More than half a million children work in Australia, most of them in fast food, retail and hospitality.
However, they have little protection from harassment, sexual and otherwise, from adults working alongside them.
Across the country, there are few requirements for adult workers to get working with children checks.
The most recent survey by the Australian Human Rights Commission found that in the past five years, 47 percent of workers aged between 15 and 17 had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
The SDA is aware of dozens of examples of working children who have been subject to sexual and other abuse, most recently the manager of a Perth fast food restaurant assaulting two girls, aged 15 and 16, one while he was on bail.
As the new report Safety Not Guaranteed from the McKell Institute commissioned by the SDA notes:
“There are many situations where children work with adult supervisors. A 16-year old for example, may be required to stack shelves in a supermarket with only adult colleagues present.”
The SDA is seeking for the landmark protections that were implemented in South Australia earlier this year – thanks to the SDA, Connie Bonaros MLC and the Malinauskas Government – to become the national standard.
In South Australia, child sex offenders are barred from working in any workplace where they would be working alongside children, including retail and fast food.
The SDA is urging Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to put this obvious gap in laws relating to protection of minors on the agenda for the Council of Attorneys-General.
Feeling unsafe at work isn’t normal.
Your employer is required by law to take all reasonable measures to keep you safe.