Members of the NZDF (military and civilian) are actively encouraged by the NZDF to directly seek out an Anti-Harassment Adviser (AHA) if they have experienced any act of harassment or discrimination in the workplace.
How an AHA can help you
00:00
foreign
00:06
[Music]
00:19
my role is to provide information to
00:21
support people in resolving issues
00:24
around harassment discrimination or
00:25
bullying so that involves listening
00:29
it involves working with the person
00:31
supporting them come up for decision
00:34
making sure they feel comfortable with
00:36
that
00:37
and then following up with them later on
00:39
to make sure that we've got a resolution
00:41
out of it
00:43
uh generally someone will come to see us
00:45
about an issue of harassment
00:46
discrimination or bullying
00:48
it might be like a single incident or it
00:50
might be a series of incidents that have
00:53
been happening over time
00:55
but generally it's going to be unwanted
00:56
unacceptable physical
00:58
or mental behaviour that that's really
01:01
causing them grief
01:03
so they generally want to come and see
01:05
us to discuss that
01:07
one of the things also is that they
01:08
often don't know is it harassment is it
01:10
discrimination is it bullying and i
01:12
think that's one of the great things for
01:13
ahas we can talk through that and
01:16
actually understand what's actually
01:17
going on in that situation
01:20
so our aha network is set up to help all
01:23
defence personnel so that can be from
01:26
very senior ranks it could be to new
01:28
recruits and it can be for both military
01:31
and civilian personnel so it's really
01:34
anyone within the defense farnow
01:38
okay so there are over 350 ahas spread
01:41
out across defence um and we're made up
01:44
of a huge range of people from senior
01:46
military officers to
01:48
civilians who've only been in for a few
01:50
years so there's a huge range of people
01:52
across all three services in joint
01:55
forces and headquarters
01:57
so there's people throughout the
01:59
organisation
02:00
at different levels that you can contact
02:05
yes so ahas will remain confidential and
02:08
keep confidentiality as much as possible
02:11
and support the person's wishes
02:14
if there is a significant safety issue
02:17
under our policy
02:19
we need to take that to command or to a
02:23
manager
02:24
but we would make sure the person
02:26
involved would be aware of what we're
02:28
going to do at all times in that process
02:30
i've been in aha for over 20 years and
02:32
i've seen a lot of people try to manage
02:34
harassment discrimination or bullying
02:36
issues on their own
02:38
and i think it's a really difficult path
02:40
to take
02:42
so i do think it's a really great option
02:43
to be able to contact an aha if you have
02:46
some real issues or concerns
02:48
and just have someone to talk to
02:51
and go through that process with them
What is an Anti-Harassment adviser?
What is an Anti-Harassment adviser?
Anti-Harassment advisers provide a support channel for all members of the NZDF to seek confidential guidance and support when needed, without having to go through the member’s commander/manager. They play an important role in providing support to member’s of the NZDF to feel confident about seeking help and advise on options available to them.
AHA's are current NZDF members who volunteer to be an AHA. They receive training and attend regular refresher courses to ensure that they are well informed on how to deal with harassment problems.
Who do AHA’s help?
Any staff member of the NZDF – Regular Force, Reserve Force and civilian staff.
How do AHA’s help?
AHA's provide an independent and non-threatening avenue to seek help and support. An AHA will not judge you or your situation and will ensure that matters are handled with total confidentiality.
How do I contact an AHA?
If you are being harassed in the workplace you can contact an AHA directly for confidential support. You can find a list of AHA’s on the Defence ILP site, the HR Toolkit or at your local Defence Community Facilitator.
Is it confidential?
Your AHA will complete an NZDF Harassment and Discrimination Report form for each person seen in relation to each harassment or discrimination issue. This is then submitted directly to a confidential email address accessed by a limited number of HR staff.