Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That—

(1) The Senate notes:

(a) the duties and responsibilities of senators and their staff employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984;

(b) that all senators and their staff have obligations to comply with all applicable Australian laws, including understanding workplace health and safety duties and the steps to take to satisfy those duties, under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and other workplace laws; and

(c) the establishment of the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, which provides for an Independent Parliamentary Workplace Complaints Mechanism for serious incidents in a parliamentary workplace.

(2) Where the Parliamentary Services Commissioner makes a report in writing to the President:

(a) finding that a senator has not cooperated with a review under the Independent Parliamentary Workplace Complaints Mechanism or has not acted on the recommendations in a review conducted under the Independent Parliamentary Workplace Complaints Mechanism; and

(b) requesting that the President refer the report to the Committee of Privileges;

the President must confidentially refer the report to that committee and the report may not be considered by any other committee.

(3) In considering a report under this resolution, the committee must meet in private session.

(4) The committee must confer with the Parliamentary Services Commissioner in seeking additional information for its report.

(5) The committee must make one of the following recommendations, and report to the Senate accordingly:

(a) that a senator cooperate with a review conducted under the Independent Parliamentary Workplace Complaints Mechanism;

(b) that a senator act on the recommendations in a review conducted under the Independent Parliamentary Workplace Complaints Mechanism; or

(c) that no further action be taken by the Senate;

and must not make any other recommendations.

(6) The committee must provide a statement of reasons for the recommendation made in the report.

(7) The committee must make its report referred to in paragraph (5) within 30 days of receiving a referral under this resolution, unless an explanation is provided in writing to the President with the nomination of a new reporting date. The President must inform the Parliamentary Services Commissioner of the new reporting date. The Parliamentary Services Commissioner must inform parties to the report of the revised date set by the committee.

(8) Any senator who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a recommendation of a report referred to in paragraph (5), and which has been adopted by the Senate, shall be guilty of a serious contempt of the Senate and shall be dealt with by the Senate accordingly. The question of whether any contempt has been committed must first be referred to the Committee of Privileges for inquiry and report to the Senate and may not be considered by any other committee.

(9) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), in the event that the President is the subject of or directly and personally involved in a report by the Parliamentary Services Commissioner, the Parliamentary Services Commissioner must make a report in writing under paragraph (2) to the Deputy President. In this event, references to the President in this resolution shall be read as the Deputy President.

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

Mr President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

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

The Greens would like to thank Ms Stephanie Foster for the work that has led to this motion, but we owe progress on harassment and bullying in parliamentary workplaces to the bravery and commitment of women like Brittany Higgins, Dhanya Mani, Chelsey Potter, Rachelle Miller and others who have made their traumatic experiences public. It shouldn't have taken that level of disclosure to force change, but countless staff and senators in this place can thank those brave women for change being on the way. Staff said loud and clear that the lack of an independent complaints mechanism or any real consequences where abusers were MPs stopped them from reporting. That is one of the reasons why a toxic culture in this place has festered for so long. This new workplace support service, and the disciplinary process set out in this motion, goes some way to addressing that, but there is still more to do. An enforceable code of conduct for all MPs is needed to lift standards, and we look forward to Commissioner Jenkins' review recommendations coming later in the year.

Question agreed to.