Meeting Positive Duty: Why transparency starts with a baseline

The report – titled Meeting Positive Duty – brings together, for the first time, collective data from the 11 Consult Australia’s Champions of Change Coalition group members, representing more than 25,000 employees across consulting firms around Australia.

The report's key headlines 

• Positive Duty reforms require organisations to move beyond responding to complaints and to take proactive steps to prevent workplace harm. 
• Reported incidents alone do not reflect prevalence; underreporting remains a well-recognised challenge. 
• Establishing a consistent, industry-wide data baseline helps organisations better understand risk, track change over time and focus prevention efforts where they matter most. 
• Board level oversight and transparent reporting are identified as key enablers of trust and accountability 

Why this matters now

With Positive Duty obligations now firmly embedded, organisations face increased expectation to demonstrate prevention in practice. This work is not about comparison, but about sharing insights to inform collective solutions to challenges that exist across the industry. Improved communication, clearer accountability and stronger reporting systems are critical to sustaining progress over time. 

As a member of the Champions of Change Coalition members, WSP recognises the responsibility that comes with transparent, industry-wide reporting and will use these insights to strengthen its systems, leadership oversight, and prevention efforts. This work is underpinned by WSP’s Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP), which sets clear, measurable actions to strengthen leadership accountability, improve gender representation, and remove structural barriers.

Access the full report 

Download Consult Australia's full report here: Meeting Positive Duty