Board & Executive · Energy Sector
Large Energy Sector Organisation
Governing Respect at Work as a board-level risk in the energy sector.
Embedding proactive prevention, psychosocial risk oversight and defensible leadership accountability.
Client Goals
The mandate
A large energy sector organisation engaged Culture Plus to strengthen Board and Executive capability in response to the Positive Duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth). The Board required clarity on what 'reasonable and proportionate measures' look like in practice, how to govern psychosocial risk at enterprise level, and how to demonstrate defensible compliance.
- ●Reposition Respect at Work as governance and enterprise risk
- ●Translate Positive Duty into Board-level action
- ●Operationalise the AHRC Prevention Standards
- ●Build defensible evidence of compliance
What We Did
Our approach
Reframing as Governance and Risk
- ●Reactive response → proactive prevention
- ●Individual misconduct → systemic risk exposure
- ●Policy compliance → leadership accountability and cultural control
Board & Executive Briefing
- ●Full scope of the Positive Duty including hostile work environments
- ●AHRC regulatory expectations and enforcement approach
- ●Personal due diligence obligations for directors and executives
- ●What constitutes a defensible prevention system
Operationalising AHRC Prevention Standards
- ●Leadership accountability structures
- ●Psychosocial risk identification and monitoring
- ●Capability, reporting, support and response frameworks
- ●Measurement, reporting and continuous improvement
Board Oversight Capability
- ●Critical questions to interrogate management
- ●Indicators of effective vs ineffective systems
- ●Signals of underreporting and organisational silence
The Outcome
What changed
Respect at Work moved from an HR-owned compliance topic to a standing Board agenda item — with a defensible account of 'reasonable and proportionate measures'.
- ●Shift from reactive complaint handling to early prevention
- ●Directors equipped to interrogate management on psychosocial risk
- ●Consistent expectations across Board and Executive
Key Impact Areas
Where it landed
Board-Level Governance
Respect at Work governed as enterprise risk.
Psychosocial Risk Visibility
Oversight of cultural and behavioural risk.
Regulatory Readiness
Stronger defensibility under Positive Duty.
Leadership Accountability
Clear ownership across senior leadership.
Services Delivered
What we provided
- ✓Board & Executive Respect at Work Briefing
- ✓Positive Duty Translation into Governance Practice
- ✓AHRC Prevention Standards Operationalisation
- ✓Leadership Accountability & Oversight Capability
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