Across the country, the hospitality industry is grappling with allegations of rife sexism and sexual harassment. Some award-winning female hospitality workers have banded together, saying now is the time for the so-called boys club culture to change for good. They want more education, training and more support for businesses.
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00:00She's setting the table ahead of a busy lunch service, but this award-winning sommelier
00:08and restaurant manager hasn't always been given the seat at the industry table she deserves.
00:14I've definitely experienced sexual harassment both from like co-workers and from patrons.
00:20I think it's actually rife in the industry. The biggest one I guess was a staff member
00:25taking a photo of me without my consent and then distributing it like an inappropriate
00:29photo and then distributing it amongst other staff. And when I spoke to my boss about it,
00:34they said that if I took any further action, I would no longer have my job.
00:39She's also faced sexist attitudes.
00:42Somebody had asked one of the staff, the wine person, to come over and when I came to the
00:46table his immediate reaction was no, I want to talk to a man.
00:51Restaurant owner Dash has also had her fair share of negative experiences, including being
00:56sexually assaulted by a co-worker and on another occasion by a patron.
01:02I was just basically told to like suck it up and that's my job and I'm a woman and that's
01:08going to happen. Comments about sexual positions, things about pornography, showing people pictures
01:14that were like inappropriate.
01:16The two say things have improved, but more could be done. That's why they're now part
01:20of a group surveying Canberra hospo workers about their experiences in the industry while
01:24running a campaign calling for more education about sexual harassment, including adding
01:29it to RSA certifications.
01:31What we see in our experience working with clients is a lot of women who have been affected
01:39by sex discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment in the hospitality industry.
01:47Those issues alongside other employment entitlements issues like underpayment, you know, not receiving
01:54pay slips, things like that.
01:57Employees can go to the Fair Work Commission, ACT Human Rights Commission or WorkSafeACT,
02:03but what many really want is a cultural change.
02:06We take it really, really seriously because you need to create an environment where people
02:12feel safe.
02:13I think in the last 10 years that I've been in the industry, there has been a massive
02:16change, but I feel like there's so much further to go.
02:19Making an attempt to turn the table.