In just one month, the consultation period for the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA) review will close. This is a rare opportunity to influence how discrimination law works in Australia. 

“Culture” is one of those words we hear a lot in leadership meetings, strategy documents, and employee surveys. But if we go back to its roots, the Latin word cultus simply means care. 

Today (19 August) is Equal Pay Day.   

Equal Pay Day is designed to highlight the extra days women must work, on average, to earn the same annual income as men. This year, it is a reminder that despite decades of progress, the gender pay gap persists and closing it remains one of the most urgent cultural and governance challenges facing Australian organisations. 

For too long, workplace complaints processes have been rigid, legalistic, and reactive — more focused on minimising risk to the organisation than supporting the people affected. But the Respect@Work National Inquiry made it clear: to create truly safe and respectful workplaces, we must shift how we respond to inappropriate workplace behaviour. 

Supporting employees who have experienced inappropriate workplace behaviours is not just the right thing to do—it is now a legal obligation under Australia’s Positive Duty framework.

Standard 7 of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Guidelines emphasises the need for regular monitoring, evaluation and transparency — not as box-ticking, but as core to building a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace.

In the evolving landscape of workplace culture and safety, one truth has never been more important: knowledge drives change. 

In today’s workplaces, managing risk goes beyond physical safety—it includes proactively identifying and addressing psychosocial hazards such as bullying, harassment, role overload, and low job control.

In today’s workplaces, managing risk goes beyond physical safety—it includes proactively identifying and addressing psychosocial hazards such as bullying, harassment, role overload, and low job control.

For years, when inappropriate or toxic behaviour emerges in a workplace, it's been  blamed on the "bad apple" — the lone troublemaker whose actions are seen as an unfortunate exception to an otherwise healthy culture. But what if the issue isn’t just the apple, but the entire system that allowed it to rot — and worse, to spread?