NSW Public Service Commission x EQI: Empowering People Managers to Prevent Sexual Harassment

Equality Institute partnered with the NSW Public Service Commission to co-design and deliver a first-of-its-kind online learning course for people managers across the public sector. The course — designed to be intersectional, human-centred, and trauma-informed, supports managers to prevent and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace, aligning with the Respect@Work Positive Duty.

After identifying a gap in the market for training of this calibre, EQI then adapted the course to be relevant to workplaces throughout Australia. The course is now not only available to all people managers across the NSW public service, but to any organisation looking to create safer and more respectful workplaces. 

The Challenge

Most of the educational content on sexual harassment prevention we found focused heavily on legislation, policy and risk management, and not enough on the human experience of being involved in cases of sexual harassment in the workplace – both as the person affected and as the person responding to the disclosure. Additionally, the Respect@Work Positive Duty was only introduced at the end of 2022, so there was a real need for contemporary content that aligned with the new legislation.  

With EQI’s expertise in violence prevention and intersectionality, we saw an opportunity to create educational content that would go beyond ticking a legislative box and give voice to the reality of preventing and responding to workplace sexual harassment, in turn changing hearts and minds. 

Beginning our journey with a workforce as broad and complex as the NSW public service was challenging. We needed to meet the needs of a diverse learner group that spanned frontline community workers, trades and operational staff, corporate teams, and specialist roles. The Commission needed a course that was high quality and visually engaging — despite a limited budget and tight production timeline. The content needed to remain practical and grounded in the real experience of managers, while taking a trauma-informed, inclusive and human-centred approach. 

Ultimately, the goal was to ensure that people managers were equipped not only to comply with Respect@work and the Positive Duty, but to lead workplace cultures that actively prevent harm and respond with care and confidence when incidents occur. 

The Solution

We worked collaboratively with the client at every step of the journey utilising an expert team including learning designers, subject matter experts, visual designers and video producers. Through regular meetings and workshops, we designed iteratively, refining and testing the content as we progressed. A dedicated public service testing group consisting of people managers from a range of backgrounds within the commission gave live feedback on content, storytelling and course flow that we could easily and swiftly integrate. The result was an agile and adaptable design process that met the complex learning requirements of the commission. 

By the end of the project, we delivered a course that achieved all key outcomes by: 

• Using interactive and scenario-based learning to build skills and confidence. 
• Incorporating behavioural modelling, knowledge checks, video explainers, and reflective moments to keep learners engaged. 
• Applying trauma-informed and human-centred design to build empathy and ensure psychological safety. 
• Aligning with legislative duties while remaining practical, relevant and accessible to diverse roles across the public sector. 

To extend the learning beyond the course itself, we also developed an accompanying workbook, offering practical tools and prompts to support learners in applying their skills in real-life workplace situations. 

The Impact

Throughout this process, it became clear to EQI that while the new legislation was designed to encourage employers to cultivate safer workplaces free from harassment, a lot of organisations weren’t equipped with the tools to make this happen. That’s when we knew we had to adapt this course for a broader market and make it publicly available. 

The final course, Preventing Sexual Harassment: Fundamentals for People Leaders is:  

• Scalable – designed to meet the needs of thousands of employees across the country. 
• Accessible and inclusive – accounting for a wide range of learning needs, working environments and professional roles. 
• Transformative – shifting mindsets and building capability through evidence-based, trauma-informed and engaging learning design. 

The EQI course has now been rolled out to hundreds of learners, with 97% of learners reporting feeling confident to prevent and eliminate risks of unlawful behaviour. After completing the course, 89% of learners are either likely or very likely to apply the content or skills they learned at work.  

This project has set a new benchmark on workplace safety and respect learning, not only for the NSW public sector, but for all Australian workplaces.  

Interested in implementing Preventing Sexual Harassment in your workplace?
Find out more about the course here.