Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Bill 2023 and the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2023 advance the government's commitment to implement the recommendations of the Australian Human Rights Commission's Set the standard report. In summing up this debate, I will outline again what we seek to do in these bills and the associated Members of Parliament (Staff) Amendment Bill 2023 and then note some of the valuable contributions made by all sides of this chamber over the course of today.

The implementation of the report's recommendations is a shared responsibility of this parliament. In recognition of that joint responsibility, the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Bill package is a product of extensive and close engagement with members of the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce along with the task force's staff consultation group. The government would like to thank the task force members and staff for their engagement with the bill.

The bill stays true to the guiding principles of the Set the standard report. Members contributing to this debate want to see not just the parliament lift standards, we want to see this parliament set the standard. These bills demonstrate that parliamentarians are taking that responsibility as leaders seriously. I also want to thank the many members who've had longstanding commitment to progress on these issues in this chamber but who have not spoken in the debate because they've chosen to prioritise transmission to the Senate. I thank all of those members. I thank those members, including those in the coalition, who continue to engage with the responsible minister on this bill and its passage.

The bill provides for a new human resources entity to support the employment relationship between parliamentarians and their staff. The new Parliamentary Workplace Support Service will play a key role in advancing the professionalisation of that relationship. A significant distinction from the existing arrangement is that the new Parliamentary Workplace Support Service is independent. It cannot be directed by any person in the performance of its functions or exercise of its powers. Furthermore, and consistent with an overarching theme in the Set the standard report, the new Parliamentary Workplace Support Service will have functions concerned with making Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces safe and respectful. It is imperative we can see progress being made on that front. That is why the new Parliamentary Workplace Support Service will be required to publish annual reports. These reports will cover the culture of the parliamentary workplace as well as progress in preventing workplace misbehaviour.

As we have heard, the parliament is both a unique and a prominent workplace. The people who work here should have the systems they need to go about their work in a professional, safe and respectful environment. I would also like to acknowledge the staff of the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service who, as many members have noted, are an incredible benefit and addition to this building, and it was really a great honour to have them join us in the gallery when this bill was first introduced. I hope I speak for all members and senators when I say we greatly appreciate the work that you all do.

The Members of Parliament (Staff) Amendment Bill complements the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Bill package. It does this by modernising the employment framework for parliamentarians and their employees. It implements recommendations from the review of the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act undertaken by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet last year. That review in turn implemented recommendation 18 of the Set the standard report. The bill clearly sets out the responsibilities of parliamentarians and employees under modern workplace laws. This includes employment principles to set expectations for the workplace. The bill will provide greater clarity and certainty both for MOP(S) Act employees and for parliamentarians. Together with the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Bill package, these bills are important reforms for the Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces.

I want to thank all members who contributed to this debate, and I'll start by thanking—and I think members will understand why—the member for Newcastle for her contribution in the debate and her contribution to the development of this bill. Her work as the chair of the Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary Standards has been widely recognised this morning and across the parliament in recent months. Again I want to note that it is, I think, 10 years to the day that we've had the fantastic contribution of the member for Newcastle, and this bill is one example of that. As she said, in speaking on behalf of that committee, every member of the committee 'has a deep personal commitment to ensuring that we drive cultural change in this building'. I also want to note, in that regard, the work of the member for Blair in assisting the development of that committee's work.

We also had a contribution from the member for Jagajaga, who spoke on behalf of not just her community but all Australians when she said, 'I know that Australians are with us as we continue to call out the failures, mistakes, the terrible things that have happened in this place in the past, and as we commit ourselves to the changes the parliament needs to see.' I think, again, members can agree with that sentiment.

I want to note that the member for Chisholm said that this is not just for all of us now but for those who might seek to join the parliament in the future or seek to work in a parliamentary workplace in the future. I also acknowledge the fact that by doing this work today we enhance the quality of the experience for those who visit this building, including those from the Shire of Laverton who are in my office at the moment, as I am here delivering this speech. I am sorry I have missed part of that meeting.

We also had very thoughtful contributions from the member from Hume, noting that 'there have already been concrete changes that will make our workplaces more safe and respectful'. He also took the opportunity to highlight the work of the Foster review in ensuring that we now have what is the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, and I add my thanks and the government's thanks to Stephanie Foster for that work. We had the member for Sturt, who pointed out the obvious, in that none of us wants to be in a workplace where our staff are anything but respected, supported and proud to be here. I endorse that comment.

I thank those on the crossbench. The member for Goldstein talked about the importance of having the systems that are needed to ensure that people can go about their work in a safe and respectful way. The member for North Sydney pointed out that we have over 4,000 people working in Parliament House on any given sitting day and thousands more across the country in electorate offices. I thought it was very appropriate that she highlighted the work that our electorate office teams do across this huge country we call Australia. The member for Wentworth highlighted that we 'owe a great debt to Kate Jenkins and the other individuals who came forward to reveal their own painful experiences in hope that that document could improve the future'. The member for Warringah noted, again: 'The parliament is one of our most prominent workplaces. The people here should have the systems to go about work in a professional and safe environment.' And I thank the member for Melbourne for his contribution, just noting that, as he did, the power of this being now a statutory authority with an expanded mandate will give us an even stronger Parliamentary Workplace Support Service.

With those concluding comments, I commend the bill.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

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