Parliamentary Workplace Support Service executive: Leanne Martens (A/g COO), Scott Mischke (Chief People Officer), Leonie McGregor (CEO), and Kate Wandmaker (Deputy CEO). Photo: Auspic, DPS/Mel Adams.
Thirty complaints of serious wrongdoing in the Parliament House workplace, including those of rape, sexual assault and harassment, were handled by parliament’s new human resources authority in its first nine months of operation.
The Parliamentary Workplace Support Service has released its first annual report, showing it managed 339 cases between 1 October 2023 and 30 June 2024.
Additionally, there were 33 reports of bullying and 90 of other workplace conflicts.
While more than 100 reported incidents were uncategorised in the report, 62 others were stated as being related to family violence, mental health, and drug and alcohol abuse.
The report stresses, however, that the sexual assault figures were high because that is how they were reported.
“People use the expression ‘sexual assault’ to describe a wide range of conduct, from feeling uncomfortable about how a person looked at them to what would be a traditional use of the word rape,” the report states.
“It is likely that very few of those matters would actually be allegations of rape.”
Nevertheless, Health Minister Mark Butler has described the figures as “deeply disturbing” and said Parliament House remained an unsafe place to work.
The PWSS was established in October last year in response to the Set the Standard report by former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins.
“We’ve responded to the Set the Standard report a few years ago and put in place these structures that give people an avenue to make these official complaints,” Mr Butler said in media interviews on Sunday (10 November).
“But we’ve got to do better: this is the nation’s parliament, and clearly, it’s still an unsafe place to work for too many people … It’s really concerning, but as many who have worked in parliament or around parliament for a long time perhaps have said, it’s not entirely surprising.
“This is a workplace that really does need to lift its standards, and I think putting that process or that structure in place is an important first step. People need to be held accountable for poor behaviour.
“This process is starting to work, but I think this report really concerningly shows that parliament still has a way to go.”
Nationals leader David Littleproud said the good news that can be taken from the report is that those working in parliament feel more comfortable reporting bad behaviour than has previously been the case.
“What these numbers today demonstrate is that after 12 months of reforms, it shows that we’ve created an environment where people feel comfortable to come forward,” he said.
“We’ve got to create that environment, and I think we’re doing that, and these numbers demonstrate that those reforms are slowly working.
“But we can all do better, whether it be in Parliament House or outside Parliament House.
“I think we have to call it out no matter how big or how small, whether it just be a language or whether it be physical actions.”
The report notes that since its creation, the PWSS’s team of counsellors, psychologists and social workers delivered 24/7 confidential trauma-informed support services for current and former Commonwealth parliamentary workplace participants.
“Staff worked tirelessly to establish our new agency with additional functions in HR advice, WHS, and learning and development,” the report states.
“They ensured the PWSS was fully operational and well positioned to deliver these expanded functions from 1 October 2023 in addition to the pre-existing counselling and support services.
“This work involved complex discussions with multiple stakeholders to onboard additional staff and set up corporate operations.
“Our Corporate team established new business processes, onboarded 45 staff, and negotiated interim arrangements for seconded staff.
“Whilst the PWSS was established in response to Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces, we are also responsible for and contribute to implementing a number of recommendations from the review to advance a safer, more inclusive workplace culture to address bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct in parliamentarian workplaces.”
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission, with far-reaching powers to investigate workplace conduct and enforce a behavioural code, was established last month.
The IPSC is an independent workplace investigation framework for Commonwealth parliamentary workplace participants.
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