Harmful Workplace Behaviours
Every workplace should be a space where people feel respected, safe, and supported. But when harmful behaviours like bullying, harassment, discrimination, or psychosocial hazards go unaddressed, they can damage team morale, impact wellbeing, and create unnecessary risks.
This session helps participants identify, understand, and respond to these challenges, ensuring everyone plays a role in fostering a positive and inclusive work environment.
What We Cover
Topic 1: Workplace Laws, Roles and Responsibilities
Everyone in the workplace has a role in creating a safe, respectful, and legally compliant environment. Understanding workplace laws helps protect individuals and organisations while ensuring fairness, accountability, and safety for all.
This session provides a clear overview of key Australian workplace laws, customised to align with relevant state and territory legislation. Participants will gain a clear understanding of their rights, responsibilities, and the consequences of non-compliance in their specific jurisdiction.
Key Learning Points:
- Workplace Laws That Matter: Learn how the Fair Work Act, Anti-Discrimination Act, and WHS laws define acceptable workplace behaviours and set legal standards for safety and respect.
- Roles and Responsibilities: Understand the legal obligations of employers, managers, and employees in identifying, preventing, and addressing harmful workplace behaviours.
- The Risks of Non-Compliance: Explore the legal, financial, and reputational consequences of failing to manage workplace risks effectively, including lawsuits, fines, and workplace culture damage.
Why It Matters
When employees and employers understand their legal responsibilities, they can work together to prevent risks, address issues early, and maintain a safe, fair, and legally compliant workplace. This session provides the knowledge needed to navigate workplace laws with confidence and accountability.
Topic 2: Defining Harmful Workplace Behaviours
This session helps participants identify and understand harmful workplace behaviours, focusing on their definitions, impacts, and how to recognise them.
Key Learning Points:
What is Bullying? Learn how repeated, unreasonable behaviour can cause stress, impact mental health, and create unsafe working conditions.
Understanding Harassment: Explore behaviours that humiliate, intimidate, or offend and understand how to create a workplace built on respect.
Recognising Discrimination: Understand how unfair treatment—based on age, gender, race, disability, or other attributes, can affect individuals and workplace culture.
Identifying Psychosocial Hazards: Discover the workplace factors that can cause stress, burnout, and harm, including high job demands, low control, poor support, and exposure to violence or aggression.
Impacts on People and Workplaces: See how these behaviours and hazards affect individuals’ mental and physical health, team relationships, and overall workplace productivity.
Topic 3: Reasonable Management Action
Ensuring fairness in workplace management is essential for maintaining trust, compliance, and a positive work environment.
This topic helps participants understand what constitutes reasonable management actions and how they differ from bullying behaviours.
Key Learning Points:
- What is Reasonable Management Explore how actions such as performance feedback, workload management, and addressing workplace issues align with fair and lawful management practices.
- Distinguishing from Bullying: Learn how to differentiate constructive performance management from behaviours that may be perceived as bullying or harassment.
Why It Matters
Clarity on fair management practices helps prevent misunderstandings, strengthens workplace relationships, and fosters a culture of trust, accountability, and respect.
Topic 4: GUARD - Active Bystander Framework
This session introduces the GUARD Active Bystander Framework, equipping participants with the confidence and skills to identify, respond to, and prevent harmful workplace behaviours such as bullying, harassment, and discrimination. By applying situational awareness and trauma-informed responses, employees will learn how to take action safely while fostering a culture of respect and accountability.
Key Learning Points
- Assessing Risks Before Acting: Learn how to observe situations, evaluate risks, and determine the safest way to respond to harmful behaviour.
- Prioritising Psychological Safety: Understand how trauma-informed awareness helps support those affected and fosters a culture of respect.
- Intervening Safely: Explore appropriate strategies to de-escalate, redirect, or challenge harmful behaviours while maintaining workplace safety.
- Escalating Concerns Effectively: Recognise when and how to report serious issues through the correct workplace channels while ensuring confidentiality.
- Reinforcing Accountability: Discover how follow-up actions help uphold workplace expectations and create lasting cultural change.
Why It Matters
Ignoring harm normalises it — taking action stops it. The GUARD approach empowers employees to step up, support others, and reinforce a workplace culture where safety, respect, and accountability thrive.
Topic 5: Documenting and Reporting Workplace Behaviours
This session equips participants with practical steps to formally document and report harmful workplace behaviours, ensuring a safe, fair, and supportive work environment for all employees.
Key Learning Points:
- Recording Incidents Clearly: Learn how to document workplace behaviours factually and objectively to support accurate reporting.
- Understanding Reporting Rights: Know when and how to escalate concerns through HR, management, or formal reporting channels while ensuring procedural fairness.
- Accessing Workplace Support: Explore available resources, including Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), HR guidance, and peer support.
Why It Matters:
Empowering employees with the tools and confidence to take action helps protect wellbeing, uphold workplace standards, and foster a culture of accountability and respect.
Find Your Answers Here!
General Program Information
1. Who is the training designed for?
This training is designed primarily for employees and workers in non-management roles, helping them build the skills to recognise, prevent, and address bullying, harassment, and harmful workplace behaviours.
However, it’s also suitable for managers and supervisors, offering tailored insights into leadership responsibilities, legal obligations, and strategies for promoting a respectful and inclusive workplace. Customisation options allow organisations to adapt the training for leadership teams, ensuring managers can confidently address workplace behaviours while fostering safety and accountability.
Whether for employees, managers, or both, this program ensures a consistent understanding of respectful workplace practices, empowering every level of your organisation to contribute to a positive and compliant work environment.
2. Can the training time be reduced?
Yes, the training time can be reduced to align with your schedule and organisational needs. However, this may require the removal of certain topics or the development of a customised version to meet your specific learning objectives.
Both options are possible, and we’re happy to tailor the program to ensure it remains practical and relevant to your goals. Depending on the level of customisation required, additional costs may apply.
The first step is to contact us to discuss your training objectives. Together, we’ll find a solution that balances your time constraints with your organisation’s needs.
3. What industries is this training most suitable for?
This workplace bullying and harassment training is suitable for all industries. Whether your organisation operates in healthcare, retail, hospitality, education, social services, corporate environments, or manufacturing, the principles of respect, inclusivity, and compliance are universal.
The training is designed to be flexible, making it valuable in both proactive and reactive contexts:
- Proactive Use: Ideal for organisations seeking to prevent issues by fostering a positive workplace culture. It equips employees with the skills to recognise and address harmful behaviours before they escalate.
- Reactive Use: Useful for addressing existing challenges, such as after a bullying or harassment complaint, to rebuild trust, educate employees, and prevent future incidents.
The program can be tailored to reflect the unique challenges, dynamics, and compliance requirements of your industry. By addressing bullying and harassment effectively, this training supports a respectful, compliant, and productive workplace culture across all sectors.
4. Is the training tailored to our specific workplace challenges and risks?
Yes, the training can be fully customised to address your organisation’s specific challenges, policies, and workplace dynamics, ensuring the solutions are practical, relevant, and aligned with your existing frameworks.
Our approach is also trauma-aware, recognising that some participants may have experienced or witnessed workplace bullying, harassment, or aggression in the past. We create a supportive and safe learning environment by:
- Framing content sensitively to avoid re-traumatisation.
- Encouraging voluntary participation in discussions or activities.
- Offering additional resources and support where needed.
We also understand the sensitivity surrounding conversations about bullying and harassment. All discussions are treated with complete confidentiality, and our training consultants are happy to sign additional Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to provide peace of mind.
Customising the training allows us to tailor examples, activities, and messaging to resonate with your team, while fostering a respectful, compliant, and trauma-aware workplace culture.
5. Do you provide training outside of Melbourne?
Yes, while we are based in Melbourne, we offer training across all Australian states and territories. We are happy to travel to your location to deliver our training in person.
If you’re outside Victoria, we can discuss travel arrangements and tailor the program to meet the specific needs of your organisation and local compliance requirements.
Please note that the standard cost of the training remains the same regardless of location. However, travel costs, including transportation and accommodation (if required), will be added to the final invoice.
Contact us to discuss your training needs and receive a customised quote, including travel costs for your location!
Training Content
6. Does the training align with current health and safety legislation?
Absolutely. Our training is fully aligned with Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act and regulations, as well as the Model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act, which governs other states and territories across Australia.
Specifically designed to help organisations meet their legal obligations, our program focuses on:
- Providing participants with strategies to identify, assess, and manage harmful workplace behaviours effectively.
- Equipping employees and leaders with practical tools to prevent bullying, harassment, and discrimination.
- Supporting the implementation of safety measures that comply with legislative standards.
Whether your organisation operates in Victoria or across multiple jurisdictions, our training ensures you meet your duty of care responsibilities while fostering a respectful and compliant workplace culture.
Contact us today to learn how we can assist with compliance, risk management, and creating a safer workplace for your team.
7. Can the training be customised to align with our existing health and safety policies?
Yes. We customise our training to align with your organisation’s existing health and safety policies, ensuring the content is directly relevant to your workplace. To achieve this, we will request a copy of your Bullying and Harassment policy so we can tailor the training to reflect your organisation's specific messaging and guidelines.
For clients who would like a review of their current Bullying and Harassment policy, we offer this as an additional service. Our team can assess your policy to identify areas for improvement and ensure it meets current legislative requirements and best practices.
Customising the training to your policies ensures consistency across your workplace, enhances employee engagement, and supports a unified approach to fostering a respectful and compliant work environment.
8. Are there interactive components, such as role-playing or simulations?
Yes, the training includes interactive elements such as case studies, group discussions, and scenario-based exercises to engage participants and enhance practical learning.
Post Training Support
9. Does the program include post-training support or resources?
Yes, the program includes post-training support to reinforce learning and promote continued development.
Each participant receives a Participant Guide that:
- Summarises the key content covered during training in an easy-to-reference format.
- Provides additional insights and practical tips to deepen understanding of the material.
- Includes curated links to learning resources that support ongoing growth and application.
These resources are designed to help participants retain and apply their knowledge effectively, while also empowering organisations to achieve lasting improvements in workplace safety, culture, and operational readiness.
10. Is there additional support available after the initial OVA training for employees?
Yes, we offer additional support to ensure the knowledge and skills gained during training are effectively applied in the workplace.
For organisations seeking ongoing assistance, we provide:
- Follow-Up Sessions: These can be tailored to reinforce key concepts, address workplace-specific challenges, or introduce advanced topics as needed.
- Customised Resources: Additional tools, templates, and guides can be developed to support your team in maintaining a respectful and safe work environment.
- Policy Review and Development: We can assist with reviewing or updating your workplace policies to align with best practices and legislative requirements.
If further guidance is required, we also offer one-on-one or group mentoring sessions for leaders and employees to strengthen their confidence and skills in fostering a positive workplace culture.
Contact us to explore the best options for your team!
Book Your Free Safety Chat Today!
Are you ready to engage in health and safety training that transforms your workplace? With onsite and remote learning options, we provide comprehensive support throughout your training journey. Explore our standard packages or connect with us to design custom workshops tailored to your team’s unique safety challenges. Book your discovery call today to get started!