Sexual Harassment Investigation Training

“You WANT our training so you don’t NEED us for investigations”

Sexual Harassment Investigation Training – Why is it essential for your organisation? – On 25 November 2022, the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022 was passed into Law. The Act to implements recommendations from the AHRC 2020 Respect@Work report. It will significantly strengthen Australia’s regulatory framework in respect of sex discrimination, and in particular, sexual harassment.

The new positive duty

The centrepiece of the Act is the introduction of a positive duty to prevent sex discrimination and sexual harassment.

The Act amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) by introducing a new positive duty for all employers to take ‘reasonable and proportionate measures’ to eliminate, as far as possible, unlawful sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sex-based harassment, hostile work environments and victimisation. More about the positive duty click here

AWPTI offers Sexual Harassment Investigation Training options for your HR, WHS staff and managers as part of our vision to create unrivalled pathways to optimal workplace behaviours. AWPTI currently offers this course as part of our Live by Request Training series, this means that we will conduct the training at a time/date to suit you and anyone can book in you don’t have to be part of an organisation with multiple attendees. All programs can be tailored to suit any specific requirements that you may have

All Training listed on this page can be conducted in person (organisations only) or via Zoom or MS Teams.

Sexual Harassment Investigation training 2 day course HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Recommended for HR professionals and managers involved in the investigation of misconduct or complaints. This is a highly interactive course where participants work through an actual sexual harassment investigation from the receipt of the complaint, interviewing parties, drafting allegations and making finding and recommendations. This is similar to our general workplace investigation course however it focuses on the investigation of sexual harassment complaints.

• Day one or sessions 1 & 2 (if half days)
  • Sexual harassment, definition and examples
  • Busting the myths of sexual harassment.
  • What is the workplace & where does the workplace begin and end, what are the grey areas?
  • Initial complaint/incident response and handling
  • Types of complaints
  • Misconduct or interpersonal conflict
  • Workplace polices and misconduct.
  • Components of sexual harassment & the sexual harassment continuum
  • Respect@Work report and changes to sexual harassment laws including the new positive duty on employers.
  • Conducting initial enquiries & taking reports
  • Incident reports & complaint/Incident response forms
  • Informal or formal investigations
  • Investigations in the workplace
  • Why investigate
  • Investigation fundamentals
  • Procedural Fairness, Bias and Conflict of Interest
  • The investigation process
  • Complaint analysis & the complaint ownership theory
  • Planning investigations
  • Complaint analysis
  • Record keeping
  • Evidence
  • Unfair dismissal and the role of the investigation and the investigator
  • Interview room set up
  • Interview planning
  • Types of questions to ask
  • Investigative interview technique
  • PEACE method & trauma informed investigation and interview processes
  • Dealing with difficult complainants and respondents (see below)
  • Role play interview preparation
• Day two or sessions 3  & 4 (if half days) covers interviewing in depth
  • Interviewing complainants and witnesses (role plays with AWPTI facilitators)
  • Drafting legally complaint allegations
  • Interviewing respondents (role play with AWPTI facilitator)
  • Analysing and evaluating evidence
  • Making findings
  • Report writing
  • The Investigation toolbox
• In addition to the skills obtained during the Sexual Harassment Investigation Training component this Course provides participants with the opportunity to
  • Work through an investigation based on a real world scenario from receipt of the complaint to final report including interviewing all the parties
  • Analyse scenarios to develop skills to identify issue and formulate investigation and interview plans
  • Develop and practice their interviewing skills by interviewing actors in the roles of complainants, witnesses and respondents
  • Receive feedback on their interviews and tips and tactics from professional investigators.

Our courses all utilise the principles of victim-centred/trauma informed approach including:

• listening to victims without interruption; following their lead; ensuring that the language used when speaking with victims is neutral, free from judgement or bias
• ensuring that investigation protocols (including interviewing techniques and communications during the investigation process) are designed to minimise harm to victims and respect their preferences; prioritising safety, privacy and well being of victims; never blaming victims for the harassment they have experienced
• anticipating the distress that sexual harassment causes and recognising and accommodating the fact that this may cause victims to temporarily or permanently withdraw from work life or employment.

Organisations that book internal 2 day courses also receive our full Advanced Workplace Investigation Document Toolbox included in the cost of the course, value $1,750.00 – details here

Other options – Sexual Harassment Investigation 1 day course – 7 hour course

Sexual Harassment Investigations Live by Request – A condensed version of the 2 day course in lecture format.  It is recommended for HR professionals and managers involved in the investigation of sexual harassment complaints. Like the 2 day course this is an interactive course where participants receive instruction around complaint analysis, interview planning and interviewing parties, drafting allegations and making finding and recommendations however there no actual interviewing practice time.

Note we will run this course with limited number even just one person.  We only offer the option of this course for individuals via Zoom or MS Teams.

Sexual Harassment Investigation 1 day course – 9 hour course

This is also a condensed version of the 2 day course.  It is recommended for HR professionals and managers involved in the investigation of sexual harassment complaints. Like the 2 day course this is a highly interactive course where participants receive instruction around complaint analysis, interview planning and interviewing parties, drafting allegations and making finding and recommendations this course also includes actual interviewing practice time with our facilitators in the roles of complainant, witnesses and the respondent.

This course is recommend for 1-4 participants to allow for sufficient interview practice time but can be delivered to more at your request.

Note we will run this course with limited number even just one person.  We only offer the option of this course for individuals via Zoom or MS Teams.

If you have more than 3-4 participants we highly recommend the two day course that provided more interview practice – details here

For organisations or businesses who wish to have internal courses for their employees we have a flat rate with no limit on participants, please contact us for details

Organisations that book internal 1 day courses receive our full standard Workplace Investigation Document Toolbox included in the cost of the course, value $1,200.00 – details here.

Sexual Harassment Investigation –  PLUS (3 day course)

This course has 2 options – This course is conducted via Zoom or Teams in  3 full day sessions or 6 half day sessions.

Option 1

This option contains the same material as the 2 day course with a lot more time being devoted to interview practice and evidence analysis.  It is recommended for larger teams (10 plus) so everyone gets more time to practice and improve their skills.

Option 2

This course option contains the same material as the 2 day course with a lot more time being devoted to interview practice and evidence analysis and the opportunity to practice interview argumentative, intimidating and aggressive respondents.  It is recommended as an advanced level course to allow participants to discuss and experience the process of interviewing and dealing with difficult respondents.

Included in option 2 – What to do if during a workplace investigation you have to deal with difficult respondents, this can occur in a number of ways;
* The respondent refuses/declines to attend an interview to discuss complaint/allegations made against them.
* The respondent refuses/declines to answer questions or discuss complaint/allegations made against them.
* The respondent provides ‘no comment’ answers during the interview to questions about the complaint/allegations.
* The respondent is argumentative or aggressive toward you during the interview.
* If you as the interviewer feel unsafe due to the actions or attitude of the respondent
* The respondent argues that the process if flawed or unfair.
* The respondent attempts to take control of the interview.

This session can be booked as a standalone 1 day course – details here.

All of the interviews are conducted with facilitators and actors playing the parts of complainants, witnesses and alleged perpetrators and are all based on real investigations.

All of our training is conducted by Phil O’Brien a highly qualified and experienced workplace investigator. The programs have been developed as a result of  Phil having to investigate 100s of complaints of misconduct including bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, fraud, theft, misuse of resources including IT and email and many more.  The training is not just theoretical, it is based on actually incidents, complaints and issues experienced.

The full day and multiple day courses can also be broken down into separate 1/2 day sessions (Zoom and Teams only).  For organisations we charge a fixed daily rate with unlimited participants, please contact us for details.  For individuals we are offering this course as a Live by Request course click here for details and costs and bookings

Please contact us enquiries@awpti.com.au or on 02 9674 4279 if you would like more information or would like to book a course.

AWPTI – Workplace training national wide and internationally as part of the International Workplace Management Institute (IWMI), we can assist you where ever you are.

Workplace investigations Sydney and through-out New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory, the ACT and Tasmania.

Misconduct investigations, bullying investigations, harassment investigations & sexual harassment investigations, complaint investigations, grievance investigations, discrimination investigations.

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