Non-disclosure agreements in sexual harassment situations face restrictions
Australian workplaces are undergoing significant legal and cultural transformation.
Victoria is leading the way in workplace safety and accountability, introducing the Restricting Non-Disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Bill 2025. This landmark legislation aims to end the routine use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that have historically silenced victims and shielded repeat offenders. If passed, it will empower survivors, promote transparency, and set a new standard for workplace settlements.
On 29 October 2025, the Victorian Government introduced the Restricting Non-Disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Bill 2025. This marks a significant change in how workplace sexual harassment cases are to be settled in the future.
NDAs common in workplace sexual harassment matters
NDAs are currently regarded as a default mechanism in the resolution of workplace sexual harassment matters. Research indicates that 75% of legal practitioners had never settled a sexual harassment issue without a stringent NDA. This Bill will disrupt the status quo by restricting the use of NDAs and addressing concerns that NDAs have been used to silence victim-workers, protect repeat offenders and diminish employer accountability.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Industrial Relations Jaclyn Symes expressed their concerns over the misuse of NDAs which were originally designed to protect trade secrets but have instead contributed to a culture of victim silencing. Workers subject to NDAs face the additional challenge of being unable to provide explanations for gaps in their employment history.
The Bill seeks to reform the current power imbalance in NDA negotiation process. The Bill’s purpose is to promote the health, safety and welfare of persons at work. Its key provisions include the following:
- Ban on NDAs unless requested by the victim-worker.
- Right granted to the victim-worker to terminate the NDA after 12 months without repayment of any financial settlement.
- Permitted disclosure if an NDA is negotiated to certain individuals and entities such as Victoria Police, support organisations and legal and medical professionals.
- Prohibition on employer coercion of workers to enter into an NDA (including offering the worker a higher settlement amount if they request an NDA or refusing to provide the worker with a work reference unless they agree to an NDA).
- Mandatory information statements and cooling-off periods of at least 21 days prior to signing.
If passed, Victoria will become the first Australian jurisdiction to legislate restrictions on the use of NDAs in this context. It will apply to all Victorian workplaces, including government departments. It will capture NDAs as well as any other contract or agreement that relates to the disclosure of material information about workplace sexual harassment if such sexual harassment is connected to Victoria. However, the legislation will not have retrospective effect, meaning that existing NDAs will remain unaffected.
Similar legislation in other countries
Victoria’s reform aligns with approaches taken in other international jurisdictions such as Ireland, Canada, and some US states which have already enacted similar legislation of this kind. There have been domestic organisations who have already implemented this change, with Telstra having removed NDAs relating to sexual harassment from their workplace policies in 2023.
The Bill follows recommendations from the Victorian Ministerial Taskforce on Workplace Harassment, which advocated for legislative reform to restrict the use of NDAs in workplace sexual harassment matters in Victoria. The Government first announced its commitment to make these reforms in 2022 and conducted public consultation throughout 2024 as to the forms the recommendations should take.
Following suit, the renowned Working Women’s Centre NSW has recently reopened to join a national network of centres. The centre has been closed for around two decades but has reopened to launch a program targeting NDAs. In the same week that Victoria introduced the Bill, the centre announced its intention to push for regulations which permit survivors of sexual harassment to disclose their experiences without legal ramifications. The centre delivers free, specialist legal advice and support to women who have suffered forms of work-related abuse and discrimination including sexual harassment or sexual violence at work as well as loss of employment as a result of parental leave.
Employers in Victoria should review their workplace policies and settlement practices in anticipation of the Bill’s passage.
Fay Calderone is a Partner and Jacinta White is an Associate, both at Hall & Wilcox in Sydney and specialising in employment law.
