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Advocacy
Workplaces should be safe places for all – free of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying and violence. Employers must stop silencing workers who have experienced sexual harassment. Non-Disclosure Agreements in sexual harassment and discrimination matters should be restricted and regulated.
Sexual harassment occurs in every industry, at every level and in every location. 89% of women have experienced workplace sexual harassment in their lifetime. Only 18% of workplace sexual harassment is reported.
Research, such as the 2022 Australian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC)’s Time for respect: Fifth national survey sexual harassment workplaces report and the Gender Equality @ Work Index 2025, developed by the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion @ Work, tells us that the rates of workplace sexual harassment are not getting better.
Yet Australian employers are using NDAs to silence workers who have experienced sexual harassment and discrimination in their workplace. It is difficult to stop workplace sexual harassment if the people who experience it are prevented from talking about it – and if employers routinely use NDAs to stop workplace change.
By ensuring victim-survivors have the choice to be able to tell their story, we can create stronger accountability and positive change in workplaces, and prevent the harm that NDAs inflict on victim-survivors.
In workplace sexual harassment matters Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) are legal contracts and clauses which require someone to keep secret the details of the harassment they experienced, often for the rest of their life.
NDAs include non-disparagement clauses and/ or confidentiality clauses in settlements or deeds of release and employment or other work-related contracts.
Many victim-survivors feel like they have no choice but to sign an NDA to resolve their complaint.
NDAs silence ordinary workers who have experienced sexual harassment and discrimination in their workplace. NDAs protect perpetrators, employers and corporate reputations.
NDAs hide systemic problems in workplaces and discourage positive action for change by protecting those responsible.
As well as stifling action workplace change, NDAs prevent people affected by the impacts of sexual harassment from seeking support – even from close friends and family, and medical practitioners.
Many experts now agree that blanket NDAs in sexual harassment and discrimination settlements are harmful and counterproductive.
It is not uncommon to read news stories about celebrity perpetrators who have used NDAs to cover up their abuse. However, it is less well known that NDAs are regularly used by powerful employers in Australia against ordinary workers.
75% of legal professionals in Australia have never reached a sexual harassment settlement without strict NDA terms.
59% of Australians who experienced sexual harassment in the workplace said their harasser had also targeted others. Sexual harassment is a collective issue, but NDAs stop workers from being able to take action together.
The overuse and misuse of NDAs prevents workers, the public and governments from understanding the high occurrence of sexual harassment; and prevents employers from meeting their Positive Duty obligations.
Communities want governments and employers to increase transparency and take stronger action to prevent sexual harassment.
The Project / 29 July 2024
This TV segment explores the impacts of Non-Disclosure Agreements.
Viewing time 6:24mins.
Watch
Employers now have a legal responsibility – called Positive Duty – to proactively ensure their workplaces are safe places to work, free from sexual harassment, discrimination and unlawful conduct. The blanket use of NDAs in sexual harassment matters could prevent workplaces from meeting their Positive Duty obligations.
Alongside recent beneficial changes to Australian laws to combat sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, such as Positive Duty, NDAs need to be regulated and restricted. We have the opportunity to do this in South Australia.
The Working Women’s Centre SA is calling on the South Australian Government to legislate to restrict and regulate the application of NDAs in our state, so that their overuse and misuse is stopped.
Australian governments including the South Australian Government can build on Victoria’s new groundbreaking Restricting Non-Disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Act 2025 (Vic) which now sets a benchmark for other jurisdictions.
The Act is an important reform which substantially changes how NDAs in workplace sexual harassment matters will be treated in Victoria through addressing power imbalances experienced by victim survivors of workplace sexual harassment, and increasing access to information, choice and support.
Changing the laws would build on existing Australian Government and South Australian Government commitments to gender equality.
Since the #MeToo movement, there have been global calls for change to stop the silencing of women and other workers with NDAs.
Investigations and media coverage have shown that NDAs are widely and harmfully misused, and that change is possible through law reform.
Models of legislative reform around the world have led the way, including Acts of Parliament to restrict the use of NDAs in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States and provinces of Canada.
In Australia, the groundbreaking Restricting Non-Disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Act 2025 (Vic) was passed by Victorian Parliament in November 2025. The Victorian reform process has been championed by the Victorian Trades Hall, the community legal sector and courageous victim-survivors.
We are campaigning for changes that mean NDAs can only be initiated by the person who experienced the harassment, not the employer. New laws should shift the power imbalance between workers and employers, with the goal of improving the rights of workers and tackling the root causes of sexual harassment in workplaces.
Legislation to change the way that NDAs are used in sexual harassment and discrimination matters should:
Join our call to stop silencing women and workers through NDAs in South Australia.
If you would like to read more, you can download our PDF resources:
Two-page basic info sheet about our NDA campaign here
Four-page NDA law reform summary here
Four-page selected media reports and public commentary on NDAs here
