Petition updateEveryone’s Safety Matters - Call for Accountability at Clay Gulgong 2026Update (2): Further relevant health and safety information, guidelines and legislation
Abetterclay …Australia
Mar 2, 2026

Everyone’s Safety Matters - Call for Accountability at Clay Gulgong 2026 - Relevant legislation and links (extended version)

The petition calling for accountability at Clay Gulgong has always centred around the importance of health and safety for workers and patrons at this significant Australian ceramics festival. We hope that this information will be useful for signatories and the wider ceramics community when considering legal obligations to health and safety at Clay Gulgong 2026 and in our sector. 

N.B. Mansfield Ceramics are yet to clarify whether alleged sex offender and financial racketeer Eric Landon / "Tortus" remains in the Clay Gulgong 2026 line-up, nor have any public apologies been delivered to survivors and members of the ceramics community negatively affected by the Artistic Director's harmful actions in retaliation for raising health and safety concerns. 

An employer's duty of care to workers and the public:

According to the NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011, an employer/person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) has a legal duty to workers and other persons at their place of business. A PCBU needs to try to eliminate, so far as is reasonably and practicable, any health and safety risks in the workplace. Employers or PCBUs have the main responsibility for the health and safety of everyone in their workplace, including visitors. This is their “primary duty of care”. Workers in this instance refer to: employees, volunteers, paid or unpaid assistants, interns, contracted presenters and contracted artists (“Master Potters”). “Other persons” in the WHS Act 2011 refers to non-workers, such as patrons or visitors. 

Via Work Health and Safety Act 2011 - Meaning of worker:

7   Meaning of “worker”

(1)  A person is a worker if the person carries out work in any capacity for a person conducting a business or undertaking, including work as—

(a)  an employee, or

(b)  a contractor or subcontractor, or

(c)  an employee of a contractor or subcontractor, or

(d)  an employee of a labour hire company who has been assigned to work in the person’s business or undertaking, or

(e)  an outworker, or

(f)  an apprentice or trainee, or

(g)  a student gaining work experience, or

(h)  a volunteer, or

(i)  a person of a prescribed class.

Division 2, 19: Primary duty of care                                                                             

(1)  A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of—

(a)  workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person, and

(b)  workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person,

while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking.

(2)  A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking.

According to the NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011, employers/PCBUs have a duty to consult with workers on matters of health and safety, giving workers a reasonable opportunity to express their views on work health and safety matters (including hazards and risks), and a chance to contribute to the decision-making process around their health and safety. A PCBU must consult with workers who carry out work for the business or undertaking and who are, or are likely to be, directly affected by a health and safety matter. A PCBU must take into account the views of workers consulted and advise those workers of the outcome of the consultation.

47   Duty to consult workers                                                                                         

(1)  The person conducting a business or undertaking must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, in accordance with this Division and the regulations, with workers who carry out work for the business or undertaking who are, or are likely to be, directly affected by a matter relating to work health or safety,

…

48   Nature of consultation                                                                                             

(1)  Consultation under this Division requires—

(a)  that relevant information about the matter is shared with workers, and

(b)  that workers be given a reasonable opportunity—

(i)  to express their views and to raise work health or safety issues in relation to the matter, and

(ii)  to contribute to the decision-making process relating to the matter, and

(c)  that the views of workers are taken into account by the person conducting the business or undertaking, and

(d)  that the workers consulted are advised of the outcome of the consultation in a timely manner.

(2)  If the workers are represented by a health and safety representative, the consultation must involve that representative.

49   When consultation is required                                                             

Consultation under this Division is required in relation to the following health and safety matters—

(a)  when identifying hazards and assessing risks to health and safety arising from the work carried out or to be carried out by the business or undertaking,

(b)  when making decisions about ways to eliminate or minimise those risks,

(c)  when making decisions about the adequacy of facilities for the welfare of workers,

(d)  when proposing changes that may affect the health or safety of workers,

(e)  when making decisions about the procedures 

Discrimination:                                                                                                                     

A worker must not be treated less favourably for raising health and safety matters with an employer / PCBU. Adverse action taken against workers for expressing concerns about health and safety is not lawful.

Part 6 Discriminatory, coercive and misleading conduct                           

Division 1 Prohibition of discriminatory, coercive or misleading conduct

104   Prohibition of discriminatory conduct

(1)    A person must not engage in discriminatory conduct for a prohibited reason.

…

105   What is “discriminatory conduct”

(1)  For the purposes of this Part, a person engages in discriminatory conduct if—

(a)  the person—

(i)   dismisses a worker, or

(ii)  terminates a contract for services with a worker, or

(iii)  puts a worker to his or her detriment in the engagement of the worker, or

(iv)  alters the position of a worker to the worker’s detriment

…

106   What is a “prohibited reason”

Conduct referred to in section 105 is engaged in for a prohibited reason if it is engaged in because the worker or prospective worker…

…

(h)  raises or has raised or proposes to raise an issue or concern about work health and safety with—

(i)  the person conducting a business or undertaking.

Causes and Risk Factors of Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Other Unlawful Behaviours and the positive duty                                                       

Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Commonwealth), organisations and businesses have a positive duty to eliminate, as far as possible, the following unlawful behaviour from occurring. The positive duty was introduced in December 2022. It imposes a legal obligation on organisations and businesses to take proactive and meaningful action to prevent relevant unlawful conduct from occurring in the workplace or in connection to work. Taking preventative action helps to create safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces. This important change requires organisations and businesses to shift their focus to actively preventing workplace sexual harassment, sex discrimination and other relevant unlawful conduct, rather than responding only after it occurs.

This includes preventing:

  • discrimination on the grounds of sex in a work context
  • sexual harassment in connection with work
  • sex-based harassment in connection with work
  • conduct creating a workplace environment that is hostile on the grounds of sex
  • related acts of victimisation

Regardless of their size or resources, all organisations and businesses in Australia that have obligations under the Sex Discrimination Act must meet the positive duty. This includes sole traders and the self-employed, small, medium and large businesses, and government.

Lack of accountability for disrespectful and discriminatory behaviour in the workplace can help relevant unlawful conduct to thrive. A lack of accountability sets the workplace tone, creating cultures where relevant unlawful conduct is accepted and unchallenged. On the other hand, clear expectations about appropriate behaviour, set and upheld by workplaces, can reduce the likelihood of relevant unlawful conduct occurring.

Power imbalances, such as workplace hierarchies, create a context where someone who holds power may gain a sense of entitlement, while others may hold a fear of challenging or speaking out against that power. 

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