We hear this explanation often.
A complaint is made about comments, jokes, messages or conduct in the workplace, and the response is: “It was only friendly banter.”
Similarly, an employer or manager might assume that a conversation behind closed doors was private and therefore could not amount to harassment.
That is not how the law approaches it.
In Queensland, sexual harassment in the workplace is not limited to physical conduct or overt propositions. It can include unwelcome comments, jokes, questions, gestures, messages or behaviour of a sexual nature where a reasonable person would have anticipated the possibility that the other person would be offended, humiliated or intimidated.
The fact that something was intended as a joke, said privately, or accepted as “workplace culture” does not necessarily make it acceptable — or lawful.
For employers, the key issue is not whether the person responsible thought it was harmless. The question is whether the conduct was unwelcome and whether its impact, viewed objectively, crossed the line.
Workplaces should be clear about expectations, respond promptly to complaints, and avoid dismissing conduct as “banter” without properly considering the legal and practical risks.
Sexual harassment laws are not about stopping ordinary workplace conversation. They are about ensuring people can work in an environment that is safe, respectful and free from unlawful conduct.
General information only — not legal advice.