In October 2025 the Restricting Non-disclosure Agreements (Sexual Harassment at Work) Bill 2025 was introduced in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. This Bill brief explains the background and context of the Bill. It provides a summary of the main provisions of the Bill, responses from various stakeholders and a jurisdictional comparison.

In 2022, the Australian Human Rights Commission found that around one in three workers had experienced workplace sexual harassment in the last five years. Most harassers are men, and women are more likely than men to have been harassed, while cohorts such as young people, LGBTQIA+ people and First Nations peoples are overrepresented among victim-survivors. 

Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are regularly used by employers when settling workplace sexual harassment matters out of court, releasing the respondents (usually the harasser and the employer) from liability for the alleged conduct in exchange for financial and non-financial outcomes. 

Many have argued NDAs are overused in these contexts and can lead to repeat offenders going unchecked, and the Bill follows on from a ministerial taskforce established in 2021 and a community consultation on reform. 

The Bill seeks to prohibit the use of NDAs in sexual harassment cases, unless requested by the complainant. It will also prohibit employers from pressuring a complainant into entering an NDA, and places several other restrictions on NDAs in order for them to be valid.