Service and Creative Skills Australia (SaCSA) will host the Shaping Safe Service: National Roundtable on Customer Aggression, bringing together industry leaders, employers, governments and unions to examine the growing impact of customer aggression on Australia’s retail workforce and explore how skills development, training and industry support can strengthen workforce responses.

The roundtable will be held in Sydney on 22 April 2026.

Addressing a critical workforce challenge

Customer aggression has emerged as one of the most urgent challenges facing Retail and Community Pharmacy. Rising levels of verbal abuse and physical violence are taking a toll on workers, particularly young people, women, and culturally and linguistically diverse staff. The impacts include high turnover, fewer new entrants, declining attractiveness of leadership roles, and direct risks to patient safety. The costs are significant: increased workers’ compensation claims, declining well-being, and workers leaving the sector permanently.

Stakeholders have called for proactive training approaches, stronger cross-sector collaboration, including partnerships with police, and industry-led reforms to ensure workplace policies reflect frontline realities.

The research

The roundtable will mark the release of SaCSA’s research report, Customer aggression in retail: understanding the nature, drivers and impacts on Australia’s retail workforce.

The report is a key milestone in SaCSA’s Retail Customer Aggression Implications project, which examines customer aggression across the retail and community pharmacy sectors, including its forms, its impact on attraction and retention, and the skills and training responses needed to address it.

The research has also informed the development of new customer aggression units of competency, supporting capability from frontline staff through to management.

What to expect

The roundtable will feature a mix of panel discussion, facilitated conversation and interactive workshop activities. Participants will be able to share insights, discuss practical challenges and contribute to evidence-based approaches.

Who should attend

The roundtable will bring together stakeholders from across the retail sector, including industry leaders, employers, workers, government and unions.

Insights shared through the discussion will help inform evidence-based approaches to addressing customer aggression and strengthening workforce capability across the sector.

Event details

Date: Tuesday, 22 April 2026
Location: Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park
Time: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm AEST

Registrations are now open. 

Register via Humanitix: https://events.humanitix.com/sacsa-shaping-safe-service-national-roundtable-on-customer-aggression