Hunter-based real estate workers say sexual harassment is 'rife' and complaints are 'swept under the carpet'

The region's real estate industry has been rocked by allegations of a culture of sexism and sexual harassment, which many say is condoned by management in some agencies.

Dozens of current and former workers, managers and principals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, described a "wild west culture" in sections of the industry, with much of the inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment directed at women.

They say "the rot" starts at the top in several agencies, and workers fear speaking out because it would be "severely career limiting".

Several people said complaints were "regularly swept under the carpet", and poor governance allowed a toxic culture to fester.

"It's like the wild west in some places, without any sheriffs policing anything," a senior female agent said.

"Basically staff fear if they speak out it will be the end of their career because they have seen what has happened to others. So many women, especially young women, just put up and shut up, or they leave. It's not right and something has to change."

Another described sexual harassment as "rife" and said in some agencies women were treated "like a piece of meat", "constantly leered at" and propositioned.

She said some harassers were emboldened by their power and superior rank.

Behind the veneer of social respectability promoted by the glossy sales brochures, smart suits and flashy cars, workers say there is a dark and sleazy underbelly in certain Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Hunter offices.

Numerous agents describe witnessing scenes like those from the movie Wolf of Wall Street, where an agency head provides cocaine at work functions and parties, staff visit strip clubs on business trips and sex between colleagues is "pretty much promoted from the top".

A male agent said if you weren't "part of the gang in terms of illegal drug use", you quickly find yourself "on the outer".

Talk of drug use - which occurs in many sales-orientated industries - was common, he said.

Another said there was a male agency head known for asking staff to participate in group sex and another who tried to get new female staff to sleep with him by telling them he was in an open relationship.

"The levels these guys will go to is just next level," the staffer said.

"They use cocaine and alcohol to try and get people to do what they want, it's disgusting. These things are like an open secret and so many people know about it, but nothing is ever done about it. In so many cases the women end up leaving because they see no other option, they have no protection or power."

Newcastle-based real estate trainer and consultant George Rousos said he was concerned about sexual harassment of sales agents and bullying of property managers.

Mr Rousos, who runs Industry Training Consultants (ITC), said a big part of the problem was the real estate industry was fragmented, full of small businesses with little oversight in terms of worker health and safety.

"We have had three people come to us in the past 12 months about sexual harassment and we have had students in the past mention things about the sleazy nature of the industry," he said.

"So that prompted us to meet with the unions because these people were wanting protection and union representation."

The move saw the United Services Union (USU), which represents property managers, strata managers and administrative staff, and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), which represents sales agents, try to start signing up real estate workers to raise awareness of employee rights.

Mr Rousos said there was a perception in the real estate industry that unions getting involved was a "big red flag" for employers, but he said their role was to "help employers support workers".

"When you are getting high performance agents working with young women who are new to the industry and don't have a great deal of life experience, that's a high-risk environment," he said.

"It's a breeding ground for sexual harassment from what we are hearing from people in the industry."

Barbara Nebart, the secretary for the Newcastle and Northern NSW branch of the SDA, said real estate workers were fearful of seeking help, or joining unions, due to backlash from bosses.

"Our information is that sexual harassment is rampant," Ms Nebart said.

"I think the industry needs a really good shake-up, the regulator needs to get more involved.

"It's one of those industries that's been allowed to just run roughshod, and even though there are regulators in place, nobody is really looking at this and calling people to account."

USU general secretary Graeme Kelly said it was time to stamp "this abhorrent behaviour" out.

Mr Kelly said every award and enterprise agreement had a dispute clause which allowed workers to report grievances, and the employer had an obligation to investigate and deal with the issue.

Employers also have an obligation to support their employees, and not take adverse action against them for exercising their workplace rights.

"Sexual harassment is never OK, and it should not be tolerated," Mr Kelly said.

"We need to pull back that carpet and sweep the workplace clean, no worker, no person should be subject to this behaviour. It stops now."

Real Estate Institute of NSW chief executive Tim McKibbin said he had "no visibility" of the "allegations" raised by Hunter-based workers.

Mr McKibbin said agents were trusted with access to people's homes for specific purposes and should never use them for anything else.

He said staff should have the confidence, and be encouraged by their employer, to raise any concerns relating to their work environment.

"Regardless of the setting that people find themselves in, they need to be free of all forms of harassment," Mr McKibbin said.

"Additionally, people must also have the confidence that they will be free from harassment. This means actual and perceived. This is particularly so for the workplace."

While some businesses have policies and procedures to deal with sexual harassment and bullying, the unspoken culture in parts of the Hunter's real estate industry normalises "seriously inappropriate behaviour", one female agent said.

"There are great places to work in Newcastle that are professional and the men are respectful, you would like to think that most men are, but there are also places that are renowned for being sleazy," she said.

"The unfortunate thing is that you need time in the industry to figure that out and the young women just starting out have no idea what they are in for and they can be vulnerable."

She said she witnessed a culture of inappropriate behaviour fueled by illegal drug and alcohol use at work functions and parties, sex between colleagues and a constant barrage of inappropriate comments by "protected" male staff.

"Touching, disgusting comments, being propositioned, I've had it all," she said. "It's infuriating and I've been around a long time and have learned to stand up for myself, but some of these men are powerful and they get away with it."

A veteran male agent described a "revolving door of female staff" at several agencies that have "reputations for repeatedly doing the wrong thing".

Century 21 Novocastrian managing director and former Real Estate Institute of NSW president Wayne Stewart said there was no place in the industry for this type of behaviour.

Mr Stewart, whose business employs about 80 per cent women, said everyone deserved to feel safe at work and he would be "embarrassed" if what the Herald had been told by workers was true.

"Having lived and worked in Newcastle for some 45 years I have heard of these issues happening in many professional sectors and it is simply not on," he said.

"Relating to my industry, it distresses me that such behaviour exists, and whilst I am not privy to any individual cases, the fact these issues have been spoken about concerns me greatly in today's workplace."

Mr Stewart urged people to speak out so "these disgusting bullies" can be driven out of the industry.

While conceding real estate can be "largely ego driven", he hoped the public airing of sexual harassment concerns would open the door for frank discussions and education.

"All people, no matter what sex they are, deserve to go to work every day and feel safe," he said.

Mr Stewart said his agency's sexual harassment policy - adapted from a generic Real Estate Employers' Federation (REEF) document - had been reviewed since he was contacted by the Herald and he had held discussions with senior staff on the issue.

He said most real estate firms were members of REEF and would have access to a range of policies.

Veteran Newcastle agent Kate Rundle, who has worked in the industry for 31 years and describes herself as "no wallflower", says she is "not easily frightened" and has no problem standing up for herself.

"Over the years things have been said by blokes and I've been very happy to speak up and shut it down," she said.

"I haven't felt disadvantaged as a woman at all in the industry, I've generally had a nice relationship with the blokes."

Ms Rundle spent most of her career working under the late Sonia Walkom, an icon of the industry known for paving the way for women in real estate.

She said Walkom Real Estate, which is now run by Sonia's son Scott Walkom, had a reputation for retaining staff for decades because it was "stable" and "generous".

"It was no boys' club here that's for sure and that no doubt made a big difference to my experience. Sonia wouldn't have put up with anything like that, and nor would I," she said.

"If someone came to me with an issue I would be the first person to address it."

The former school teacher urged women to speak up.

"My advice would be please don't stay silent," she said. "People have a right to feel safe at work."

Former Maitland-based real estate principal Rhonda Nyquist said she had heard "horror stories" of young women working in male-dominated offices, but she had not personally experienced sexual harassment.

"From the word go I've always been a principal, I've never been a worker in the industry," she said.

"I'm very grateful that I've never had to experience or had to cope with that kind of thing. In my time Newcastle certainly evolved into a city and you get your big boys, your big players, who walk the walk and talk the talk. Young girls come in and see these successful guys with their fast, smart cars and at times they can be easy prey for them. But as I said, it's been out of my zone being a female principal."

Another staffer described difficulties dealing with senior agents that have "an extremely overinflated sense of their own importance and talent", who bully others.

Real estate's outward glamour helps mask the unpleasant underside of hyper-competitive offices that some find awful places to work.

"Some agents honestly believe they are rockstars, when really they are just selling houses," an agent said.

"Competition is at the heart of most agencies, but in some it drives an intense environment, where it's a dog-eat-dog approach and bullying is really common."

Many hope the ugly reality of rampant sexism in the industry will be curbed by new laws to be introduced later this year after the federal government committed to implementing recommendations from the landmark 2020 Respect at Work report.

Employers will have to take a proactive approach to preventing sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, including expressly banning hostile conduct on the basis of sex, and requiring the public sector to report on its performance on gender equality.

According to Deloitte Access Economics, it's estimated the social and emotional cost of sexual harassment is $3.8 billion a year due to lost productivity, staff turnover and absenteeism.

The Respect at Work bill puts the onus on boards and companies to be proactive, rather than reactive, in tackling sexual harassment.

Under the new laws, boards and companies will have a "positive duty" to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination at their workplace, and disclose the frameworks they have put in place for employees to report incidents.

Professor Rae Cooper, from the University of Sydney Business School, said sexual harassment was unfortunately still "very common".

"One half of all women reflect that they have been sexually harassed at some point in their career," Professor Cooper said.

"So that's a big problem, and if you look at incidents in the last five years it's like one in four women who have been sexually harassed in their recent career."

Research shows there is a higher incidence of sexual harassment in industries like real estate, where there is a gender hierarchy and men tend to be in more senior roles.

"We know that young women are much more at risk of being sexually harassed at work than anyone else in the workplace," Professor Cooper said.

"They experience it from all sides, from more senior people, so their managers and bosses, and they also experience it from their peers at the same sort of level, but less from people who are more junior to them.

"But they also experience it, particularly in the service sector, from clients."

Australian Human Rights Commission surveys reveal that less than one in five victims of workplace sexual harassment make a formal report or complaint.

Professor Cooper described the new laws as a "game changer", likening employer responsibility to the same as what is in place for workplace health and safety.

"It used to be that someone had an accident at work and then an organisation would look to do something about it," she said.

"Whereas for the last 15 years or so, the framework has been we have to actively head off risks that we can identify, things we can predict might happen, things that might be very unusual and not happen very often, but could have a big impact.

"So this is going to be the same thing in all Australian workplaces from later on this year."

All workplaces will need to have a policy on sexual harassment, including setting out processes if an employee experiences sexual harassment, covering everything from touching or leering, to jokes and asking questions about a person's sex life.

"They need to set out what sexual harassment is, and have a very clear process about what would practically happen if someone was to experience this," Professor Cooper said.

"It should also be very clearly setting out that this sort of behaviour is discouraged and that people who perpetrate it will be the people who face consequences, not the people who report it."

Do you know more? Contact donna.page@newcastleherald.com.au

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