Workers who have experienced sexual harassment are waiting years for their complaints to be dealt with by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), leaving them in limbo and delaying justice.
In May 2026, The ETU wrote to the Federal Government raising concerns about the growing delays in the Commission’s handling of complaints lodged by electrical workers – including female apprentices. The warning fell on deaf ears, with the Government failing to commit to any action to address the backlog.
Emails from the Commission and an independent performance audit released in February 2025 show that it is now commonplace for complainants to wait twelve months to even be allocated a case officer. The audit also found the proportion of complaints terminated, declined or discontinued grew from 40 percent in 2017-2018 to 58 percent in 2023-2024.
ETU member Heather was just 19 when she secured an electrical apprenticeship at a small business in NSW.
“I was really thinking about the future and trying to set myself up to buy a house,” Heather said.
“I felt it was a stable job that would see me through my life.”
But those plans were derailed after Heather said she was sexually harassed by her boss, who she alleged made unwelcome advances, while working away.
Traumatised, she quit the apprenticeship the next day.
Heather bravely spoke out in the media about her experience lodging a formal sexual harassment complaint at the AHRC only to be left waiting for 14 months for the complaint to be formally accepted for investigation.
‘You feel helpless, like it’s never going to happen,” she said.
Allen Hicks, Secretary of the ETU NSW/ACT, said that the staggering wait times are having a serious impact on workers.
“A young apprentice works up the courage to report harassment and the system’s answer is to wait for a year for someone to look at your file. That’s justice denied by design,” Mr Hicks said.
By the time matters are finally heard, workers are asked to recount deeply traumatic experiences two or even three years after the fact.
Rather than putting themselves through years of psychological stress, workers are accepting meagre settlement offers, far less than what they would have received if the matter had been dealt with quickly by the Commission and then the Court.
In the construction industry, the delays mean access to justice is even harder to achieve. Companies can go under in a matter of months, so the longer the Commission takes, the greater the chance the employer subject to the complaint no longer even exists – and any prospect of justice disappears with it.
“Although our union tries to avoid this by suing directors and/or managers personally, this is not always possible,” said Allen.
As Australia seeks to boost its electrical workforce, the treatment of female workers, apprentices in particular, must improve urgently.
“Stories like this set back female participation by years,” said Allen.
“If the Government is about protecting victims of sexual harassment at work, it must investigate these delays and commit to properly resourcing the Commission to do its job.
“You can have the best laws in the world and if you don’t resource the regulatory bodies … then the laws are meaningless,” he said.