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Speak-up cultures are becoming more common, but they're not enough to tackle the rise in bullying and harassment cases, according to a workplace culture consultant.

Almost half of Australians will experience some form of workplace bullying during their career, and "the problem is getting worse, not better", says Jessica Hickman in her new book The Upstander Leader.

Hickman tells HR Daily that too many HR leaders are waiting until they've received a bullying complaint, or facing reputation damage, before taking any real steps to address the issue. But she's "trying to switch that pendulum from reactive to proactive".

While most people have heard of the 'bystander effect' – the act of seeing bad behaviour and ignoring it – she says few leaders facilitate a process that goes beyond merely speaking up, to standing up...