Raise It! Conversation Starter Toolkits
Responsible government
- Victoria
Fourth Action Plan actions
- Respond to sexual violence and sexual harassment
- 13 Prevent sexual violence and sexual harassment before it happens through national and targeted initiatives that promote informed consent, bodily autonomy and respectful relationships.
- 15 Strengthen the capacity of all sectors to address sexual harassment to ensure women are safe at work, while studying, in public and online.
What are we doing?
The Victorian Government provided $250,000 in 2018-19 to fund Raise It!, a program to prepare and pilot workplace education and training toolkits. The toolkits cover sexual harassment in the workplace, discrimination related to pregnancy, parental leave and return to work as well as flexible and part-time work requests.
Safe and Strong: A Victorian Gender Equality Strategy (https://www.vic.gov.au/safe-and-strong-victorian-gender-equality) commits to the exploration of legislative and complementary measures such as workplace education and training to better protect against gendered discrimination.
What have we achieved so far?
The Raise It! pilot was developed and delivered over a 14-month period, and the toolkits and education program were implemented over a period of three to five months in seven work sites across Victoria. These sites encompassed a broad cross-section of work environments, including public sector agencies, not-for-profits, local government and creative industries.
An independent evaluation of the program was completed in August 2019. It found that the toolkits increased awareness of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace and built staff and managers’ skills and confidence to have safe conversations with a focus on sexual harassment prevention and response.
What is next?
- The Raise It! Pilot ended in the fourth quarter of 2018-19. These resources form part of broader efforts to address sexual harassment in the Victorian public sector.
What difference will we make?
By providing training and materials that address underlying gender stereotypes to organisations, Raise It! works to:
- Strengthen awareness and skills in workplaces to address pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment and access to parental leave; and
- Build the confidence and competence of participants to have conversations about sexual harassment and gendered discrimination.
- The long-term anticipated outcomes associated with this project are increased rates of reporting of sexual harassment in the workplace in Victoria, and better protections for Victorian workers against sexual harassment and gendered discrimination.