Bullying and Sexual Harassment in the WA State System

If you work for a WA state system employer (for example a sole trader, a partnership, a WA council, a WA government body or a non-trading charity) and you are being bullied or sexually harassed at work, the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission (WAIRC) can make an order to stop it. Since 31 January 2025, it can also order compensation for sexual harassment, with no cap in the Act.

It cannot order compensation for bullying, and its stop orders only work while you are still in the workplace. For sexual harassment there are several possible forums, and the first one you lodge in can close off the others. This page explains your options under Part II Division 3AA of the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA) (IR Act).

Who Is Protected

These provisions protect workers, which is wider than employees. Under IR Act s 51BH a worker is anyone who carries out work in any capacity for a person conducting a business or undertaking, including:

• an employee;
• a contractor or subcontractor, or their employee;
• a labour hire worker assigned to the business;
• an outworker;
• an apprentice or trainee;
• a student on work experience;
• a volunteer.

Police officers are workers of WA Police while on duty. A "person conducting a business or undertaking" includes government bodies and councils, but not a volunteer association: a volunteer bush fire brigade was a volunteer association, so a volunteer's bullying application failed (Martindale v City of Kalamunda [2026] WAIRC 00519). You must have been a worker for the business when the bullying or harassment happened.

In practice the WAIRC has treated its bullying powers as confined to the WA state system, and has dismissed applications against trading companies that are in the federal system (Kadima v Clough Projects Pty Ltd [2026] WAIRC 00870). Workers of trading companies should use the Fair Work Commission's anti-bullying jurisdiction instead. See our page on bullying.

Stop Bullying Orders

What counts as bullying. You are bullied at work if, while you are at work, a person or group repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards you (or a group you belong to), and that behaviour creates a risk to your health or safety (IR Act s 51BI(1)). Reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable manner is not bullying (s 51BI(2)). The words mirror the federal anti-bullying law, and the WAIRC has not yet published a decision explaining how it reads them.

Applying. If you reasonably believe you have been bullied at work, you can apply to the WAIRC for a stop bullying order (s 51BJ). There is no time limit, and the WAIRC must start dealing with the application within 14 days (s 51BK). The filing fee is $50. Lawyers can represent you as of right.

What the WAIRC can order. If it is satisfied you were bullied and there is a risk the bullying will continue, it can make any order it considers appropriate to stop it (s 51BM). It cannot order compensation (s 51BM(3)). In deciding what to order, it must consider any investigation of the bullying and any internal grievance process and its outcome (s 51BN). Expect to be asked what your employer's grievance process has done: in Zhu v Department of Education [2026] WAIRC 00842, the WAIRC made interim orders requiring the employer to investigate a grievance by a fixed date.

If you have left. An order needs a risk that the bullying will continue, so it is not available once you have left the job. In Nicholson v Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage [2026] WAIRC 00029, an application by a worker who was leaving the employer was dismissed for that reason.

If the order is breached. A stop bullying order must be obeyed. If it is not, you (or a union or an inspector) can apply to the Industrial Magistrates Court within 6 years. The court can impose a penalty and order compensation for loss or injury caused by the breach (s 51BP). That is the only way to get compensation through the bullying provisions.

Other Options if You Are Being Bullied

• Workers' compensation, if the bullying has caused a psychological injury.
• A work health and safety complaint. If the bullying is because you raised a safety issue, you may have a claim in the Work Health and Safety Tribunal within 1 year, with the burden on your employer to disprove the reason (Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) ss 112–113).
• Damaging action. If the bullying or a change to your job followed a complaint or inquiry you made about your employment, see Damaging Action and Other Protections.
• Discrimination law, if the bullying is because of a protected attribute such as sex, race, disability or age.
• Unfair dismissal, if the bullying forced you to resign, within 28 days. See Unfair Dismissal in the WA State System.
• Public sector grievance and standards processes, if you work in the public sector. See WA Public Sector Employees.

Sexual Harassment: What the Law Prohibits

A person must not sexually harass another person in connection with that person being a worker, or seeking to become a worker, in a business or undertaking (IR Act s 51BR). The harasser can be anyone: a manager, a co-worker, a client, a customer or a stranger.

Sexual harassment means an unwelcome sexual advance, an unwelcome request for sexual favours, or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, in circumstances where a reasonable person would have anticipated the possibility that you would be offended, humiliated or intimidated (s 51BQ). Conduct of a sexual nature includes sexual statements made to you or about you to others, and sexual statements about you published online.

Your employer can be liable. If an employee or agent sexually harasses someone in connection with their work, the employer is treated as having done it too, unless the employer proves it took all reasonable steps to prevent it (s 51BS). That is a demanding standard. Policies, training, how complaints were handled, and what the employer did about earlier complaints all matter.

Two Ways to Act in the WAIRC, and One in Court

You can use either or both of these in the WAIRC (s 51BT):

• A stop sexual harassment order. Available if the WAIRC finds you were sexually harassed in connection with work and there is a risk it will continue (s 51BX). The WAIRC must start dealing with it within 14 days. Like a bullying order, it cannot include compensation.
• A sexual harassment referral under IR Act s 29(1)(f). If the WAIRC finds you were sexually harassed, it can order the harasser or another person (such as the employer) to pay compensation for loss or injury and for lost pay, order steps to redress the harm or prevent further harassment, and make declarations (s 51BZ). There is no cap on compensation in the Act. You do not need to still be working there.

The WAIRC may dismiss a sexual harassment proceeding started more than 24 months after the last incident (s 51BU). That is a discretion, not an absolute bar, but do not rely on it being exercised in your favour.

Alternatively, a claim in the Industrial Magistrates Court. You can instead bring a civil penalty application in the Industrial Magistrates Court for breach of the prohibition in s 51BR, within 6 years (IR Act ss 51BZC, 82A). The court can order uncapped compensation and lost pay, and also impose a penalty (up to $93,000, or $930,000 for a serious contravention, for a company). You cannot run this and a WAIRC referral about the same allegation (s 51BZD(2)–(3)).

Harassment before 31 January 2025. These powers came in on 31 January 2025. If all of the harassment happened before that date, the new referral and court claim are not available for it, and only the older stop-order provision applies (IR Act s 123). For compensation for older conduct, look at the Equal Opportunity Act, the Human Rights Commission or the Fair Work Act.

Choose Your Forum Before Lodging Anything

A WA state system worker who has been sexually harassed may have four possible forums. The rules about which forum blocks which are not symmetrical.

• IR Act s 51BZD. You cannot make a WAIRC referral or an Industrial Magistrates Court claim about a particular allegation if you have already made a complaint or application about it under any of these laws, unless it was withdrawn or failed for lack of jurisdiction: the anti-discrimination Acts of NSW (1977), Queensland (1991), the NT (1992) and Tasmania (1998); the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth); the Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT); the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA); the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA); the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic); the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth); and the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth). The Racial Discrimination Act, the Disability Discrimination Act and the Age Discrimination Act are not on the list.
• Equal Opportunity Act s 83B. You cannot complain to the Equal Opportunity Commission about the same allegation once you have made a WAIRC referral or an Industrial Magistrates Court claim.
• Fair Work Act s 734B. An Equal Opportunity Act or Human Rights Commission complaint blocks a later Fair Work Commission sexual harassment claim (other than one only for a stop order), and the reverse. A WAIRC referral does not trigger this federal bar, but running both is not advisable.

"Made" means lodged. A complaint sitting in conciliation still counts. So decide before you lodge anything, anywhere.

	WAIRC	Equal Opportunity Commission, then the State Administrative Tribunal	Australian Human Rights Commission, then federal court	Fair Work Commission, then court
Stop order	Yes	No stand-alone stop order	No	Yes
Compensation	No cap in the Act (on a referral)	Capped at $40,000	No cap	No cap, plus penalties
Time	Discretion to dismiss after 24 months	12 months (later with good cause)	Discretion to end the complaint after 24 months	Discretion to dismiss after 24 months
Lawyers	As of right	Only with the Commissioner's leave at conciliation	Yes	Fair Work Act rules
Costs risk	Low in the WAIRC	State Administrative Tribunal rules	Applicant costs protection since 2 October 2024	Fair Work Act rules

Sources: IR Act ss 51BU, 51BX, 51BZ; Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) ss 83, 127; Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 (Cth) ss 46PH, 46PSA; Fair Work Act ss 527G, 527J.

For the federal sexual harassment rules, see our page on sexual harassment and Federal Laws That Still Apply.

Early Days for These Laws

As at 25 September 2026, the WAIRC had not published a reasoned decision making a final stop bullying order, deciding a sexual harassment referral on its merits, or applying the forum rules in s 51BZD. The decisions so far are about who can apply and when. That means some questions, such as how much compensation the WAIRC will award for the hurt caused by sexual harassment, are not yet answered. Advice in this area needs to keep up with new decisions.

What to Do Now

• Keep a diary of each incident: date, time, what happened, who was there.
• Save messages, emails and social media posts, and screenshot anything that could be deleted.
• Use your employer's complaint or grievance process if it is safe to do so, and keep copies of what you lodge and the response.
• See your GP if your health is affected, and keep the records.
• If sexual harassment is involved, do not lodge a complaint anywhere until you have decided which forum is best for you.
• Do not resign without advice.

For Employers

Employers in the WA state system can be held liable for sexual harassment by their employees and agents unless they prove they took all reasonable steps to prevent it. That means a clear policy, training that is actually delivered, a complaints process people trust, and prompt, fair investigation of complaints. The WAIRC will also look at how you handled a bullying grievance. If you receive a stop order application, engage with it early; the WAIRC must start dealing with it within 14 days.

How MKI Legal Can Help

Bullying and sexual harassment claims in WA involve difficult choices about forum and timing, and the wrong first step can close off the best option. We can advise you on which route suits your goals, whether that is stopping the conduct, being compensated, or both, and act for you in the WAIRC or elsewhere. Contact us for a free, no-obligation and confidential discussion about your circumstances.