Changing the culture of the courts

While I was away, the report from Dr Helen Szoke’s Review on Sexual Harassment in Victorian Courts and VCAT was released. My colleague Helen McDonald and I have been working on this project since July last year, doing the comms strategy, brand, website, collateral and media management. Most of our work is strategy – we rarely get into the implementation side. But we choose to work on things that matter and programs that have a social impact. So every now and then, we roll up our sleeves. And this was a project that mattered to us.
 
As with many other workplaces, we should be under no illusion about sexual harassment in the courts –about what it is, the harm it does, and that it must stop, now. Calling the Review was a courageous step by the courts and VCAT. It’s never easy to put the spotlight on yourself.
 
The courts must get better at preventing harassment and responding when it occurs. The old way puts victim-survivors in an awful position. One participant told the Review, “If you put up with the behaviour, it kills your soul. If you complain, it kills your career.”
 
The Review made 20 recommendations to change workplace systems and cultures – and the legislation that guides them – so that everyone who works in the courts can feel safe and be safe at work. And the courts and Attorney General have committed to acting on them.
 
Let’s hope they do.