It is a pleasure to rise on the Restricting Non-disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Bill 2025.
Her name was Emily. Emily was 26. It was her first job after university – a marketing coordinator at a large firm. She was bright, ambitious and eager to learn. But when her manager began making unwanted advances, comments about her appearance, invitations to outside-work events, she felt trapped. How could she say something without risking her job? Her workplace had become a place of fear instead of opportunity. When she finally spoke up, the company acted but not to protect her. They offered a settlement. The terms seemed fair on paper: a modest payout, a reference and confidentiality. She signed an agreement she barely understood, a non-disclosure agreement. It was not until months later that Emily realised what she had really lost – her voice. She could not tell future employees why she had left. She could not warn other young women. Her mental health suffered. She could not even talk freely to a counsellor about what had happened for fear of breaching the agreement, fear of being sued. The man who harassed her kept his job, and he was unscathed.
Emily is not her real name, but we know lots of Emilys and have heard from lots of Emilys across our state. That is the quiet, though, that we hear, the ongoing harm of NDAs. They do not just silence victims, they protect perpetrators and conceal a toxic workplace culture. That is why this bill is so important. It is about giving people like Emily their voice back and giving choice. It is about putting the rights of victim-survivors ahead of the reputations of those who caused the harm. And it is about ensuring that confidentiality is never a weapon used to bury the truth.
These reforms that we have seen have stemmed directly from the Victorian Ministerial Taskforce on Workplace Sexual Harassment, which found that NDAs have been misused as a fortified gag order, silencing victims. We have listened and we have worked to make these reforms, and the message was clear: NDAs can lead to that lasting trauma and isolation and fear.
I would like to just take this opportunity to thank those women who have spoken out about this, and I would like to also thank Victorian Trades Hall Council and particularly Wil Stracke, who spent their time coming to this place and particularly shared their time and educated me more about NDAs. I appreciate them championing this cause.
Some of the reforms that this bill will make – I will not go into all of them today. But it does not ban NDAs entirely, because we want to have that choice. Some victim-survivors may choose that confidentiality as part of their healing process. But this reform that we have made today does create strong safeguards, restricts preconditions and ensures that NDAs are used only when they genuinely serve the wishes of the victim, not the interests of the perpetrator.
Harassment and sexual harassment are among the most pervasive and devastating forms of harm in our society. They are not misunderstandings, they are not minor incidents; they are violations of a person’s dignity, safety and humanity, and they leave wounds that can last a lifetime. In workplaces these behaviours create cultures of fear and silence. They drive talented people out of jobs, out of industry and, in some cases, out of economic security. They rob people, overwhelmingly women but also men, of their right to feel safe where they are trying to earn a living.
The horror of harassment and sexual harassment is not just in the act itself but in the way it multiplies through a system of dismissed complaints and leaders who look the other way, through cultures that prioritise reputation over the wellbeing of real people. Every time someone is told to move on, not make a fuss or think about the consequences, we entrench a cycle of silence that protects perpetrators and punishes victims. Our responsibility as leaders in the community but also here in this place is to confront these realities with honesty and to dismantle the excuses that have been allowed to thrive and build a system where people are safe, respected and believed.
This reform is about choice. It ensures that survivors are the ones who decide on whether their story remains private or not and not employees, not lawyers and not perpetrators. This bill does draw a line in the sand. It says: no more weaponising of confidentiality, no more silencing of the voices that deserve to be heard. Turning around an entrenched culture of secrecy is not easy, but it is a critical step towards workplaces built on safety, respect and accountability. To every worker in Victoria this reform sends a clear message: your voice matters, your safety matters and never again will you be asked to trade your silence for justice. We need to make sure that no-one else has to live Emily’s story. I commend this bill to the house.
