The federal government has introduced legislation into parliament to address and prevent sexual harassment in workplaces following its Respect@Work report released earlier this year.

The report found one in three Australian women have been sexually harassed in the workplace in the last five years.

But Neil Breen is skeptical new laws will stamp out the issue.

“I don’t think there’s any legislation on the planet that could fix every workplace,” he said to Minister for Women Amanda Stoker.

“If a boss is a bum, he’s a bum. How can you legislate against some bloke being a bum?”

Ms Stoker agreed the laws couldn’t be expected to prevent every case of harassment.

“You can’t legislate for the human condition, you can’t legislate people into being good people.

“But what we can do is try and shift the cultural environment in which those people are shaped.

“In as many workplaces as is possible, we are equipping women with the tools they need to have the confidence that they’re not going to be prejudiced.”

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Image: Nine News