The safety of retail staff in relation to knife crime and its impact on the wider community was the focus of the third meeting of the Retail Employee Safety Council (RESC), which met in Parramatta on 27 March 2025, chaired by Marie Boland of Safe Work Australia.

The meeting opened with members trialing the innovative virtual reality training offered by Woolworths to staff for handling abuse and violence in-store, as well as discussions around regulation, policy and training.

In addition to the VR training provided by Woolworths, the agenda included

• Review of CCTV footage of incidents of customer aggression and violence within a retail setting
• A briefing from the SDA’s Helen Cooney on safety issues associated with knives and bladed items and,
• Safe Work Australia outlining for the Council upcoming changes to the model Work Health and Safety laws, including new incident notification requirements

The RESC is supportive of the introduction of consistent legislation across all jurisdictions including prohibiting the sales of knives to minors (under 18) and the introduction of minimum packaging standards for the sale of knives to reduce ease of access within retail stores.

The RESC committed to exploring the development of industry design standards to provide retailers with guidance on store design, and safety settings to reduce risks associated with customer violence and aggression.

Australian Retailers Association Chief Industry Affairs Officer Fleur Brown said that increasing incidents of customer aggression and violence across the nation are deeply concerning.

“Sadly, one in ten retail crimes were violent last year, meaning many staff have been left fearing for their safety at work which is simply unacceptable.

“We remain focused on advocating to the government to implement proven measures that improve the safety of retail workers.

“These include the introduction of workplace protection orders and strengthened police search powers to remove knives and dangerous weapons from the streets.

“Retail is a key focus of the ARA’s federal election advocacy campaign as we call on policymakers at all levels of government to invest in the safety of a sector that employs 1.4 million Australians and generates $430 billion annually.”

SDA National Assistant Secretary Helen Cooney said:

“It is important to send a message to the community that retail workers deserve respect and to be safe from knives.

“Reporting must be easier for retail workers to do the moment an incident occurs. Data provided by workers can and should inform industry wide solutions.

“Patterns of behaviour in the lead up to serious incidents and prevention of attacks by repeat offenders could surely be found more easily if retail workers inform the response.”(ENDS)

Background

As an outcome of the third customer abuse and violence industry round table in 2024, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) agreed to establish the Retail Employee Safety Council (RESC) which convened in August 2024.

The Retail Employee Safety Council includes representatives from Australia’s largest union for workers in retail, fast food and warehousing along with the country’s peak employer body for retailers and is chaired by Ms Marie Boland.

The RESC is a tripartite alliance between unions, employers and government that aims to address the increasing prevalence and severity of unacceptable behaviour in the retail sector, which is having a significant impact on the physical and mental health of workers in retail and fast food. 

The RESC agreed that the council’s initial focus should be on sharing information and insights about best practice strategies across workplace design, systems of work, trauma-informed support measures and a standardised approach to reporting. Members of the RESC also agreed to pursue additional public awareness campaigns, consider additional training and continue to drive legislative change.

The RESC has met three times and will meet another three times in 2025, with three representatives each from the SDA and the soon to be merged ARA and NRA, to be known as Australian Retail Council, and discussions have continued as to suitable government stakeholders to be added to the council.