Woolworths Group team members have been subjected to more than 3000 acts of violence, threats and abuse in the past 12 months.
Speaking at the company's Annual General Meeting, CEO Brad Banducci confirmed there has been an increase in cases of aggression in stores. It comes as retailers push for state and territory governments across the country to implement tougher penalties for people who assault retail workers.
Research from the McKell Institute, commissioned by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association found that 85 per cent of retail workers report abuse on the job and a lack of adequate deterrent measures has contributed to this problem.
"This is not acceptable and we are putting in place additional measures to support our team," Banducci said. "In conjunction with investment into areas such as CCTV upgrades, two-way radio headsets, as well as virtual reality violence and aggression training, we are working closely with the government to advocate for legislative change to help further protect retail workers."
The Big W parent company has also provided an app to team members providing access to health professionals as well as safety, mental health, physical health and wellbeing support.
In June, the NSW State Government confirmed it would introduce the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Assaults on Retail Workers) Bill 2023 to address the growing retail crisis. The new law will see three new offences added to the Crimes Act 1900 targeting attacks on shop staff.
The reform bill covers a range of offences, including assaulting, harassing, intimidating, or throwing a “missile” at someone. Convicted individuals will be given a maximum of four years in prison, even if the victim does not sustain any bodily harm.
Last year, the South Australian Government introduced a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment for people convicted of basic assault against a retail worker on the job and seven years when the assault causes harm.
Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra said customer aggression – including assaults – has remained prevalent post-pandemic, prompting the need for government intervention.
“Customer aggression has been an ongoing challenge for frontline staff. We saw a big rise in the number of customers who chose to unleash their frustrations on retail staff during the pandemic. We expected this to subside when restrictions lifted – but it simply hasn’t,” Zahra said.
“In many states across Australia, deterrence is lacking. Aggressive behaviour in the form of assault has a severe impact on the health and wellbeing of frontline retail staff but, importantly, it’s also a criminal act and it must be treated as such.
“The rise of anti-social behaviour is also a concern for us. A crime does not need to have been committed in order for physical or mental harm to be done to retail workers and so we also need the community to play their part in stamping out unacceptable behaviour."