Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really glad to have the opportunity to speak on these important, historic bills, the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Bill 2023 and related bills, although I have to say at the outset that it is a little strange as someone who well before I became a candidate and then a member of parliament gave evidence to the Set the standard inquiry that of course informs the legislation before us today. I want to, at the outset, acknowledge all of the people who gave evidence to the process that led to the Set the standard report for being generous and brave with their stories and for being part of the important change we are now seeing in this country.

So terrible was the reputation of the parliament of Australia that, when I first became a candidate and I knocked on thousands of doors in my community of Chisholm, every single day someone would ask me if I was sure that I wanted to be a member of parliament and whether it was safe for me to be in this workplace. That was the extent to which the community felt so deeply ashamed of what they saw from Canberra. So to be able to support these bills today does a couple of things. It demonstrates that there is absolutely an appetite for change here in the parliament and to make things better for future generations of people who walk through the doors, whether as staff or as elected representatives or as guests to this building. It hopefully provides assurances to the community that there is significant change being made. I've reflected myself publicly on the change that I've seen in the 10 years since I worked in this building to now as a member of parliament, although I do want to acknowledge the fact that I occupy a role with different privilege and power now to that which I occupied before. So I acknowledge that my experience of this workplace is not everyone's experience, perhaps. These bills today commit us to making sure that this place is going to be safer now and in the future.

I know so many people are pleased to see these important pieces of legislation come before the House. The purpose of these bills, as we've heard from other speakers, is to deliver the commitments made in response to the recommendations of the Jenkins review. I want to thank and congratulate former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins for her fearless, fierce and vital work. This work really has meant that we are now going to head into a more positive era.

There were some awful stories we heard of harassment, assault and discrimination widely reported in the media and to the inquiry. As is said often, sunlight is the best disinfectant. I think that what we have seen through this whole process over the last almost two years since the Set the standard report was released is that there is change being made. Unfortunately, there were some pretty awful numbers that came out in the analysis of the interview data. Nearly a quarter of all people working in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces completed the survey, and 33 per cent reported that they had experienced some form of sexual harassment; 37 per cent had experienced some form of bullying; 51 per cent had experienced at least one incident of bullying, harassment or actual or attempted sexual assault in a Commonwealth parliamentary workplace; and 77 per cent had experienced, witnessed or heard about bullying, sexual harassment and/or actual or attempted sexual assault in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces.

The saying goes that the standard we walk past is the standard we accept, and, for too long, too many people accepted a standard that was not fitting for this place and certainly not the kind of example leaders in this country should be setting for Australians right across our communities and our country. I want to emphasise how important it is that this place set the standard because, while we are talking about the parliamentary workplace now, we must remember that harassment, discrimination and assault are experienced—often in a gendered way—by people right across this country all the time in workplaces as varied as factories, farms, offices and educational institutions. So it is for all of those workers, too, that these changes are so important—to set a standard for everybody in this country around what constitutes a safe, respectful and acceptable workplace.

The Parliamentary Workplace Support Service will go some way to making the change that we all want to see in this place. It will go some way to making sure that people feel appropriately supported in their time here. Obviously, we can do more. We can always do more, and it is on all of us in this place to be ever vigilant about making sure that we're always doing the right thing and that we're never walking past behaviour that we should be calling out. Cultural and behavioural change are difficult. I want to acknowledge that. That's why we all have to work hard every single day. Passing this legislation is just the beginning of ongoing work here. I want to see an independent parliamentary support service review every now and then, too, so that we can evaluate how well things are working. We do not want to have another situation, where, in years to come, evidence is given to an inquiry and the numbers haven't changed and people are still experiencing discrimination, harassment and assault.

It is really heartening to see that so many people in this place want to do better and lift the standard. It is encouraging, too, that the community are behind us. I certainly feel that way. But the culture, the safety and the standards of this workplace won't improve unless all of us do the necessary work every single day to maintain those standards and, where necessary, lift them.

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