A national super fund is putting pressure on mining companies to dedicate more resources towards addressing workplace sexual harassment.
A national super fund is putting pressure on mining companies to dedicate more resources towards addressing workplace sexual harassment.
The Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia released a paper titled engagement and insight report into workplace sexual harassment in the Australian mining sector.
The report calls on mining companies, where women comprise of just one fifth of the workforce, to actively address workplace sexual harassment in the affluent sector.
The $72 billion health and community services sector superannuation fund engaged with 19 mining companies to deduce six insights and key actions.
The report encourages companies to practice greater transparency and reporting practices to stakeholders in order to build accountability while raising awareness around the issue.
It also said companies should integrate a gender lens to the design of physical spaces at mines and camp sites to improve women’s safety among other proactive steps.
About 80 per cent of HESTA members are women.
Chief executive Debby Blakey said workplace sexual harassment was unacceptable.
“At HESTA, we want to invest in companies that facilitate the equal participation of women and create cultures that fully harness the value of women, as we know that gender-diverse companies perform better across a range of metrics,” she said.
“Sexual harassment can create legal and financial risks, affect employee wellbeing and productivity, and damage a company’s reputation and social licence to operate, negatively impacting HESTA members’ retirement savings.”
HESTA said it would re-engage with the mining companies to assess how they have tackled the issue and taken on board the report’s recommendations.
“This active ownership approach is an excellent example of how HESTA constructively engages across a sector to help drive change that can help mitigate systemic risk that may impact our members’ investments,” Ms Blakey said.
“The added advantage of this approach is that it provides a broader sector-wide perspective to the boards and senior management of these companies, as well as also helping other investors to understand where potential risks may lie.”
