Hospitality is a difficult industry with high rates of bullying and sexual harassment affecting hard-working employees. Many of those employees are young, inexperienced and in casual employment. This makes it very difficult for them to raise OHS issues.
Despite persistent work by the United Workers’ Union (UWU) and their members change is slow, but this month sees consequences for Melbourne restaurant Moonah with credible allegations of bullying, harassment, racism and the supply of alcohol to minors.
The Age 2025 Good Food Guide announced its decision to revoke Moonah’s Restaurant of the Year Award, as well as retracting Moonah’s score and two “hats”. A disclaimer will also be added to Moonah’s review in the Good Food app informing readers of the investigation.
Multiple former employees of Moonah have participated in an investigation into the allegations, with many of them having experienced bullying by the head chef that was so severe that they have required psychological treatment. Head Chef Tobin Kent denies these allegations. The investigation also included interviews with parents of young current and former staff who were concerned to learn their daughters had been supplied with alcohol while working.
Head of Good Food Sarah Norris said “Hospitality means looking after people, but if there are serious allegations a venue isn’t looking after its staff, no matter how great the experience is for guests, we can’t recommend it. This is not a decision we took lightly.”
UWU has conducted research into systemic bullying and sexual harassment in hospitality and calls for reforms shaped by the lived experience of hospitality workers. UWU surveyed hospitality members across Australia and found that 86 percent of the 444 respondents said they had experienced sexual harassment at work. Hospitality also has the highest levels of casualisation compared to any other industry, at 79 percent.
It is important for employers in the hospitality industry to understand not just their duties and obligations under the OHS Act, but also their Positive Duty to proactively create safe, respectful and inclusive environments in the workplace. The Australian Human Rights Commission recently released a series of animations and information to assist employers to comply with their duty - AHRC LAUNCHES POSITIVE DUTY ANIMATIONS - OHS Reps.
The best way to protect yourself and your colleagues from this type of unsafe work culture is to become an organised workplace. Two key roles in organised workplaces are union delegates and employee-elected HSRs. You can learn about making your workplace safe and well organised here Creating Safe, Well Organised Workplaces - We Are Union VTHC.
For information about what HSRs can do to combat bullying go to our OHSReps page Bullying - Action plan for reps - OHS Reps. Talk to your workmates, document incidents using our bullying incident log and work with your union delegates to address the issues.
Read more: Good Food revokes Moonah restaurant’s awards, hats and score after allegations of workplace bullying