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SA support service combatting workplace sexual harassment gets $2 million funding boost

Tessa Jones* was forced to give up a job she loved after a prolonged and traumatizing experience of sexual harassment.

The 28-year-old said her complaints went nowhere because her alleged harasser was a senior staff member who laughed when she asked him to respect boundaries.

“I just kept saying, ‘stop’ and kept saying, ‘I can’t take this anymore’ and there was no change in behaviour,” she told ABC News.

“Dealing with it was really, really difficult because I was so young, I had no tools to deal with it and I didn’t understand what was going on and why.

“I trusted this person completely — it was a bit of a nightmare.”

Ms Jones — who is now a self-employed creative director — turned to the Working Women’s Center in Adelaide for support after deciding to leave the toxic working environment.

“For me, I had to go through this, I couldn’t go around it, I couldn’t ignore it. I had to go straight through it and the center helped me do that,” she said.

The South Australian Government will give the center $2 million over the next three years so it can employ more lawyers as its caseload continues to increase.

SA Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the funding was “really important” and aligned with recommendations made by federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins during her 2021 review.

“Many women don’t just suffer sexual harassment at work, there’s often underpayment of wages so it’s critically important that women have a resource like the Working Women’s Centre,” he said.

Abbey Kendall stands in front of a park bench and a tree.
Working Women’s Center director Abbey Kendall says the funding will help employ more lawyers for the service.(Supplied)

Center director Abbey Kendall said demand for the service was “huge”.

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