November 21, 2025 | Katie Wand
Victorian community legal centres welcome the Restricting Non-disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Bill 2025 (Vic) as a significant step towards transparency, accountability and the restoration of dignity for those who have been silenced by confidentiality clauses.
The bill will prohibit the practice of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) being used to silence workers and conceal sexual harassment in the workplace. It will address power imbalances in the NDA negotiation process and let victim-survivors decide whether they want to enter an NDA, by prohibiting an employer from pressuring or influencing a worker to enter an NDA, and allowing a worker who has entered an NDA to talk to certain bodies such as Victoria Police, and medical and legal professionals.
Community legal centres provide specialist legal assistance, advocacy, and support to women and non-binary workers who have experienced sexual harassment, discrimination, and related workplace harms. Through this work, we continue to see how NDAs can obscure patterns of misconduct, allow perpetrators to move between workplaces unchecked, and place disproportionate burdens on victim-survivor complainants -particularly migrant workers, young workers, and those in insecure or low-paid roles.
We commend the Victorian Government for taking action to protect victim survivors of sexual harassment in the workplace. Victoria will be the first jurisdiction in Australia to introduce such legislation with support from Georgie Purcell from the Animal Justice Party, Rachel Payne from Legalise Cannabis, Aiv Puglielli from The Greens and Richard Welch from the Liberal Party.
We also want to acknowledge and commend Victorian Trades Hall and the union movement for their movement advocacy.
Louisa Gibbs, CEO at the Federation of Community Legal Centres said:
“The use of NDAs as a way of protecting perpetrators of sexual harassment in the workplace has long enabled people in powerful positions to conceal their behaviours, denying victim survivors their dignity and access to justice. We welcome this legislation as a safeguard for victim survivors, and as a deterrent against sexual harassment.”
Claudia Fatone, Women’s Legal Service Victoria and Working Women’s Centre Victoria:
“Restricting NDAs will help restore dignity to those who have been silenced. It sends a clear message: secrecy should never come at the expense of safety and justice. Preventing sexual harassment in the workplace starts with transparency.”
Melissa Hardham, Westjustice and Working Women’s Centre Victoria:
"No victim-survivor should be silenced when they want to speak. If they have this remarkable courage, the law should empower them to make that decision for themselves. We welcome this nation-leading reform and look forward to it being adopted across the country."
Jenni Smith, Northern Community Legal Centre and Working Women’s Centre Victoria:
"This new legislation restores dignity, promotes transparency, and affirms that secrecy must never come at the expense of safety or justice. It limits the use of NDAs to protect perpetrators, ensuring victim-survivors can access justice and helping prevent future misconduct.”
Ashleigh Newnham, South-East Monash Legal Service and Working Women’s Centre Victoria:
“This reform protects the voice and agency of victim-survivors. For too long, those in power have used NDAs to silence workers who’ve experienced sexual harassment. By making NDAs survivor-led, Victoria is setting a new standard for fairness and transparency.
"Sexual harassment and other employment law issues often intersect, affecting workers’ safety, dignity, and economic security. No one should have to navigate these issues alone. That’s why we’re calling for free, independent, trauma-informed legal advice for anyone considering an NDA. This reform helps rebalance power. Real change means ensuring access to legal help.”
Zana Bytheway, JobWatch said:
“JobWatch supports the new law restricting the use of non-disclosure agreements. These reforms help strengthen accountability in workplace sexual harassment matters and ensure that NDAs cannot be used to obscure patterns of misconduct.”
