PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has expressed disappointment in the results of a confidential survey by workers union CFMEU, which revealed incidents of sexual harassment, assault and bullying in the Queensland mining sector.

In its submission to the Queensland government’s evaluation of occupational health risks in the resources sector, the Mining & Energy Union (MEU) said that a survey conducted in June showed that mineworkers were experiencing sexual harassment at unacceptable levels.

The MEU found that around one in three workers agree or strongly agree that sexual harassment is a problem in the Queensland mining industry and nearly one in four workers reported experiencing or witnessing sexual harassment in the workplace.

The submission stated that the results from Queensland were not as dire as those reported in Western Australia, particularly in regards to rates of physical sexual harassment, verbal sexual harassment and some inappropriate behaviours. This is likely owing to the Queensland industry being more unionised and less remote, the MEU said.

However, the rates of sexual harassment reported in our survey are unacceptable and require action, the submission stated.

MCA CEO Tania Constable said that there was no place for sexual harassment or disrespectful behaviour in the workplace.

“Reporting incidents is essential to holding individuals to account and making sure it is eliminated from the sector. We thank those that share their stories.

“The Australian mining industry is committed to eliminating sexual harassment and has made progress on establishing both preventative and response measures to address sexual harassment, underpinned by a culture of respect that empowers individuals to raise concerns in a supportive and protected way,” Constable said.

“We encourage mining workers to come forward and report these incidents to their respective companies so we can deal with it immediately and confidentially.”

The Queensland inquiry follows shortly after the July release of a Parliamentary inquiry into sexual harassment against women in the fly-in, fly-out mining industry in Western Australia, which found that sexual harassment had long been prevalent across the industry.

The inquiry revealed that the Western Australian Police Force informed that it had investigated 23 reports of sexual assaults on mine sites over the last two years, while the Department of Mines, Industry, Regulation and Safety reported it had only received 22 reports over the previous seven years.