasonable management action,
when carried out in a reasonable
manner, will not result in a
person being ‘bullied at work’.
The FWC will have an obligation
to deal with an application within
14 days after the application is
made. The FWC will also have
the power to make any order it
considers appropriate to prevent
a worker from being bullied at
work. Examples of the orders
that the FWC can make include
an order requiring the individuals
or group of individuals to stop
the specified behaviour, regular
monitoring of behaviours by an
employer, compliance or review
of the employer’s workplace
bullying policy, and the provision
of information and additional
support and training to workers.
An order by the FWC cannot
extend to ordering reinstatement
or the payment of compensation.
However a failure to comply with
an order of the FWC may attract
a civil penalty of up to $33,000.
At this stage it is difficult to
assess the impact of the proposed
changes. However one of the key
issues identified by the Government
is the need for an individual right
of recourse for persons who are
bullied at work to help resolve the
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