In March 2021, the Szoke Review into Sexual Harassment in the Victorian Courts and VCAT made twenty recommendations to prevent sexual harassment, improve reporting and support and increase awareness and accountability. Recommendation 20 called for an independent audit to be conducted in two phases to assess how well the Review recommendations were implemented and their effectiveness.
Phase one of the audit was undertaken by Ashurst Risk Advisory. Court Services Victoria has now published the subsequent independent report which considers whether recommendations have been acquitted as intended.
The audit found that implementation of 16 of the 20 recommendations were met and the remaining four were partially met. The second phase of the audit will assess the effectiveness of the interventions put in place.
The Judicial College of Victoria was responsible for Recommendation 13 which required the implementation of an education program for all existing and newly appointed judicial officers and VCAT members on gender equality and the nature, drivers and impacts of sexual harassment, gender inequality and discrimination. The programs, many of which are delivered through our foundational 'Courts as workplaces' and 'Tribunals as workplaces' initiatives, have achieved high completion rates across the jurisdictions.
The College thanks all judicial officers who participated in our training programs and extends our gratitude to those who contributed to the development and delivery of the content. We remain committed to continuing this important work.