About EEO Specialists
A: EEO Specialists delivers workplace behaviour training in Perth and across regional Western Australia. Founded by lawyer Franca Sala Tenna, we offer in-person workshops, corporate theatre sessions, virtual programs, and online self-paced courses for employees, managers, and leadership teams. Our public sessions are bookable online, and in-house sessions are delivered at your workplace or a venue of your choice.
A: EEO Specialists helps organisations across Australia create safe, respectful, and legally compliant workplaces through training, coaching, and resources.
Founded by lawyer Franca Sala Tenna, we specialise exclusively in workplace behaviour – covering sexual harassment prevention, psychosocial hazards, bullying and discrimination, grievance and contact officer training, manager capability, and positive duty compliance.
What makes our approach different is the combination of legal expertise and interactive corporate theatre: professional actors bring real workplace scenarios to life, so your people practise handling difficult situations before they happen. Over 46,000 people from more than 100 organisations have trained with us.
We deliver in-person workshops (for employees, managers, middle managers, specialists and executives), corporate theatre, virtual workshops, SCORM-compliant online courses, ontological coaching, WGEA GEI 6 compliance training, a free resource library (fact sheets, posters, videos, risk audit tools and a supportive compliance hub), webinars, and sector-specific programs for government, LGA, NFP, SME, healthcare, mining, and leaders.
A: A few things, honestly. First, we are founded by lawyer Franca Sala Tenna and all of our content is therefore legally grounded. That matters when legislation changes – which it does regularly – and when your organisation needs to demonstrate compliance, not just good intentions. Second, we use interactive corporate theatre experiences with professional in-house actors. This is not role play by reluctant participants. Our actors are skilled, the scenarios are realistic, and the learning that comes from watching a situation unfold in front of you is qualitatively different from reading a slide. Third, workplace behaviour is all we do. We are not a generalist training company that also covers workplace behaviour. This is our speciality – which means our facilitators, our content, and our understanding of the issues that come up in Australian workplaces are deeper than you will find in a generalist provider. We have trained more than 46,000 people and 95% of participants say they found the training valuable. We think that speaks for itself.
A: Our training is designed for any organisation that employs people in Australia and has obligations under workplace behaviour and safety legislation. In practice, we work most often with HR managers, People and Culture teams, senior leaders, and L&D coordinators across government agencies, local government, not-for-profit organisations, healthcare, mining and construction, financial services, and SMEs.
We have programs for everyone from frontline employees to the executive leadership team and Board, and we tailor each engagement to your organisation's specific context, sector, and compliance requirements.
A: Our home base is Perth, Western Australia, and we deliver most of our in-person workshops across Perth and regional WA. We do work with organisations interstate and can discuss travel arrangements for in-house sessions outside WA. Our virtual workshops and online self-paced courses are available to organisations across Australia regardless of location. If you are based outside Perth, get in touch and we will work out what is possible.
A: Franca Sala Tenna established EEO Specialists because she saw a gap in the market: most workplace behaviour training was delivered by HR professionals or generalist trainers without a deep understanding of the legal framework behind the obligations. When a complaint is made, or when an organisation is audited, it is the legal standard that matters – not just best practice. Building our programs on legal expertise means every workshop reflects the actual obligations under the Sex Discrimination Act, the Fair Work Act, relevant state legislation, and the positive duty guidelines. Franca leads and oversees all content development, which is why our programs stay current as legislation evolves.
Compliance, law, and obligations
A: Positive duty is a legal obligation under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), strengthened by amendments that came into effect in December 2022. It shifts the compliance standard from reactive to proactive: rather than simply responding when a complaint is made, employers are now required to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment, sex-based harassment, hostile work environments, and related conduct before it occurs. The Australian Human Rights Commission released detailed compliance guidelines in December 2023 outlining what organisations must do. Whether your positive duty obligations are met is assessed against seven standards, including leadership, culture, policies, risk assessment, and training. A once-a-year training session is unlikely to be sufficient on its own. EEO Specialists can help you understand where your organisation sits against these standards and design a program to close any gaps.
A: Under both federal and Western Australian law, employers have a legal duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment, bullying, and discrimination in their workplace. Under the federal positive duty framework, this obligation is now proactive rather than reactive, meaning organisations cannot simply wait for a complaint before taking action. Under WA's Work Health and Safety Act 2020 and the Code of Practice for Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace (2022), employers must also identify, assess, and control psychosocial risks, which includes risks arising from workplace behaviour. Training is one of the most visible and defensible ways to demonstrate that your organisation has taken reasonable steps. It does not guarantee immunity from complaints, but the absence of training significantly increases legal exposure when things go wrong.
A: Psychosocial hazards are work-related factors that can cause psychological injury or illness. They include things like excessive or unpredictable workloads, poor management practices, workplace violence or aggression, bullying, sexual harassment, lack of role clarity, and inadequate support. WorkSafe WA's Code of Practice for Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace (2022) requires all WA employers to manage psychosocial hazards using the same risk management framework that applies to physical hazards. This means identifying which hazards are present, assessing the level of risk, implementing controls, and reviewing those controls regularly. EEO Specialists delivers psychosocial hazards workshops for employees, managers, and health and safety representatives, and can help your organisation develop a practical approach to meeting these obligations.
A: The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) requires all private-sector employers with 100 or more employees to report annually on gender equality indicators (GEIs). Gender Equality Indicator 6 (GEI 6) specifically covers sexual harassment, harassment on the grounds of sex, and discrimination in the workplace. To meet GEI 6 requirements, organisations need to demonstrate that they have policies in place, that they conduct training, and that they have processes to respond to complaints. EEO Specialists offers a dedicated WGEA GEI 6 Compliance Training program that directly addresses these requirements, helping your organisation demonstrate active compliance rather than simply ticking boxes.
Training options and delivery
A: We offer four main training formats, which can be used individually or combined as part of a blended learning approach:
In-person workshops – facilitated sessions for employees, managers, or mixed groups, delivered at your workplace or a venue of your choice. Duration typically half-day to full-day depending on the program.
Interactive corporate theatre workshops – in-person sessions that include live performances by our professional actors, who play out realistic workplace scenarios for your team to observe, discuss, and respond to. These are available for sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination, psychosocial hazards, and workplace behaviours.
Virtual workshops – live, facilitated online sessions covering the same content as our in-person programs, accessible for distributed teams or organisations with regional locations.
Online self-paced courses – SCORM-compliant eLearning modules that employees can complete in their own time, available through our online learning platform or integrated into your own LMS.
We also offer coaching for individuals, a Workplace Culture Review Pack, and a library of resources including fact sheets, posters, and videos.
A: Corporate theatre is the use of professional actors to perform realistic workplace scenarios during a training session. At EEO Specialists, our in-house actors portray situations involving sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination, psychosocial hazards, or difficult management conversations. After watching the scenario unfold, participants are invited to respond, discuss, and sometimes interact directly with the actors to explore different outcomes. The research behind this approach is straightforward: people remember what they feel, not just what they hear. Watching a scenario play out in front of you – and recognising colleagues, managers, or yourself in what you see – creates a learning moment that a slideshow cannot replicate. 95% of participants who have experienced EEO's theatre sessions agree the actors enhanced their understanding of the workshop content.
A: Yes. Customisation is a core part of how we work. Our Wraparound Service begins with understanding your organisation's specific context – your sector, your workforce profile, any recent incidents or complaints, your existing policies, and what you most need your people to understand and be able to do. We use that understanding to design a training program that is relevant to your organisation rather than generic. This might mean adapting the scenarios our actors use to reflect your industry, focusing on the specific legal obligations most relevant to your workforce, or sequencing different programs across different audiences over time. We also offer a Workplace Culture Review Pack for organisations that want to assess their current culture before deciding what training they need.
A: Yes – and we strongly recommend it. What managers and employees need to understand about workplace behaviour is different, as are their responsibilities and legal obligations. Our employee workshops cover expected behaviour, understanding what constitutes harassment, bullying, and discrimination, and what to do if they experience or witness something. Our manager and supervisor workshops go further: they cover the legal obligations of a person in authority, how to respond effectively when a complaint or concern is raised, how to manage underperforming employees in a way that does not create psychosocial risk, and how to foster a team culture that makes problems less likely to occur. We also offer a dedicated Middle Managers Training stream, which addresses the specific challenges faced by people who manage teams but are not at an executive level.
A: Yes – both. Our virtual workshops are live, facilitated sessions delivered online via video conferencing. They cover the same content as our in-person programs and are a practical option for distributed teams, regional staff who cannot travel, or organisations that prefer flexibility. Our online courses are self-paced eLearning modules that employees complete in their own time – useful for inductions, refresher training, or large-scale rollouts where consistent messaging matters. Many organisations use a blended approach: online modules to establish foundational knowledge, followed by an in-person or virtual workshop to build understanding through discussion and application. We are happy to help you design the right combination for your context.
A: Our online courses are SCORM-compliant, which means they can be integrated into most standard Learning Management Systems. If you would like to discuss how our courses could work within your existing LMS environment, please get in touch and we can walk you through the options.
Specific programs
A: Our two-day Grievance Officer Course is designed for people who have been – or are about to be – designated as a grievance officer within their organisation. Participants learn how to receive a complaint with care and confidentiality, conduct a preliminary assessment to determine the appropriate pathway, manage conflicts of interest, document complaints accurately and without bias, communicate with complainants and respondents at each stage of the process, and understand their obligations under relevant legislation. The course reflects current legal requirements and is relevant across all industries and organisation sizes. Many participants have told us that the role felt daunting before attending and significantly clearer afterwards – which is exactly what we aim for.
A: A contact officer (sometimes called a contact person or support person) is a nominated, trained member of staff who provides confidential information and support to employees who have experienced or witnessed workplace harassment, discrimination, or bullying. They are not investigators – their role is to be a safe, trusted first point of contact. Our Contact Officer Course equips participants to fulfil this role with confidence: understanding what the role involves and does not involve, how to create a safe space for someone to share a concern, what information to provide, and when and how to refer someone to a more formal process. Having trained contact officers in your organisation is considered best practice under Australia's positive duty framework and is strongly recommended by SafeWork Australia.
A: Our Legislative Overview workshop is designed for executive leadership teams, boards, and senior managers who need a clear, practical understanding of their legal obligations around workplace behaviour – not the fine detail of HR process, but the strategic and governance picture. We cover the key legislation that affects Australian organisations, what the positive duty standard requires of leaders personally, the legal consequences of non-compliance, and what a defensible approach to prevention looks like. The session is delivered in the language of governance and risk, not HR. It typically runs for two to three hours and can be delivered as a standalone session or as part of a broader program.
A: The Brain Chemistry of Burnout is an employee workshop that explores the neurological and physiological dimensions of stress, burnout, and emotional dysregulation in the workplace. It helps participants understand what is happening in the body and brain when workload or psychological pressure becomes harmful, and what practical steps individuals and their teams can take to protect their wellbeing. This workshop sits alongside our psychosocial hazards programs as part of a complete approach to psychological safety in the workplace. It is particularly relevant for organisations in high-pressure industries or those that have identified workload and stress as risks in a psychosocial hazards assessment.
A: Yes. We offer individual ontological coaching through Jane Chilcott, a former CEO and General Manager with over 20 years of leadership experience who is now an accredited ontological coach. Ontological coaching explores how a person's internal narrative, habits of thought, and ways of being shape how they lead and communicate. It is particularly valuable for people navigating a leadership transition, managing a complex team situation, or wanting to show up more effectively and authentically at work. Jane also has a strong interest in supporting neurodiverse individuals to understand and leverage their strengths in a professional context. Coaching sessions can be standalone or combined with a broader organisational training program.
A: We have a substantial library of resources available including downloadable fact sheets on bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment, racial harassment, and psychosocial hazards; workplace behaviour posters suitable for printing and displaying; a Workplace Culture Review Pack to help organisations assess their current culture; a Risk Audit Tool; and a video library covering managing unlawful behaviours, performance management, sexual harassment, and coaching. We also run a bi-monthly webinar program on current workplace behaviour. Our EEO Compliance Hub brings together legislation, guidelines, and resources relevant to WA organisations in one place.
Working with EEO Specialists
A: EEO Specialists provides support beyond the training room. Depending on your program, this includes post-workshop resources, access to online modules for reinforcement, and ongoing access to Franca for questions about specific situations as they arise. Our Wraparound Service is designed for organisations that want a sustained approach to workplace behaviour compliance rather than a one-off session. We can also help you design a long-term training calendar that keeps your obligations current as legislation evolves.
A: The easiest way is to book a free consultation via our website. In that conversation, we will ask about your organisation, what is driving your training need, and what your people most need to understand or be able to do. From there, we will recommend the program or combination of programs that best fits your context and budget. There is no obligation and no hard sell – if you are not sure what you need yet, that conversation will help you get clearer. You can also browse our full range of workshops and courses online, and if you would like to attend one of our upcoming public sessions first to get a feel for how we work, you are very welcome to do that.
A: Yes – and this is something we actively encourage. Our public sessions give you a firsthand experience of how EEO Specialists facilitates and what the interactive theatre experience is like before you bring it in-house. They are a useful starting point for HR managers who want to recommend EEO to their leadership team and need to have seen the approach themselves. Details of upcoming public sessions, including our Grievance Officer Course and webinar program, are on our website. You can also ask us directly if you have questions about what is coming up and when.
A: We work with organisations of all sizes, from small businesses and community organisations through to large government agencies and national employers. Our workshops for SMEs are designed specifically for smaller organisations that may not have a dedicated HR function and where the business owner or manager often carries compliance responsibility directly. Online courses are particularly practical for small organisations that cannot bring all staff together at once. We understand that smaller organisations often have tighter budgets and fewer resources, and we aim to be flexible about what is possible within those constraints.
A: Yes – government and local government organisations make up a significant portion of our client base, and we have specific sector experience across state government agencies, local government authorities across WA, and public enterprises. We understand the particular governance and compliance environment that public sector HR professionals work in, and our programs reflect that context. If your organisation is a WALGA member or a state government agency, we are happy to discuss preferred supplier arrangements or tailored programs for your context.
A: EEO Specialists offers both in-house training for individual organisations and public sessions that employees can attend individually. Public workshop pricing varies by program and is listed on each program page. In-house training is quoted based on participant numbers, session duration, and whether interactive corporate theatre is included. Online self-paced courses are available individually or in organisational bundles. The best starting point is a free consultation, where we can recommend the right program and provide a clear quote for your situation.
A: Yes. EEO Specialists works with organisations across regional Western Australia, including teams in Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie, Albany, and the Pilbara and Goldfields regions. For in-house sessions in regional locations, travel arrangements are discussed as part of the program design. Our virtual workshops and online self-paced courses are also well suited to distributed or regional teams. Get in touch to discuss what works best for your situation.
A: At EEO Specialists, we believe that creating safer workplaces and supporting our broader community go hand in hand. 40% of the profits from our online course sales and 10% of workshop profits are donated to charities that support vulnerable women and children. These include our Ignition Grants program, through which we support small community organisations making a difference in their communities. When your organisation trains with EEO Specialists, your investment contributes to something beyond the training room. If you would like to know more about the charities we currently support, you will find that information on our Philanthropy page.
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