On this page
Introduction
Discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation laws exist at both the federal and state level.
Note
Where the federal and a state or territory law relating to discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying or victimisation overlap, your organisation must comply with both.
Sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying and victimisation
Our guide to workplace behaviour laws considers how discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation laws apply in the workplace.
Our guide has five parts:
- Part 1: Introduction
- Part 2: Discrimination
- Part 3: Sexual harassment
- Part 4: Bullying
- Part 5: Victimisation
Each part of the guide covers your organisation’s obligations under the relevant laws and how to make a complaint about unlawful conduct.
Other laws to protect human rights
In addition to the anti-discrimination laws discussed in our guide to workplace behaviour, your organisation may need to comply with state or territory laws that protect people from discrimination.
For example, in Victoria, if your organisation is a public authority, it may need to comply with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (Charter).
The Charter imposes legal obligations on public authorities, such as Victorian state and local government departments and agencies, and people delivering services on behalf of government, to act consistently with the human rights set out in the Charter.
For more information on how the Charter applies to community organisations, we’ve developed a fact sheet that covers:
- the human rights protected by the Charter
- assessing whether the Charter applies to your organisation
- complying with Charter obligations, and
- what happens when an organisation breaches the Charter
Note - negligence and work health and safety laws
Along with duties that your organisation may owe under anti-discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation laws, your organisation may have duties under work health and safety laws and under the law of negligence. Duties under work health and safety laws and the law of negligence contain a duty to take reasonable care to avoid exposing workers to reasonably foreseeable risks of injury which could include harm caused by discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation.
For more information about an organisation’s responsibilities under negligence and work health and safety laws, see our webpages Negligence, injuries, accidents and incidents and Work health and safety laws.
The content on this webpage was last updated in August 2025 and is not legal advice. See full disclaimer and copyright notice.
