More progress than I hoped for, says sex commissioner

Kate Jenkins, who oversaw the landmark Respect at Work report, said she started in the role with the aim of accelerating change, and her national inquiry meant the Australian Human Rights Commission had come up with tangible solutions.

"We've come a massive distance, probably even more than I had hoped," she told ABC radio.

"We've changed the laws, we've put responsibility on to employers to actively be stopping sexual harassment.

"That's a pretty momentous change from when I started."

Ms Jenkins said she knew that change took time, but remained optimistic.

She pointed to the revelations of sexual assault regarding former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, and the gender equality movement that followed, as a turning point for Australia.

"There's been backlash about progress on gender equality, I think since my mother was young, so it has been a very consistent theme," she said.

"When the Weinstein reporting hit Australia, I noticed really quickly how differently we started talking about that issue.

"The difference was Australians started talking to each other and discovering that actually, sexual harassment was still pretty common."

Ms Jenkins said the mood had changed from "it's all a bit of fun" to recognise the different forms of sexual harassment in the workplace.

But she added that while the mood was improving, there was still a cohort that believed the push for gender equality meant women were being preferenced and men were at a disadvantage at work.

"I still hear those conversations. It's just simply not true," she said.

Australian Associated Press