Retail

Why is the AHRC targeting the retail sector?

Sex discrimination in the retail sector

According to a report published by the University of Sydney in 2022 entitled Gendered disrespect and inequality in retail work, the retail sector is Australia’s second largest employing industry with approximately 10% of the Australian labour force working in the sector. A young diverse workforce dominate the industry. Most people working in retail are on part-time or casual contracts.

In Australia, retail work is generally recognised as low skilled, low paid and highly casualised. It has a highly feminised workforce and retail workers’ skills and capabilities tend to be undervalued.

The industry suffers from horizontal gender segregation with women overrepresented in customer-facing interactive service work and men overrepresented in non-customer-facing roles. This was viewed limiting women’s ability to acquire the skills necessary for career development and progression.

In addition, the retail sector experiences vertical gender segregation with men over-represented in senior leadership positions.

According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, the gender pay gap in 2022-2023 was 13.7%

Sexual harassment in the retail sector

In 2018, the AHRC’s fourth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces identified that one in three (33%) working Australians experienced workplace sexual harassment in the last five years. The rate for the retail sector was higher – 42%.

As a result, in 2019, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) commissioned the AHRC to conduct a comprehensive survey of its members, which found that:

• Two thirds (65%) of SDA members said they had experienced sexual harassment at some point in their lifetime, compared to 72% of those in the working population.
• Nearly 3/4 (73%) of female SDA members and just over half (52%) of male SDA members said they had been sexual harassed at some point in their lifetime.
• Female SDA members indicated that they had experienced all types of sexual harassment at rates higher than their male colleagues.
• One in five (21%) of SDA members said they had been sexually harassed by a customer in their current job, with female SDA members more likely to have had this experience (28%) than make SDA members (11%).
• Only one in eight (13%) of SDA members and 17% of the working population made a formal report or complaint in relation to the most recent incident of sexual harassment.
• Two thirds (61%) of SDA members who made a formal report or complaint said that no changes occurred at their organisation as a result.

Why should you retain Dr Genevieve Burnett to help your retail business comply with the Positive Duty?

You only have to walk into a retail store to see the gendered nature of these workplaces.

Women occupy most of the customer-facing positions.

In the large supermarkets, you can see from the pictures on the ‘roll of honour’ that men occupy the management roles.

You also notice that it is women who bear the brunt of abuse from customers.

Retail is an area where the AHRC Guidelines, if applied properly, can help improve retail workplaces.

Like the AHRC Guidelines, I draw on a multi-disciplinary background, which means I have the perfect set of tools that will help your business implement them.

I am extremely good at distilling complex concepts into clear and plain language.

I’m a good person to collaborate with senior leaders in the retail sector to help make it safer, as well as more respectful and inclusive.

Finally, I have an affiliation with young people, which means I reach this audience with my lively and informative training sessions.