Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise with pleasure to speak to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Bill, the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill, and the Members of Parliament (Staff) Amendment Bills, which are the next step in establishing the independent, trauma-informed PWSS to support staff and MPs dealing with harassment and abuse. We wouldn't be debating these bills or any of the preceding workplace reforms to address sexual harassment in the last few years were it not for the bravery of young, predominantly female parliamentary staff. So, at the outset of my contribution to debating these bills, I again want to pay tribute to the tenacity, grace, strength and determination of the survivors who spoke out and brought us to this moment, where we are legislating reforms to help embed and further drive the change in the culture of parliament that's been so desperately needed since parliament was first established. Thank you in particular to Brittany Higgins, Dhanya Mani, Chelsey Potter, Tessa Sullivan, Rachelle Miller and Josie Coles; to all women who've survived sexual harassment and abuse at work; to other survivors, like Saxon Mullins; to those who fight to keep students safe on campus, like Sharna Bremner and Nina Funnell; and to so many other women, and some men, whose strength and resilience are driving this change. Thank you.

The Set the standard report found that one in three parliamentary staffers in this building had experienced some form of sexual harassment, as had many female parliamentarians—one in three. That is utterly unacceptable in any century, let alone 2023. Everyone has the right to a safe workplace, whether that's here in Parliament House or anywhere else.

The Respect@Work reforms, which this chamber has dealt with in the last few years and which passed the parliament in their entirety last year, enshrine a positive duty on employers to provide a safe workplace for their employees. They are crucial protections for workers right across the country in every single workplace, but parliament also needs to be setting the standard for workplaces, and those positive duty laws apply to us here as well. They mean that we as parliamentarians are all responsible for shifting our focus to actively preventing workplace sexual harassment and discrimination, rather than simply responding, generally inadequately, when it occurs. At the parliamentary level, it's now mandatory for everyone to attend sexual harassment, bullying and workplace conduct training, and there's a register to confirm who's completed this training.

Importantly, the PWSS has been established as a service to both staff and MPs to discuss workplace issues and how to ensure that they're meeting the workplace expectations of obligations. This includes assisting MPs on how to meet their positive duties to provide a safe workplace to their staff. The PWSS education, reporting and monitoring roles will keep parties on track for their commitments to improving diversity within the parliament. We've made some progress, but we still have a long way to go.

I will take this opportunity to say that universally, to a person, the feedback on the utility of the PWSS has been brilliant. I have had a multitude of staff and other workers in this building really commend the quality of the support that the PWSS provides, and it feels like that's a response that everyone's having, so full credit to the workers at the PWSS. I just want to acknowledge what a glorious service it is that we and our staff are able to access, and I want to pass on to the PWSS how valued their work and support has been.

The attention so far has been on sexual harassment and assault, but we must not ignore the racism, ableism, ageism and classism that still occur in this building and in these workplaces. People of colour, people with disability and older women have all reported that their harassment was compounded by discrimination and that they were targeted more, believed less, supported less and too often driven from this workplace. I can't look around the room and pretend that we don't have a representation problem. I'm really looking forward to the contribution of my esteemed colleague Senator Faruqi on these matters. She continues to fight in all spheres of her work to dismantle racism, not to mention ableism and other forms of discrimination. We have a lot to learn. I'm very grateful for the results that Senator Faruqi has produced so far, and I'm looking forward to her outlining those when she makes her contribution.

We know that First Nations women and women of colour are largely erased from media commentary, from culture and from history. Failing to acknowledge the labour and the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse women sends the entirely wrong message that sexual harassment and other forms of abuse only impact white women, but we know that these crimes disproportionately impact culturally and linguistically diverse women and First Nations women. The bills before us today are a step in the right direction, but they are a very small step. Cultural diversity is still lacking in our workplace. Parliament is still not a safe, equal, inclusive or respectful workplace for everyone. The Greens will continue to push for the reforms to parliamentary culture to be rolled out nationally as a matter of urgency. Establishing an independent PWSS was a key recommendation of Set the standard, and it has already taken too long. This bill has now gone through all of the due processes; it's taken account of feedback from staff and union representatives, as is appropriate; and now it's time to pass it so that staff and the community can see real action on the Jenkins Set the standard recommendations.

The PWSS has been a huge step forward in improving parliament, but without enforcement powers it can't solve the problem. The Greens have been calling for an enforceable code of conduct for parliamentarians and senior staff for many, many years. Without genuine consequences for bad behaviour, like suspension from parliament, loss of entitlements or a direction to provide an apology, at the very least, there is nothing to deter bad behaviour. I note that, whilst both houses of parliament have now endorsed the draft codes of conduct for behaviour, we're still waiting on the establishment of the enforcement body for those codes. We're still waiting for an independent parliamentary standards commission, which would investigate breaches and enforce those codes. As a member of the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce, I know that the work to set up that body is, and will continue to be, complex, but there's no doubt that it's been too slow. We've heard fresh revelations this week from members of parliament in the other chamber, MPs Karen Andrews and Kylea Tink, about totally inappropriate parliamentary behaviour, so it is clear that the enforcement of those codes of conduct is desperately and urgently needed.

Recommendation 22 of Set the standard was for a parliamentary standards commission to enforce codes of conduct within 12 months. The IPSC was expected in October, but the time frame has been delayed to February of next year. When female MPs are being subject to sexist, intimidatory behaviour, you can only imagine how much worse it is for staff. We said we were going to set the standard and turn the page; it's time for us to make good on those commitments. One of hurdles identified in Set the standard was that staff are reluctant to come forward if they know there are not going to be any consequences, particularly when their harasser or abuser is an MP. That is why we desperately need to get on with the establishment of the independent parliamentary standards commission, so that everyone in this building can have confidence that we mean what we say when we pass these codes of conduct that are meant to regulate our behaviour and provide a sense of safety to staff and the other people we share this building with. So we are disappointed that the time frame has blown out from October to February and we will continue to insist that no further delays occur.

We will keep pushing to make sure that the IPSC is established as soon as possible to give staff confidence that we take their safety seriously. But, whilst that work is being done, we can actually comply with the codes voluntarily. It's already a responsibility of every MP to act consistently with the commitments they made when endorsing the codes earlier this year, and for all parties to act quickly in response to complaints. The Greens will continue to push to make sure that the PWSS and the future IPSC have the resources they need and the powers they need to create a safe and respectful workplace.

To end Australia's culture of sexual violence, harassment and abuse we must start by supporting victims to come forward and dismantling the power imbalances and gender stereotypes that deter them from doing so. Staff and the community deserve to see action on all of the Jenkins Set the standard recommendations, and they deserve that action now. I'm very pleased that today, finally, after what seems a very long fortnight, we're getting to the PWSS bill and related bills. I very much look forward to their passage, which is expected today, and to an expedition of the independent parliamentary standards commission, which will give those codes of conduct teeth and finally complete the implementation of Set the standard. There's no more time to waste. We need to make the changes that are so desperately needed.