Imagine working in a public-facing role where every day brings the risk of verbal abuse, threats, or even physical harm. For many workers—especially women, frontline staff, and those in insecure jobs—this isn’t just a possibility; it’s a reality. The Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders (CWPO) Bill 2025 seeks to change that by introducing stronger, preventative legal measures to protect workers from violence and harassment.
At Basic Rights Queensland (BRQ), we support this bill as a step forward in workplace safety. However, in our submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, we’ve highlighted key areas where the bill could go further to ensure no worker is left behind.
Why this bill matters
The CWPO Bill 2025 is designed to create a formal system where an Authorised Person (such as a senior staff member) can apply for a workplace protection order on behalf of a worker experiencing threats or violence. This shifts the burden away from individual employees—who often fear retaliation or feel powerless—and makes safety a workplace responsibility.
It’s a preventative approach rather than a reactive one, ensuring that risks to workers are addressed before they escalate.
Key issues we raised in our submission
While we welcome the bill, we’ve urged the government to make improvements in three major areas:
- Recognising the gendered nature of workplace violence
Workplace violence is not gender-neutral. Women are disproportionately affected—57% of psychological injury claims from workplace harm are made by women, often due to bullying, harassment, and aggression. The bill, as it stands, does not explicitly acknowledge this. We are calling for a clear statement on the gendered nature of workplace violence to ensure stronger protections for women and other vulnerable workers.
- Expanding protections to all workers
Right now, the bill only applies to Commonwealth employees. But the reality is that workers across all industries—retail, healthcare, education, hospitality—face similar threats. We believe the workplace protection order model should be expanded nationally, either through amendments to the Fair Work Act or harmonisation with state laws.
A safe workplace should be a right, not a privilege reserved for Commonwealth workers.
- Ensuring workplace protections aren’t used to punish vulnerable people
Many people who interact with Commonwealth services—such as Centrelink clients—are experiencing crisis, disability, or distress. Some may struggle to regulate their behaviour due to mental health conditions, yet the bill allows for strict penalties (up to two years in prison or $39,600 in fines) for breaching an order.
We have serious concerns that these provisions could disproportionately criminalise vulnerable people rather than addressing the root causes of their distress. The government must ensure procedural fairness, clear appeal processes, and greater investment in de-escalation training for frontline staff.
What needs to happen next?
The Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2025 is a step in the right direction, but we can’t stop here. Our submission calls for:
✅ Expanding protections beyond Commonwealth workplaces
✅ Recognising the gendered nature of workplace violence
✅ Strengthening union rights to support workers under this framework
✅ Safeguarding vulnerable people from unintended punitive consequences
At Basic Rights Queensland, we believe that all workers deserve safety, respect, and dignity in their workplace. We urge the government to take these recommendations seriously and ensure this bill delivers the strongest possible protections.
Let’s make workplaces safer—for everyone.