Anti-Bullying & Harassment Training for a Respectful Workplace
A respectful workplace needs more than a policy employees rarely read. People need to understand the expected standard, recognise conduct that may be inappropriate, know which response is safe for their role and trust that concerns will be handled through a clear process.
Delivery: On-site, live online or off-site
Location: Australia-wide
Designed for: Employees, managers and leaders who need clearer expectations and safer responses to inappropriate workplace behaviour
27+ Years
Delivering Workplace Training
100k+
People Trained
75+
Specialist Trainers
Start With The Workplace’s Standard
WeTrain’s Anti-Bullying & Harassment Training helps employees and managers develop that practical understanding. The program can cover respectful behaviour, workplace bullying, harassment, discrimination, bystander choices, reporting pathways, reasonable management action and the manager’s first response to a concern.
The content is tailored to the organisation’s workforce, policies, reporting process and operating environment. Employee and manager groups can follow different learning routes so people are prepared for the decisions their role actually requires.
Important scope: This is workplace education. It does not provide legal advice, determine whether a complaint is substantiated, conduct an investigation or certify that an organisation is compliant.
Employees should not need to interpret workplace expectations from a legal definition alone.
The organisation’s code of conduct, policies, values and reporting pathways should explain how people are expected to treat one another and what happens when a concern is raised. Training makes those expectations easier to recognise and apply.
A tailored program can help participants understand:
- the behaviour expected in the organisation
- where the standard applies, including online, off-site and work-related events
- the difference between respectful disagreement and inappropriate conduct
- where to find relevant policies and procedures
- what reporting and support options are available
- what managers must do when they receive a concern
- why confidentiality has limits
- how victimisation and retaliation concerns should be escalated
The workshop should use the organisation’s approved policy language rather than presenting a generic process that may conflict with it.
The Conduct Spectrum
Not every poor interaction meets a legal definition of workplace bullying or harassment. That does not make it acceptable.
The program can help participants think about a spectrum of conduct:
Respectful and appropriate
Clear expectations, constructive disagreement, reasonable feedback, fair decisions and professional communication.
Unhelpful or discourteous
Abrupt communication, exclusion from an informal interaction, poor listening or a one-off insensitive comment. These behaviours may still need to be addressed.
Inappropriate or contrary to policy
Humiliating remarks, repeated exclusion, offensive jokes, intimidation, misuse of authority or behaviour that breaches workplace expectations.
Potentially unlawful or a safety risk
Conduct that may meet a legal test for bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination, victimisation or another form of unlawful behaviour.
Participants should not be trained to make final legal findings. They should be able to recognise concern, respond within their role and use the correct pathway.
Recognising Workplace Bullying And Other Inappropriate Conduct
Workplace bullying
Under the Fair Work framework, workplace bullying involves repeated unreasonable behaviour towards a worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety.
Examples may include repeated:
- aggressive or intimidating behaviour
- humiliating comments or practical jokes
- unreasonable exclusion from work-related activity
- pressure to behave inappropriately
- unreasonable work demands
- misuse of communication channels to target or undermine a person
The examples used in training must be reviewed in context. Participants should not treat a checklist as a legal determination.
Reasonable management action
Reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable way is not workplace bullying.
Managers may need to:
- set performance expectations
- allocate and direct work
- give constructive feedback
- address conduct concerns
- change responsibilities or processes
- take disciplinary action through the appropriate process
The distinction does not give managers permission to communicate aggressively, humiliate an employee or ignore procedural fairness. The action and the way it is carried out both matter.
Harassment and discrimination
Harassment and discrimination involve different legal concepts and may relate to protected attributes or unwelcome conduct. Sexual harassment has a specific legal test and may occur through a single incident.
The program should state clearly which topics are included and how deeply they will be covered. It should not use “bullying”, “harassment” and “discrimination” as interchangeable labels.
Inappropriate behaviour below a legal threshold
A one-off act may not meet the definition of bullying, but it can still be harmful, breach policy or require management action. Participants should understand that respectful workplace standards are not limited to conduct that a court or tribunal would find unlawful.
Where Workplace Conduct Can Occur
Workplace behaviour is not limited to a shared office.
A tailored program can use scenarios involving:
- email, messaging platforms and group chats
- video meetings and remote work
- customer, patient, student or client interactions
- contractors, labour hire and volunteers
- conferences, travel and work-related social events
- accommodation or transport connected with work
- field, site-based and regional teams
- shared facilities and shift handovers
- social media or online conduct connected to work
The applicable legal and policy context should be reviewed before examples are finalised.
What Participants Can Learn
Depending on role and scope, participants may learn to:
- explain the organisation’s expected behaviour standard
- distinguish disagreement, poor behaviour, bullying and reasonable management action at an awareness level
- recognise harassment, discrimination and other concerning conduct within the confirmed scope
- identify digital and third-party behaviour that may require action
- choose from several bystander and support responses
- use the correct reporting pathway
- understand confidentiality limits
- respond when someone raises a concern
- avoid retaliation or victimisation
- conduct performance conversations more reasonably
- identify when HR, WHS, legal or specialist support is required
The Manager’s First Response
The first response can affect whether the employee feels heard and whether the matter reaches the correct process.
Managers do not need to investigate the issue during the first conversation. They need to respond carefully and escalate appropriately.
Listen
Give the person enough space to explain the concern without dismissing, debating or immediately comparing it with another situation.
Clarify immediate needs
Check whether there is an immediate safety, health, scheduling or support concern that requires action.
Avoid promises that cannot be kept
Do not promise complete secrecy, a particular finding or a specific disciplinary outcome.
Explain the next step
Describe what the manager is required to do, who may need to be involved and what information will be passed on.
Record appropriately
Capture relevant facts in line with the organisation’s policy and privacy requirements.
Escalate
Use the approved HR, People and Culture, WHS or workplace-relations pathway. Do not begin an improvised investigation or confront the other person without guidance.
Follow up
Maintain appropriate contact, avoid retaliation and complete any actions allocated to the manager.
Managers can practise this first conversation using realistic but non-identifying scenarios.
Two Learning Routes
All-employees program
The employee route can cover:
- the organisation’s behaviour standard
- respectful disagreement and professional conduct
- recognising bullying, harassment and inappropriate behaviour
- digital, remote and third-party conduct
- bystander and support options
- reporting pathways
- confidentiality, support and victimisation concerns
- personal responsibility for workplace culture
Manager and leader program
The manager route can include the employee foundation, then add:
- leader responsibility for team behaviour
- early intervention and prevention
- receiving a concern
- immediate safety and support
- documentation and escalation
- reasonable management action
- avoiding an improvised investigation
- maintaining fairness and confidentiality boundaries
- following through with HR, WHS or workplace-relations guidance
Combining both groups in one session can create shared language, but managers may still need separate practice for their additional responsibilities.
Anti-Bullying & Harassment Training for Your Organisation
The program format is shaped around your participants, workplace context and the time needed for practical application.
Employees and Managers
Learning matched to each role
Professional Boundaries
Education, reporting and first response
Duration, group size and inclusions are confirmed when the program is scoped.
A format matched to your audience and outcome
- All-staff awareness workshop
Creates a shared standard, explains key concepts and practises bystander, support and reporting choices.
- Manager and leader workshop
Adds prevention, receiving concerns, first response, reasonable management action, escalation and role boundaries.
- Separate employee and manager sessions
Different sessions allow each group to practise the decisions relevant to their responsibilities.
- Focused refresher
A shorter session can reinforce expectations and pathways. It should not be presented as equivalent to a full workshop where deeper practice is required.
- Live online delivery
Interactive online delivery can support dispersed teams, provided privacy, participation and support arrangements are designed carefully.
- Multi-site or national rollout
WeTrain can coordinate a consistent core program across locations while aligning details with the organisation’s policies and relevant jurisdictions.
Related But Different Training Needs
Compare the primary focus of each program to identify the training that fits your workplace need.
Respectful conduct, recognition, bystander choices, reporting and manager first response
Understanding and resolving workplace disagreement and interpersonal conflict
Setting expectations, feedback, improvement and accountability
Practical wellbeing skills, team norms and awareness of workplace factors
Broader leader capability and team culture
An active complaint, investigation or legal issue requires the appropriate specialist process rather than a group training session.
Choosing A Safe And Useful Response
People often understand that conduct is inappropriate but remain unsure what to do next.
The program can offer several response options. Not every option is safe or suitable in every situation.
- Direct
Where it is safe and appropriate, name the behaviour or ask for it to stop. A direct response is an option, not an obligation.
- Distract
Interrupt or redirect the immediate situation without confronting the person publicly.
- Delegate
Involve a manager, HR, People and Culture, a health and safety representative or another approved contact.
- Delay and check in
Support the person after the event, ask what they need and avoid taking control away from them.
- Document and report
Record relevant facts and use the organisation’s reporting pathway where appropriate. Participants should follow policy and privacy requirements.
The training should never imply that an employee must challenge a person directly when there is a power imbalance, safety concern or risk of escalation.
The examples below can be discussed when shaping the program.
Application Across Australian Organisations
Healthcare, aged care and community services
Scenarios can reflect professional hierarchy, third-party behaviour, patients or clients, shift work and safe escalation.
Government and public sector
The program can align with relevant codes of conduct, dispersed teams, procedural fairness and multi-level reporting arrangements.
Transport, utilities, construction and agriculture
Examples can include remote sites, crews, apprentices, contractors, labour hire and work-related travel or accommodation.
Education and universities
Content may need to consider staff-student boundaries, academic-professional hierarchy and sector-specific obligations. Any National Higher Education Code coverage must be separately confirmed and scoped.
Professional services
Scenarios can include client events, digital conduct, power differences, partner-manager relationships and first-response responsibilities.
Customer-facing workplaces
The program can address inappropriate conduct by customers or members of the public and the organisation’s support and escalation expectations.
Sector tailoring must remain accurate to the client’s jurisdiction, policy and trainer expertise.
Reporting A Concern
Employees need practical information about what happens after they speak up.
The program can align with the organisation’s process to explain:
- the available informal and formal options
- who can receive a concern
- what information is useful to provide
- how immediate safety or support needs are handled
- why managers may need to share information with the right people
- how privacy and confidentiality are approached
- how victimisation or retaliation concerns can be raised
- where internal and external support may be available
- what the employee can expect next
Training should not promise a particular outcome or timeframe unless the organisation’s process supports it.
Performance Management Without Bullying
Managers sometimes avoid necessary feedback because they fear it will be labelled bullying. Employees may also experience poorly handled management action as intimidating or unfair.
The program can clarify that reasonable management action carried out reasonably may include:
- setting clear role and performance expectations
- giving specific evidence-based feedback
- providing an opportunity to respond
- agreeing support and improvement actions
- documenting the process appropriately
- applying policy consistently
- communicating privately and respectfully
- involving HR or another adviser when required
This section supports awareness. It does not replace manager training in performance management or legal advice about a specific case.
What Training Can And Cannot Do
| Training can support… | Training cannot… |
|---|---|
| A shared language for respectful conduct | Guarantee that inappropriate behaviour will not occur |
| Recognition of concerning behaviour | Determine whether a specific allegation is substantiated |
| Safer bystander, reporting and manager responses | Replace an independent or procedurally fair investigation |
| Awareness of policies and pathways | Certify legal compliance |
| Practice for difficult first conversations | Provide legal advice about an active matter |
| Consistent expectations across teams | Replace workplace consultation, risk controls or leadership accountability |
Training forms one part of a wider workplace prevention and response system.
A Scenario Forum, Not A Legal Quiz
Real workplace behaviour is often ambiguous. The program can use facilitated scenarios to help participants decide what they know, what concerns them and what they should do next.
Possible scenarios include:
Banter and Humiliation
- a series of humiliating jokes presented as banter
Work Information
- an employee repeatedly left out of information needed to do their job
Performance Feedback
- a manager giving firm but evidence-based performance feedback
Digital Behaviour
- an offensive message in a private work-related group chat
Power and Third Parties
- a customer making discriminatory remarks towards an employee
- a senior employee responding poorly when challenged
Safe Intervention and Reporting
- a colleague witnessing behaviour but feeling unsafe intervening directly
- a manager receiving a complaint about someone they work closely with
Participants are not asked to deliver a legal verdict. They practise recognising risk, checking policy and choosing a safe response.
Handling A Sensitive Program Responsibly
The program may prompt questions, concerns or disclosures. Safe delivery requires preparation.
Before the session, WeTrain and the organisation should confirm:
1. Confirm scope
- the exact content and legal scope
- the participant groups and reporting lines
2. Align pathways
- current policies and reporting contacts
- how anonymous questions will be handled
3. Prepare support
- what the facilitator should do if a live concern is raised
- the internal support available during and after training
- whether an HR, WHS or workplace-relations representative should be available
4. Plan participation
- whether active matters must be excluded from group discussion
- content warnings and optional stepping-out arrangements
- accessibility, cultural and language needs
The facilitator should not invite people to disclose personal experiences publicly or attempt to resolve an active complaint in the room.
Why Organisations Choose WeTrain
Practical workplace training for Australian organisations since 1998.
- Behaviour and action, not policy recitation
Participants work with realistic situations and practise what to notice, say and do.
- Role-specific learning
Employees and managers can follow different routes based on the decisions and responsibilities they hold.
- Tailored to the organisation
The program can align with the client’s code, policies, reporting contacts, support pathways and workforce context.
- Clear professional limits
Training is not presented as legal advice, complaint determination, investigation or compliance certification.
- National delivery
WeTrain can support one workplace, regional teams, multiple cohorts or a coordinated national rollout.
- Specialist trainer matching
Trainer selection should consider workplace conduct expertise, facilitation capability, sector context and the sensitivity of the audience.
Recognised Workplace Training
WeTrain has received corporate and soft-skills training awards recognising its work with organisations.
Best Corporate Training Provider
APAC Insider 2026
Best Soft Skills Focused Corporate Training Provider
AI Global Media 2025
Best Bespoke Soft Skills Training Provider
Corporate Vision 2025
Business Training Service of the Year
Global Awards 2024/25
Best Corporate Training Provider
APAC Insider 2024
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the training be aligned with our workplace policies?
Yes. The organisation should provide current approved policies, reporting contacts and support pathways during discovery. The program can then use the same language and process participants are expected to follow.
Do employees and managers need different sessions?
Often, yes. Employees need shared expectations, recognition, bystander options and reporting information. Managers also need to practise receiving a concern, responding to immediate needs, documenting, escalating and avoiding an improvised investigation.
Does the program cover sexual harassment and the positive duty?
Only if this is included in the confirmed scope and the content has been reviewed appropriately. Sexual harassment has a different legal test from bullying, and the positive duty requires more than a generic awareness session. The agreed program scope will specify the topics and depth covered.
How are questions or disclosures handled during training?
WeTrain and the client should agree on a process before delivery. The facilitator can explain confidentiality limits, direct concerns to the approved pathway and avoid discussing identifiable active matters in the group.
Does completing the training make an organisation compliant?
No. Training can form one part of prevention and response, but it does not certify compliance or replace policies, consultation, risk controls, reporting pathways, investigations and leadership action.
Can scenarios reflect remote sites, contractors or customer behaviour?
Yes. Scenarios can be tailored to the workforce, including digital communication, contractors, labour hire, work-related travel, customers, patients, students or other third parties.
Create Clearer Expectations And Safer Responses
Tell us about your workforce, policies, participant groups and the behaviour or response capability you need to strengthen. We will help you scope the right program for each role.
Australia-wide delivery | Role-based learning | Aligned with your workplace process
Please do not include details of active complaints or sensitive personal information in your training enquiry.