Introduction
This Sexual Harassment Prevention Plan (Plan) is prepared in accordance with Section 55H of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (WHS Regulation) and the principles of the Managing the Risk of Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice 2022.
This Plan is essential to upholding Hireup’s commitment to a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all members of the Hireup Community. It acknowledges that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to work and receive services free from any form of sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment. This Plan aligns with Hireup’s values.
It applies to all Support Workers and other persons in the workplace (including Clients, Account Managers, family members, and visitors). It is designed to manage identified risks of sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment at work, ensuring the health and safety of workers and other persons in the workplace, and is aligned with Hireup's values.
Hireup will act to prevent sexual harassment and provide safe and effective responses for those impacted within, and connected to us, ensuring well-being, that their wishes are listened to, prioritised and inform the action we take.
What is Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is rarely a “one-off” event or a total accident. Instead it is usually a pattern of behaviour or a sign of a toxic environment.
Even though it’s called "sexual harassment", it isn't actually about consensual sex or mutual attraction. Instead, it’s about unwanted behavior that makes a person feel insulted, intimidated, or put down. Most of the time, it’s a way for one person to show off their power or control over another person, usually someone they see as weaker or more vulnerable. This doesn't just happen between a boss and an employee; it can happen between coworkers.
Sexual harassment occurs when:
- A person makes an unwelcome sexual advance, or an unwelcome request for sexual favours, or
- engages in other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature,
in circumstances where a reasonable person would anticipate the possibility that the person would feel insulted, humiliated or intimidated.
More information can be found about Hireup’s expectations in the Code of Conduct and Harassment, Bullying and Discrimination Policy and Statement on Sexual Activity Support.
Characteristics of the workplace
Hireup Support Workers are typically employed on a casual basis, however Hireup does have a cohort of Support Workers employed on a permanent basis. In the 12 months prior to 2025, approximately 14,000 Support Workers completed at least one booking on the Hireup platform. Hireup’s workforce gender mix does fluctuate over time however at the time of this Plan’s creation Hireup’s Support Worker workforce is made up of female Support Workers making up between 60-75% of the workforce, male Support Workers making up between 25-40% and non-binary Support Workers making up circa 1%. This is highly reflective of the broader disability sector workforce with higher rates of female Support Workers.
Hireup Support Workers support Clients in a range of environments and often in isolated situations, presenting unique risks for sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment prevention. Work is typically conducted in non-traditional workplaces, such as a Client's private home, an external venue during an outing, or a vehicle during transport, which are all considered a 'workplace' under WHS law. This frequently involves working alone or with minimal supervision, which, combined with the inherently personal and intimate nature of providing direct care (such as assistance with showering, dressing, and mobility) and long hours spent with individual Clients, can create an environment of heightened vulnerability to harassment from third parties, including Clients, their family members, or other household occupants. Hireup acknowledges the importance of specifically addressing these factors in our prevention plan.
Risk Identification, Controls & Other Psychological Hazards
When a Client or Account Manager onboards with Hireup, they are required to complete a detailed Profile and Support Plan which covers the risk-related information specific to the Client including about the work environment, support needs and support types required. This information is then consolidated in a prioritised order within the Support Hub tab of the Client’s profile. Clients and Account Managers are expected to inform Hireup of any behaviours of concern or specialised support needs. Where behaviours of concern or specialised support needs are identified, Hireup collects and implements Behaviour Support Plans which includes additional training for Support Workers in the implementation of the plan by the Practitioner to ensure any and all identified hazards and how to manage them are communicated to the relevant Support Workers.
When a Client has known specialised or complex support requirements, Hireup may allocate a Relationship Manager. The role of the Relationship Manager is to work closely with the Client/Account Manager and relevant Support Workers to ensure that quality support is being provided and received in a safe way including the implementation of any additional controls required for this to occur.
Once the Client has been onboarded, Hireup uses a range of proactive detection and real time alerts to detect, assess and respond to a range of WHS-related risks including sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment. This includes using key word detection searches across Messaging, Jobs Board posts, booking descriptions, and shift notes. Hireup also relies on Support Workers to raise concerns regarding sexual harassment to identify, assess and respond to this risk in the workplace.
At Hireup we believe that it is a fundamental human right for everyone to make their own choices, learn about their body, explore their sexuality and enjoy sexual relationships and experiences. It is important to respect and accept that not all Support Workers will be comfortable with providing Sexual Activity support. Hireup developed the Statement on Sexual Activity Support to provide guidance to Hireup Clients and Support Workers on what can be expected if a Client requests support with sexual activities.
The Hireup Safe Support Plan Risk Assessment which identified Sexual Harassment as a risk associated with providing in home and community support, was developed in consultation with the WHS Working Group and details some of the most important controls to reduce the risk of sexual harassment on a booking.
In 2023, as part of developing Hireup’s psychosocial risk assessment, we utilised the People At Work survey to gather feedback from our community of Support Workers on psychosocial hazards including sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment. Hireup will be using this survey in early 2026 to gather more feedback as an input into reviewing the psychosocial risk assessment, Sexual Harassment Prevention Plan and our control framework.
Support Workers also have access to Hireup Academy, a free learning and skills development hub which also houses our mandatory training modules. These mandatory modules were designed to ensure Support Workers are educated on potential hazards (including the identification and management of psychosocial hazards like sexual harassment) and incident response procedures. The course content also covers things like setting professional boundaries and accessing Hireup’s employee assistance program. Below are two examples of paid mandatory courses that cover this content:
Working Safely - learning outcomes include understanding the foundations of safe and effective support; preventing and responding to violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect and discrimination; keeping yourself and the people you are supporting safe; and practical tips for your own health and wellbeing.
Mental Health and Wellbeing for Support Workers - learning outcomes include increasing your understanding of psychosocial hazards, Hireup’s employee assistance program, and how to set healthy professional boundaries.
Reporting
User reporting is an important part of Hireup’s safety systems. Hireup relies on our community to report incidents, near misses and concerns to support our understanding of risks that may be present. Support Workers can notify Hireup of an incident, near miss or complaint by using one of the following ways:
- Using our online incident report form
- Phone (02) 9113 5933 (8:00am 5:30pm Monday to Friday)
- Report a Complaint
- Email hello@hireup.com.au and include “incident report” in the subject.
Incidents should be reported as soon as possible and at the very latest within 24 hours of the incident occurring. Incident Reports are monitored 24 hours per day, 7 days per week by Hireup’s Trust & Safety Team.
You can make a complaint anonymously if that is your preference, however Hireup may have an obligation to investigate your complaints, which may result in the disclosure of any allegations to the subject of the allegations.
While we encourage you to raise concerns directly with us, if you do not feel comfortable making a complaint or reporting an incident to Hireup, you may also make a disclosure which may be protected under relevant laws in accordance with Hireup’s Speak Up Policy. Disclosure made under the Speak Up Policy will be managed in accordance with the terms of that policy.
All incident reports will be investigated in line with Hireup’s Statement on Incident Response and complaints will be managed in accordance with the Statement on Complaints. Once the investigation has been completed, Hireup will communicate the outcome to you to the extent that it is appropriate for us to do so. This may include a summary of the process, confirmation as to whether any complaints/allegations were substantiated or not, confirmation on whether action has been taken in response to a substantiated policy or code of conduct breach (however, we will not share the details of the action), and any steps that have been taken to ensure any problem that has been identified does not happen again.
If you would like representation, please contact Hireup’s Work, Health & Safety team via incidents@hireup.com.au.
Hireup has teamed up with Sonder, a 24/7 wellbeing and safety app designed to support you to prioritise your mental health, safety & wellbeing. Sonder connects Support Workers with real-time help from nurses, mental health professionals, and safety supports, available via chat or call. It's completely free, confidential, and designed to support employees and their families both inside and outside of work.
Using Sonder, you can:
- Connect with free, confidential counselling and psychology supports
- Chat or call with registered nurses 24/7
- Access safety tools, when traveling or meeting new people.
- Access proactive, in-app resources, guides, and self-help tools, including articles, exercise videos, sleep sounds and meditations.
It’s easy to register and to receive access to Sonder.
If you haven't registered yet: Please complete this Google Form to register your interest.
If you've already registered: Download the Sonder app and sign in using the email address associated with your Hireup account. Detailed instructions can be found here.
Consultation
In September 2024, Hireup established a Support Worker WHS working group, which is made up of 12 Support Workers from across Australia, who meet every two months to provide advice to Hireup on work health and safety matters (including policy and procedure development)as well as to raise and discuss any WHS matters or concerns. The minutes of the WHS Working Group are available via the Hireup Help Centre.
The Hireup Safe Support Plan Risk Assessment which identified Sexual Harassment as a risk associated with providing in home and community support, was developed in consultation with the WHS Working Group.
The Hireup Community Advisory Group (CAG) provides another forum for coordinated and informed input from a diverse group of people in the Hireup community. The CAG is made up of 30 Clients, Account Managers and Support Workers who meet on a monthly basis. The CAG enables Support Office staff to regularly connect with passionate and knowledgeable community members, to seek their input across a range of initiatives and feedback on projects, policies and procedures, services and operations as well as to discuss any questions or points of concern. The outcomes of these meetings are then utilised to ensure we deliver safe and high quality disability support.
Hireup communicates with and consults with our community of workers via the bi-monthly Support Worker Newsletter. This newsletter is designed to keep Support Workers engaged and informed about everything happening at Hireup as well as provide the opportunity for feedback.
In 2023, as part of developing Hireup’s psychosocial risk assessment, we utilised the People At Work survey to gather feedback from our community of workers. Hireup will be using this survey in early 2026 to gather more feedback as an input into reviewing the psychosocial risk assessment.
Reviewing the Plan
This Plan will be reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet the above stated purpose:
- as soon as practicable after a report of sexual harassment is made;
- upon request from the Support Worker WHS Working Group; or
- No later than every 3 years.