Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How many times do we have to hear about sexual harassment, discrimination and even assault occurring in the corridors of this parliament, or in the bars and boardrooms surrounding it, before something is done to change it? Why is it that time and time again it takes a brave, often young woman to be strong enough to tell her story, to make herself vulnerable and exposed in public, before the gendered cultural and systemic failings of political culture are even discussed? How many scandals can this government ignore before it does anything real to address the cultural and systemic failings that are obvious for all to see?

Every single person who comes into this building has the right to a safe and positive culture. It is unacceptable that the Australian parliament continues to leave unaddressed systemic biases which mean that women's experiences of working in this building are too often fundamentally different to men's. We can't continue to tolerate a workplace which too often allows gendered misuse of power to seemingly go unpunished, and, worse, in which the victim is the one who experiences damage to their career, their reputation and their health. It's time for this parliament to do two things: firstly, establish an independent review to see how wide and deep the problem is; and, secondly, work to establish an independent office to provide truly independent advice, counselling and support. Victoria, the UK and New Zealand are doing it. We should be doing it too.