Employers are being put on notice that responses to workplace sexual harassment matter to their employees as data shows people would leave a job if it wasn't treated as a serious issue.
National anti-violence organisation Our Watch surveyed 1000 employees and 500 workplace leaders in medium to large workplaces on responses to sexual harassment.
The survey found 83 per cent of female and 67 per cent of male employees agreed that they would consider leaving a job that didn't treat workplace sexual harassment as a serious issue.
Gender equality was also a key issue for attracting female employees in particular, with 75 per cent of women compared to 44 per cent of men surveyed responding that if they were looking for a new job, the potential workplace's approach to gender equality would be an important consideration.
Our Watch acting chief executive Cara Gleeson said regardless of whether they had personally experienced it or not, workplace sexual harassment was a key consideration for women entering employment.
"It’s a really powerful message to workplace leaders to know they have an expectation from their workers to take this issue of sexual harassment seriously," Ms Gleeson told AAP.
"They also have the power to make changes and make their workplaces safe and respectful."
Recent changes to the Sex Discrimination Act introduced a requirement for employers to take active steps to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment and workplace discrimination on the grounds of sex.
But Our Watch research found 40 per cent of workplace leaders were not aware of their new legal obligations and only 76 per cent of leaders knew that workplace sexual harassment was illegal.
Ms Gleeson said the start of the new working year was an opportunity for employers to ensure they were meeting their obligations under the law.
"It is not sufficient just to respond to (sexual harassment), there needs to be a really good reporting system in place, a system that people trust will lead to accountability," she said.
"Unfortunately, sexual harassment is widely under-reported, especially by individuals within workplaces and one of the reasons is because women don't have trust in the system.
"They're worried that by reporting this in the human resources system, they might experience further harm or their safety won't be protected."
More than 40 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men have experienced workplace sexual harassment in the past five years, according to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
As well as the significant personal harm, sexual harassment costs the Australian economy more than $3.8 billion a year.
"Employers have a requirement to make their workplaces safe and equal and in doing so they will also attract and retain good staff, especially women," Ms Gleeson said.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
