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A "shield of positive social climate" known to protect against workplace bullying might also provide a "huge protective effect" against s-xual harassment, an academic says.

University of South Australia professor of work and organisational psychology Michelle Tuckey, who is leading a three-year national research project into ways to prevent s-xual harassment, says that because organisations are designed to devolve power and assign accountabilities and responsibilities to "get the work done", some employees invariably end up with more power than others.

One of the questions she and her team of researchers from various universities will be asking – and one that employers can be asking themselves – is which workplace procedures and processes allow a misuse of power, and how can they be redesigned...