Respectful & Safe Workplaces
For HR, People & Culture teams, Employee Relations, Learning & Development professionals, compliance leaders, and organisations seeking training that supports Positive Duty obligations while building genuine psychosocial safety.
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Behaviour-first. Evidence-based. Built to last.
Behaviour change, not just policy awareness
Respect at Work training plays a critical role in creating workplaces where bullying, harassment, discrimination, workplace sexual harassment, and other unlawful behaviour are actively prevented rather than addressed only after complaints occur. When designed well, this training helps employees understand their role in building a respectful workplace culture and equips them with the skills to recognise, interrupt, and prevent harmful behaviours.
However, many programs focus heavily on legal definitions, policies and consequences rather than building practical skills. Training often becomes a tick-box exercise that satisfies compliance requirements without driving meaningful change in workplace culture.
Moreover, compliance-based training can unintentionally trigger backlash, defensiveness and disengagement. Research indicates that training centred solely on forbidden behaviours and legal liability can increase defensiveness and reduce reporting. Relying solely on grievance systems without addressing culture creates a trust gap, discouraging employees from speaking up.
"We've got online compliance training, but it doesn't create the change we need."
"How can we empower all of our people to contribute to a safer workplace?"
"Last time we ran this training it left the men in the room feeling attacked and the women feeling uncomfortable. It made things worse, not better."
Program snapshot
All employees and individual contributors across the organisation. This program establishes a shared behavioural baseline because preventing workplace misconduct is a collective responsibility.
How employees recognise, respond to, and prevent harmful workplace behaviours. Participants develop practical confidence to intervene early, support colleagues, and contribute to psychologically safe environments.
Focused on behaviour change rather than compliance awareness. The training frames respect as a professional capability and shared responsibility rather than a list of prohibited actions.
Respect@Work obligations, Positive Duty compliance and broader Anti-Discrimination laws, WHS psychosocial risk management, codes of conduct, employee experience initiatives, DEI strategy and programs, workplace culture.
Half-day recommended (3 hours), with shorter or modular options available. Delivered in-person or live virtual across Australia. Also available as webinars, keynotes, or 90-minute workshops.
Reform-grade Respect at Work, delivered at the heart of government.
NSW Parliament
Culture Plus Consulting was engaged by NSW Parliament to design and deliver Respect at Work and Trauma Informed Response training across its workforce, a flagship reform initiative responding to the Broderick Review of bullying, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in NSW parliamentary workplaces. This engagement represents a proud achievement in delivering reform-grade Respect at Work training in high-scrutiny environments.
NSW Premier's Department
In an ongoing engagement, Culture Plus Consulting delivers Respect at Work training to the Premier, Ministers and Ministerial staff, a key recommendation of the Goward Review aimed at building respectful, safe and accountable workplaces at the heart of government.
What this training covers
You know respectful workplaces matter. This training focuses on embedding respect in everyday situations. Participants learn how to recognise harmful workplace behaviours early, respond constructively when issues arise, and contribute to a culture of respect and accountability.
Explore how bullying, harassment, discrimination, workplace sexual harassment, and other unlawful behaviours occur in workplace environments. Examine how harmful conduct often develops gradually through everyday interactions, power dynamics, and cultural norms rather than through single incidents.
Identify workplace conditions that increase the risk of misconduct, including power imbalances, stress, unclear expectations, unconscious bias, and informal environments such as social events or online communication. Learn how psychosocial hazards influence behaviour and how proactive risk management supports safer workplace cultures.
Understand employee rights and responsibilities under Australian workplace law, including the Positive Duty introduced under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and obligations and protections under WHS/OHS laws. Clarify how organisational policies, codes of conduct, and reporting systems support prevention and help organisations meet regulatory obligations.
Develop the ability to identify different forms of workplace misconduct, including subtle behaviours that may escalate over time. Participants learn to recognise patterns of behaviour that may constitute bullying, harassment, victimisation, or discrimination.
Learn practical strategies employees can use to safely interrupt problematic behaviour when they witness it. Build confidence to intervene early using proportionate responses that support colleagues while maintaining personal safety.
Understand how everyday workplace interactions shape culture. Explore practical ways employees can contribute to psychological safety, trust, respectful communication, and inclusion in their teams.
Clarify when and how to report workplace misconduct. Participants learn about organisational reporting options, available supports, and protections for those who raise concerns, with attention to trauma-informed approaches that reduce the risk of re-traumatisation.
What changes after this training
Organisations strengthen their ability to demonstrate compliance with Positive Duty and psychosocial risk obligations. Proactive, documented training reduces the likelihood of misconduct incidents and builds the evidentiary record needed to satisfy the Australian Human Rights Commission's seven standards.
How we are different
Every organisation must meet the same legal obligations, and we cover them thoroughly. But knowing what the law requires rarely changes behaviour on its own. Our work goes further: building practical capability through deep facilitation grounded in behavioural science and brought to life with relevant, customised scenarios that shift how people think, decide and respond in everyday interactions, with the obligations built in, not just read out.
Beyond compliance to capability
Market standard
Explain what the law requires and record attendance as evidence of action.
Our approach
We cover the obligations, then build the capability to meet them: how each of us sets the tone, speaks up early, responds when concerns are raised and treats colleagues with respect in everyday interactions.
Bespoke, not off the shelf
Market standard
Generic decks and scenarios, delivered the same way to every organisation.
Our approach
Every program is designed for your sector, operating model and risk profile, using scenarios drawn from the situations your people actually face.
More than a legal briefing
Market standard
Legal or technical delivery that speaks to obligation rather than to the reality of working alongside others.
Our approach
Delivered by a facilitator grounded in psychology and behavioural science, so sessions build everyday habits rather than recite obligations.
Selected work
Trusted partners
I thank Felicity Menzies for the initial training sessions and commend her on the job that she has done.
Our methodology
Every Culture Plus program is built on the same evidence-based methodology. Hover any step for detail:
Your facilitator
CEO, Author and Principal Consultant
Every Culture Plus engagement is delivered with behavioural rigour and practical relevance by Felicity Menzies, organisational psychology specialist, author, and expert facilitator.
Endorsed capability partner
Culture Plus Consulting is proud to design and deliver flagship DEI programs for the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) (Australia's peak HR professional body), supporting HR leaders and practitioners to build capability for inclusive leadership and organisational change.
Connect with us to explore how evidence-based DEI training can help your organisation build capability, strengthen culture, and deliver meaningful, measurable change.
From the book
Culture is the sum of behaviours leaders permit, model, and reward.A World of Difference: Felicity Menzies →
Free guide
This guide outlines the essential conditions for effective training that builds lasting capability, moving beyond awareness to practical skills that create safer, more inclusive workplaces.
Download the guideFrequently asked questions
If you have a question we haven't covered, write to us. A real human responds within one working day.
Respect at Work training equips employees with the knowledge and practical skills needed to prevent bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, and discrimination in the workplace. It focuses on building behavioural capability that supports respectful and psychologically safe workplace cultures.
Yes. The training aligns with the Positive Duty requirements introduced under the Sex Discrimination Act and supports organisations in demonstrating proactive and preventative steps to prevent workplace misconduct.
No. This program uses practical language and workplace scenarios to engage participants constructively, framing respect as a professional capability rather than a compliance lecture.
Yes. The training can be tailored to reflect your industry context, organisational policies, and workplace scenarios to ensure relevance for participants.
Yes. Preventing workplace misconduct is a shared responsibility across the workforce. This program establishes a consistent behavioural baseline for all employees.
Still have questions?
Talk to FelicityWhile you're here
Leader obligations for fostering a respectful workplace culture and proactive risk mitigation.
Governance obligations under Respect@Work reform and strategic oversight of psychosocial risk.
Conduct workplace investigations with rigour, fairness, and sensitivity to trauma.
While you're here
Identify, assess and control psychosocial hazards at work aligned with WHS regulator expectations.
Psychosocial Hazards Consulting & Risk Assessment →Equip your workforce to safely interrupt disrespect, harassment and exclusion in the moment.
Active Bystander Training →Meet the Sex Discrimination Act positive duty with evidence, controls and assurance.
Positive Duty Advisory →Further reading
Create a workplace where respect is a cultural norm
It's about building the practical capability that makes your organisation genuinely safer, more respectful, and more resilient. The focus is on measurable outcomes, without backlash and without reducing training to a compliance exercise.
Scope a Respect at Work program
