Women's Legal Centre ACT

Content warning: workplace sexual harassment

Workplace sexual harassment can happen once. It can happen online. It can happen at after-work drinks. It can come from a manager, a client, or a colleague.

And it is against the law.

The Working Women's Centre ACT has a new factsheet that breaks down what workplace sexual harassment is, how it can affect people, and what your options are if it has happened to you.

Key things to know:

👉 It could be a single incident or an ongoing behaviour

👉 Your employer must actively prevent it, not just respond to complaints

👉 You do not have to confront the harasser or speak to your employer before seeking help

👉 Your employer cannot punish or dismiss you for making a sexual harassment complaint

Free, confidential advice is available. Talking to a lawyer does not mean taking legal action.

📄 Read the workplace sexual harassment factsheet:https://wwcact.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/13052026-WWC_WorkplaceS*xualHarassment_Factsheet_Digital-FINAL-2.pdf

🔗 Explore all our resources: wwcact.org.au/our-resources/

🔧 Website Maintenance Notice

The Women's Legal Centre and Working Women's Centre ACT websites will be temporarily unavailable while we undertake scheduled maintenance from:

📅 Monday, 15 June 2026, 10:00pm to

📅 Tuesday, 16 June 2026, 8:00am

If you require urgent assistance during this time:

🚨 Emergency
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000.

🚔 Police Assistance (non-emergency)
Phone 131 444.

💜 Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS)
24/7 Crisis Line: (02) 6280 0900

We appreciate your patience while we complete these updates.

Certainty is not a small thing.

For organisations like ours, one-year funding cycles mean one-year horizons. Hard to plan. Hard to build. Hard to hold onto the skilled, experienced people our clients depend on.

The ACT Government's four-year funding commitment to Women's Legal Centre ACT changes that. For the first time, we can plan with confidence, invest in our people, and focus on what matters: being there for women and gender-diverse people in the ACT when they need legal help most.

With demand for our services up 38% last year, that stability means everything.

It's good that the ACT Government recognises the long-term value of this work.

The Women's Legal Centre ACT can provide free legal advice to women, trans and gender-diverse people in the ACT and surrounding region.

We’re excited to be part of the Multicultural Hub Expo this June.

Join the Women’s Legal Centre ACT on Saturday 13 June at the Multicultural Hub (mHub) Welcome2Canberrra Expo. This event connects multicultural community members, particularly those new to Canberra, with essential services, community groups, and support.

From previous years, we’ve seen how valuable this event is. Not only for community members, but also for services, strengthening connections across the sector.

The Women’s Legal Centre ACT can provide free legal advice to women, trans and gender-diverse people in the ACT and surrounding region.

Our team can assist with:

Problems at work
Family breakdown or separation
Family violence and safety
Care arrangements for children
Migration
Discrimination
S*xual harassment
📍 Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden
92–96 Corinna St, Phillip ACT
🕙 10am – 1pm

If you’re attending, come by and say hello. We’d love to meet you.

📞 1800 634 669
🌐 wlc.org.au

Last month, Farrar Gesini Dunn hosted a film screening, invited their clients, and made space for WLC ACT to speak. The generosity in that room, combined with Farrar Gesini Dunn's own contribution, totalled $3,173 for our Centre.

We are thankful for the ways the legal community shows up for people who need it most.

Content note: this post includes references to domestic and family violence.

Region Canberra has written about our EOFY fundraising appeal, and it's a lovely read. 🧡

Parker Coles Curtis Lawyers director Catherine Coles describes what it means to walk alongside someone who was lost and didn't know where to turn, watching them reach the end of the process with financial independence secured and "more purpose and hope for the future."

That is what your donation makes possible.

Until 1 July 2026, Parker Coles Curtis is matching every gift dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000. Whatever you give, they double it.

Read the article and support the appeal here 👇
🔖 https://region.com.au/care-compassion-and-counsel-in-crisis-local-firms-lifeline-to-womens-legal-centre-act/970422/

Or give directly: 🔖 https://www.givenow.com.au/eofy-twenty-six-fundraising-appeal

Thank you. 🫶

GiveNow - WLC ACT EOFY 2026 Fundraising Appeal Double your impact this EOFY. Parker Coles Curtis will match every dollar you donate to the Women's Legal Centre ACT until 1 July 2026, up to $10,000.

AusAlert is Australia's new emergency warning system, launching this year. It sends alerts directly to mobile phones during serious emergencies like bushfires and floods, cutting through even when your phone is on silent.

For people experiencing family violence, especially those living with someone who uses violence, an unexpected alert can put safety at risk. Alerts could expose hidden safety devices.

Here's what an AusAlert does when it arrives: vibrates your device, plays a loud siren-like sound for about 10 seconds, and turns on your screen to show the message.

If receiving alerts on your device is not safe, keep it turned off or in aeroplane mode until you need it.

For more information on staying safe with AusAlert: https://www.ausalert.gov.au/community-resources/staying-safe-ausalert

NDAs are used to silence women. This week, a panel at the IAWBH conference said it plainly, and laid out what needs to change.

WWC Australia CEO Abbey Kendall was part of that conversation, alongside S*x Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody and other leading voices. The message: national reform is needed so that NDAs can only be used when the person who was harmed actually wants one. Not to protect employers. Not to protect perpetrators.

This is what the Our Silence is Not for Sale campaign is about.

WLC ACT's Susan Price also spoke at the conference, bringing the perspective of frontline legal practice, and drawing on our landmark sexual harassment matter in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. Two years of work. A client of extraordinary courage. A significant result.

Frontline legal services need proper funding so that every woman who has been subjected to sexual harassment can access free, independent advice. That is not a luxury. It is the foundation of justice.

Content note: this post includes references to domestic and family violence.

💬 "There has been a dramatic improvement in the quality of life for myself and my daughter. Our futures are brighter because of them."

That is what one of our clients said after the Women's Legal Centre ACT supported her through a domestic violence situation.

Free legal help changed the course of her life. And her daughter's.
Our 2026 EOFY Appeal is still open. Canberra law firm Parker Coles Curtis is matching every donation dollar-for-dollar until 1 July 2026, up to $10,000.

27 days. Doubled impact. Real outcomes for real people in our community.

🔖 https://www.givenow.com.au/eofy-twenty-six-fundraising-appeal

Thank you. 🫶

We’re proud to share that Susan Price from the Women’s Legal Centre ACT will be joining a Hypothetical Panel at the upcoming Conference of the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment, in Canberra.

Taking place on the evening of 3 June 2026, the panel will be moderated by Fair Work Commissioner Sarah McKinnon and will bring together experts to explore some of the most pressing issues shaping workplaces today. These include bullying, sexual harassment, psychosocial risks, safety, fairness and dignity at work.

This year’s conference theme, “How do we solve a problem like…workplace bullying and harassment, sexual harassment, and discrimination?”, focuses on practical solutions and interventions to address workplace harm and build safer, more respectful workplace cultures.

We’re thrilled to see Susan contributing her expertise to these important conversations alongside researchers and practitioners.

You can find out more about the conference here: https://www.iawbh.org/

*xualHarassment