Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I will make a few brief remarks because the Archives and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 has been addressed at length in the Senate. This bill relates to the current inquiry by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner into the culture and the procedures that are in place in Parliament House to ensure that everyone has a safe workplace. That review is something the Greens welcome and have, in fact, been calling for for months. We're very pleased that over recent times others have added their voices to that call and now, finally, the Prime Minister has done it.

The legislation came about because a number of people expressed concerns and wanted to make sure that any submissions they made to that review remained confidential. That was a concern that the Greens listened to and so, sometime ago, our leader in the Senate, Senator Larissa Waters—she is also our spokesperson for women—raised this with the government and in other forums to make sure that that concern was addressed. In that respect the legislation does something important—it gives women in particular the confidence to come forward to this review. We certainly encourage them to do so.

Some additional concerns were raised about whether the drafting allows the government to do other things—not so much protect the privacy of the people who wanted to put information to the review but provide a shield for the government to hide other documents. In that respect concerns were raised, and we listened to those as well. I commend the member for Warringah for the amendment she will move, which the Greens will support here. Again, I want to place on record acknowledgement of the significant work done by Senator Larissa Waters, who has also been involved in discussions with the member for Warringah, the government and the opposition about this amendment.

Because we're reaching the end of the day on the last sitting day and it's important that this bill passes, I'll leave my comments there other than to say that this review is something that the Greens have been calling for for months and months. I'm very pleased it's happening. We urge everyone to participate in it. This parliament deserves to be a safe workplace, and one of the ways that we can make that happen is by having full participation in this review and implementing the recommendations that come out of it—hopefully, not after waiting a year but quickly. That's something the Greens will be committed to.

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