Content warning: this article discusses alleged sexual assault and violence and may be distressing to some readers.
Last week The Sydney Morning Herald and Good Food released a joint bombshell investigation about claims of sexual assault at one of Sydney’s most popular hospitality groups, Swillhouse.
If you haven’t heard of Swillhouse, you’ve definitely heard of its venues, which include some of the top bars and restaurants in the city: Le Foote in The Rocks, and CBD venues, Restaurant Hubert, the Baxter Inn, and Caterpillar Club (among others). It is alleged by five former female staff members that they were sexually assaulted and harassed by other employees.
In the report, which spans 10 articles and counting, former employees have raised a number of claims that include rape, discrimination, misogyny, drug use, harrassment, as well as deep seated cultural issues within the wider industry.
Now, Swillhouse has issued an apology, the CEO has stood down from the Australian Restaurant and Café Association, and SafeWork NSW is investigating the hospitality group. Here’s what you need to know.
The Claims Against Swillhouse Group
On August 21, The Sydney Morning Herald released an article titled, “Sex, sleaze and Swillhouse: The sinister side of the glitzy hospitality scene”. In the article, five former female employees allege that they were sexually assaulted and harassed by fellow employees of the group, were encouraged to have sex with customers and take drugs while on shift.
The following day, Swillhouse released an apology on its Instagram account, which it also posted to the accounts for The Baxter Inn, Restaurant Hubert, Albertos Lounge, The Caterpillar Club, and Le Foote.
“Our sincere apologies,” the post starts. “This week our business has faced scrutiny with distressing claims about how Swillhouse used to operate in the past. We sincerely apologise to anyone who has felt hurt, unsafe, unprotected, triggered, or unheard.
“We particularly extend this apology to our female staff, guests, friends and family.
We acknowledge that Swillhouse was not always perfect and that we got things wrong in the past. We sincerely regret that any of our former staff have felt let down or unsafe.”
The apology goes on to explain that “several years ago”, the company began a process of building a better workplace, with a zero tolerance attitude for “poor behaviours”, and acknowledged that though the issues are industry-wide, Swillhouse is “committed to being part of the solution”.
The apology ends with an announcement that Swillhouse had officially “postponed” its inaugural festival SwillFest, which was scheduled for September 21 at Le Foote. Though it wasn’t stated in the post, many have speculated that this followed sponsors, artists, and partners pulling out.
Swillhouse CEO, Anton Forte, has also stepped down from the board of the Australian Restaurant and Café Association (ARCA), which represents prominent hospitality groups like Accor, Merivale, and Fink Group. There is no suggestion that Forte was personally involved in any of the alleged misconduct, and the group also released a statement that “it responded with urgency whenever serious claims were presented”. Chef Neil Perry, who is the chair of ARCA, confirmed this. “There are some serious allegations,” he said. “I’m always concerned by any workplace mismanagement of people. The whole idea of workplace safety is absolutely paramount. We don’t like to see any of that happen.”
Gourmet Traveller also swiftly removed Restaurant Hubert from its NSW Top 25 list online, though the print issue had already gone to print.
“While these allegations are not isolated, I cannot stress enough, it is not the prevailing norm,” said Joanna Hunkin, editor of Gourmet Traveller, in a statement. “That said, this is the moment to speak up and be heard. If you are a victim or eyewitness to any abuse within the industry, please come forward. We cannot tell this story without you.”
Though they certainly aren’t the only venues mentioned, there are two Swillhouse venues mentioned at length in the reporting by SMH: The Baxter Inn and Frankie’s Pizza. The former was named the sixth-best bar in the world in 2015, just one year after the first female bartenders were hired to work behind the bar (apparently, sanitary bins weren’t even installed for their early shifts).
As for Frankie’s Pizza, the venue has a well-documented history of misogyny and homophobia and in the report, it was described by a former employee as the “Wild West”, with female employees often subjected to viewing violent pornography by other bartenders, and were relegated to working the kitchen on account of them knowing “nothing about beer”, according to male colleagues.
Since the first article was released by SMH, two women who are former Swillhouse employees have gone public with their allegations. They both allege they were sexually assaulted while employed by Swillhouse, and have accused the company of failing its employees.
SafeWork NSW has now also announced that it will be probing into the allegations against Swillhouse and its employees. “The allegations of serious work health and safety issues highlighted in recent media reports relating to Swillhouse Group are concerning,” SafeWork NSW said in a statement. “SafeWork NSW is making inquiries into the allegations raised in these media reports.”
The Wider Australian Hospitality Industry
The investigation at Swillhouse is reflective of a broader issue in the Australian hospitality industry. According to Sexual Harassment Australia, as many as 9 in 10 hospitality workers have experienced being sexually harassed, and 84.7% of hospitality workers have admitted to witnessing other people being sexually harassed by their co-workers or boss. It paints a horrific picture of the state of the industry.
The claims also follow a grassroots reckoning in the Melbourne hospitality scene, which erupted in March when an anonymous Instagram account emerged as an outlet for and quickly amassed 10,000 followers.
If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service or contact Full Stop Australia.
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