Canberra, Dec 21 (IANS) Australian Border Force (ABF) staff are regularly subjected to sexual harassment and bullying at work, an internal review has found.

The 2017 review of ABF culture, published by the Guardian Australia on Friday, uncovered "alarming levels of sexual harassment and bullying" within the organization, Xinhua news agency reported.

It revealed that the ABF was fostering a culture of nepotism and favouritism since it was established as an amalgamation of customs and immigration in 2015.

The report concluded that women, older employees, people with disabilities and ethnically diverse people were being unconsciously discriminated against at the ABF.

A separate report published by Fairfax Media earlier in December revealed that 22 per cent of ABF staff said they had experienced bullying or harassment at work in a 12-month period.

--IANS mag/sed