Slade Brockman (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the final sitting week of 2021 the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces was published by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins.

Today, on the first sitting day of 2022, we deliver this statement on behalf of the parliamentary cross-party leadership taskforce recommended by Commissioner Jenkins and as a reflection of the parliament. We acknowledge the unacceptable history of workplace bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces.

This issue is of the greatest importance and the responsibility of all people who work in this place. Any bullying, sexual assault or sexual harassment is unacceptable and wrong. We say sorry.

Every workplace should be safe and respectful. This place and its members are committed to bringing about lasting and meaningful change to both culture and practice within our workplaces. We have failed to provide this in the past. We today declare our personal and collective commitment to make the changes required. We will aspire, as we should, to set the standard for the nation.

We thank all of those who participated in the Jenkins review, acknowledging everyone who came forward to tell us of their experiences. We also acknowledge the many others who could not or did not participate but who may have experienced misconduct. We know that your experiences have had profound and far-reaching impacts on your lives. We have listened and heard you, and we accept your calls for change.

This parliament should serve as a model workplace for our nation. Only by creating the best workplace will this parliament attract the best people our country has to offer. And only by attracting the best our country has to offer, and listening to the communities we represent, will we deliver the high standards that our country deserves.

Parliamentary workers feel pride in working for their country, and the privilege and honour of making a difference for the Australian people. However, for far too many, it has not been safe or respectful.

The Jenkins review proposes an ambitious program of reform to ensure Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces meet the highest standards. We are fully committed to working across the parliament to implement all of these recommendations within the time frames proposed by Commissioner Jenkins.

We have started to act. Last year, we established a new independent complaints process and began providing trauma-informed support for people who have experienced serious incidents working in the parliament. Members, senators and staff have undertaken professional workplace training. Parliamentarians must uphold the highest standards and be accountable for delivering required actions. We know that cultural change has to come from the top. It has to be role modelled and championed by all of us. While we know we cannot undo the harm that has already been done, we are committed to acknowledging the mistakes of the past and continuing to build safe and respectful workplaces.

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

by leave—I thank you, Mr President, and the Speaker in the other place, for the statement you have just given. I welcome and endorse the statement, its content, its spirit and its intent. It is a statement of unity, I trust, from this place, and of senators, to say sorry for the bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault that has occurred in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces and to commit to doing everything we can do—individually as senators and collectively as members of this chamber and as parliamentarians across the board—to change culture and practice to make our workplaces safer and more respectful for everyone.

The impact of workplace bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault is profound for the individual victims of it, for their families, for their friends and for their workmates and colleagues. The impact on the work of the parliament in serving the Australian people is also significant. The skills, commitment, passion and drive that people have for making a contribution in this place is enormous. Commissioner Jenkins highlighted the contributions of many of the hundreds of individuals who contributed to her work, to her report Set the standard. I thank all those who participated in the various ways—by making submissions, by participating in interviews, by undertaking the surveys and through other engagement methods.

One of the quotes of so many that Commissioner Jenkins highlighted was:

I felt that I had no option but to leave that building, and it wasn't because I didn't like working in politics, it wasn't because I didn't enjoy staffing, but that office made it untenable for me to be in the vicinity of that building. And to even show up I was getting severe chest pain walking into the building.

That individual's loss, reflective of that of others who contributed to Commissioner Jenkins's work, is our nation's loss. The fact that we lose good people is a loss in each of our offices and a loss to the parliament as a whole.

This statement of acknowledgement delivered by you, Mr President, and by the Speaker today was the first recommendation of Commissioner Jenkins's report. Her report, as you acknowledged, was received in the final sitting week of 2021. And today, the first sitting day of 2022, we take the action of delivering upon that first important recommendation of acknowledging the harms that have been caused by saying, sincerely, sorry for those harms and apologising for the circumstances and culture that led to them and for the failures in systems in terms of the way in which they have been handled over time. We commit ourselves to change.

I thank Commissioner Jenkins for the enormous amount of work she did to ensure that the voices of current and former staff and of current and former parliamentarians could be heard through her review. I thank her for her guidance and feedback, not just in that report but through the process and the undertaking of that report and, subsequently, in the actions in implementing the report, including the drafting of your statement and the work around the procedures for it to occur today. This review and this statement would not have been possible—indeed, would not have occurred—without those current and former staff who were willing to share their stories and their experiences. I acknowledge all of them. Most of them, the vast majority, are unknown publicly—as they would wish, in terms of respecting their privacy. But I acknowledge those who have spoken out publicly as well. Those such as Ms Brittany Higgins, who has shown bravery in sharing her experience and who has also continued to engage constructively with Commissioner Jenkins; with Ms Stephanie Foster, who undertook the interim report and review last year for shorter-term responses the parliament could take; and with Ms Kerri Hartland, the chair of the leadership task force recommended by the Jenkins review to oversee the implementation of the recommendations. They all—both publicly known and named and those participating, advising and making their views known and experiences known in private—have played a role in bringing us to this point today.

Life is a journey of learning, of understanding, of growing. Each of us learns in different ways right throughout our lives. One of the great privileges of the jobs that those of us in this place have, serving as members of parliament, is the ability to learn from the diverse experiences of so many others right around the country as we engage in our jobs and seek to represent those who put us here. The events of the last year have been a period of learning for me, and I hope they have been for all others, as I have reflected upon the experiences that've been told—stories and experiences of my own office and those across the rest of the parliament—and thought about how we can do better and how we can change culture one step at a time through the actions of each and every one of us.

Today's statement is an important step forward. It builds on some steps that we as a parliament have already begun, including through our unanimous resolutions in this chamber and in the other place in support of the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service—established last year—and its independent complaints mechanism. It builds upon the steps that overwhelmingly we have all taken in undertaking the professional training that is in place, as well as the steps that have been taken through the provision of trauma-informed counselling across this parliament.

This statement of acknowledgement rightly identifies that those steps are not enough, that we commit to delivering upon the recommendations and acting upon the recommendations of the Jenkins review to make our Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces safe and respectful for everyone. These recommendations call upon all of us in parliamentary workplaces to show leadership. They are not a matter for any one party. I thank the opposition, the minor parties and the Independents for their cooperation and support from the early commissioning of the Jenkins review, the legal protections that were put in place for participants in that review, the conclusion and handling of the release of it, and, more recently, the establishment of a leadership task force and the initial steps towards implementing its recommendations.

As we implement those recommendations there will be legislation introduced into this parliament this week. There will be a motion to put in place other procedures to implement recommendations this week and there is much more work occurring in the background to deliver upon the other recommendations.

I look forward to the same spirit of cooperation and support across the chamber and the parliament in delivering upon all of those different aspects of this report. The cross-parliamentary approach has been a hallmark of what we have done to date and, as Commissioner Jenkins has said, will be vital for us to continue into the future. We owe our staff of today; the staff, members and senators who served here previously; and, perhaps most importantly, those who will come in the future, nothing less than to continue that cooperative, thoughtful approach to implementation of these recommendations.

I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues through the cross-parliamentary leadership task force and the ongoing work that we have to do to ensure that we do uphold the highest standards in all Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces—that we do, as Commissioner Jenkins's report is entitled, 'set the standard' appropriately for the nation. I thank the Senate.

Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on behalf of the Australian Labor Party I thank you for your statement of acknowledgement today. The last passage in particular struck a poignant chord. While we know we cannot undo the harm that has already been done, we are committed to acknowledging the mistakes of the past and continuing to build safe and respectful workplaces.

The President is correct: we cannot undo the harm. For all the words in the Jenkins review and all the speeches that will be given here today, nothing we can say will undo the harm that countless staff have experienced in this workplace, and that is simply because we are too late. Too many people have been harmed. Bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault have all been able to occur—in some cases fester—in this workplace. Like many senators here today, I have sat opposite too many people as they have described to me the harms that they have endured in this building. As they have cried, we have cried. As they have expressed their anger, we have felt that anger. As they have grieved, we have grieved.

I have grieved for their harm, but I have also grieved for the harm that has taken place while they've worked here in Parliament House, a workplace that should represent a highlight in any career. Parliament House, our workplace, should act as a model for others and be something that all Australians look to with pride. It's a place that should attract the best talent from across the country and indeed the globe, with people jostling to work with their elected representatives to build a better Australia. But too often, as the Jenkins review has shown, we've let our staff down. For that, to all our staff, past and present, we say sorry. On behalf of the Australian Labor Party in this place, I say sorry.

Sadly, in my conversations—as, I'm sure, in many of the conversations others in this chamber have had—too many victims have questioned their own actions. They have asked: 'What did I do wrong that caused this? If I'd done things differently, could I have avoided this harm?' Of course the answer is that they did nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with expecting your workplace to be safe. There is nothing wrong with expecting your workplace to be free of sexual harassment and the crime of sexual assault. There's nothing wrong with expecting your workplace to be deliberately fostering a positive, respectful culture where you can feel safe at work, and yet this workplace, Parliament House, has not lived up to these basic standards.

A culture has developed here, over the decades, where too often bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault have not been confronted. Indeed, in some cases they have been deliberately ignored or covered up. Is this behaviour occurring everywhere in this workplace? No. But could this behaviour occur anywhere in this workplace? To that question, regrettably, we all must answer yes. That is why we are here today—to both acknowledge the harm which we cannot undo and to embark on a fearless trajectory to help build a workplace where the expected standards of behaviour are modelled, championed and enforced, a workplace where respectful behaviour is rewarded and in which any Australian, no matter their gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status or age, feels safe and welcome to contribute.

To those who bravely stepped into the media spotlight this past year to say enough is enough and to call for change: we are all in your debt. Without the courage of Brittany Higgins and others, the Jenkins review might never have happened. Without the Jenkins review, the hundreds of staff who contributed to the review might never have had the chance to have their voices heard. To every staff member, both current and former, who contributed to the Jenkins review, we say thank you.

While these speeches will finish today, the real work for us is just beginning. The Jenkins review lays out the challenge before us and the road map for change. Maps are not always perfect; course corrections are sometimes needed. But what we must not change is our commitment to building a better workplace. Australians will be watching what happens here, as will our staff, as the Jenkins review is implemented. Australians, rightly, will not accept another generation of parliamentary staff being harmed because of our inaction. The challenge is ours, and it is a challenge I am sure this chamber can unite around.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to associate the National Party with the contributions of both Senator Birmingham and Senator Keneally. On behalf of the National Party, I have a brief contribution to make.

We have the report and we have a pathway to change. Today, we honour the incredible bravery and strength of character it's taken by all of those who have spoken up and told their stories. To each of you, I'd like to say, we hear you and we stand with you. What has occurred here over the years hasn't been acceptable. It's not who we strive to be as a collective and as individuals, and it's not who we should be. We should be a workplace—an exemplary workplace—where our best and our brightest, irrespective of their political views in a liberal democracy such as ours, seek to compete to work in and for our nation to make it a better place. Sadly, not just in recent times but over a long period of time, this hasn't been the case. We want every person to feel safe and secure, no matter where they live, work or operate in this country, and sexual harassment and assault is never okay anywhere, anytime.

The report highlights both cultural and structural issues with this workplace. In a bipartisan way we will work towards addressing those together, because this isn't an issue of one side of politics or the other—one chamber or another; one office or another—this is a shared problem over a long period of time, and that joint acknowledgement by our generation of parliamentarians is the real breakthrough. Many of the people who are now MPs were staff 20 or 30 years ago—I'm not one—and have seen this particular workplace evolve and change over time. But one thing hasn't. I'm very proud to be part of a government that's taken a step but also a member of a generation of parliamentarians who will work together to see the cultural and structural change that this workplace needs to deliver, and we need to be united in this commitment.

One of the key recommendations of the Jenkins report is for our parliament to reflect and think about what those appropriate changes need to be. To paraphrase one of the greatest minds—a brilliant scientist but also a woman—Marie Curie: 'We all share a responsibility for all of humanity, and progress is never swift or easy,' and anyone who thinks it is or that it will be solved by an apology or one report is kidding themselves. Today will be remembered as the hallmark of a new way of reflecting on who we are and what we stand for and where we want to be as a united nation and people—our unity reflected in a respectful workplace, in our national capital, reflecting the diversity of Australian political views as well but united that sexual harassment and assault is never okay.

Thank you for the brave men and women, former staff, current staff, MPs, who fed into this report. I also want to acknowledge that many of these people still work in this building and, for this process, it has been a difficult time. Everybody has their own story. Everybody knows someone—a sister, a mother, a child, a friend, a work colleague—who has a very personal story to tell in this space. That is why this spark around the March 4 Justice last year was so powerful and why I was very proud, with other National Party MPs and senators, to join those people on our forecourt. I might not have agreed with all the political messages that were being espoused on that day but absolutely stood in solidarity with the principle that sexual assault and harassment is never okay. I want to ensure that we understand and acknowledge that for many people, when we stand up and talk about this stuff, it does trigger reflections for them.

We welcome the review and thank the commissioner for the exceptional work that has gone into the report. We will continue to implement all the recommendations as outlined. We are all privileged to serve. We will be the generation that takes this responsibility very seriously. The Nationals are committed to not just talking about change but ensuring, both as individual MPs and as a collective, that we work towards that end.

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

I rise to speak in response to the joint statement of acknowledgement given by you, President, and to apologise to everyone who has been harmed, abused, raped, harassed, bullied and made unsafe in this workplace and to reinforce the Greens' full commitment to working for the implementation of every single one of the Set the standard recommendations.

Around half the staff in parliamentary workplaces have experienced harassment, bullying or assault during their time here—almost half. We should all be appalled by that. For First Nations people, people of colour, people with disability, the harassment and disrespect are even worse. The commission heard that even raising issues of racism or the intersectionality of racism and sexism could provoke an aggressive response. My own Greens colleagues have experienced that, as have our staff. Sexism and racism are alive and well in this parliament, and in combination they are even more damaging and dangerous. This has not been a safe workplace; this has been an entitled boys' club. As the thousands of women and allies who took to the streets to march for justice said: 'Enough. This has to stop.' There cannot be more blame-shifting, glossing over and waiting until later; the blame is ours, the shame is ours. On behalf of the Greens, we are, I am, so sorry.

There are many things on which people in this place do not agree, but on this issue we must be better and we must act collectively. The toxic culture that has been allowed to fester in parliament, documented in appalling detail by Commissioner Jenkins in the Set the standard report must end and that will only happen if we all work together to end it. As one of the participants interviewed by the Human Rights Commission said:

This is Parliament. It should set the standard for workplace culture, not the floor of what culture should be.

We are sorry and we have to do better, every single one of us, every single day.

It has been nearly 12 months since Brittany Higgins bravely shared her experience, peeling back the curtains on the callous disregard that so many women and people have endured for so long. Hers was not the first story. Rachelle Miller, Chelsea Potter and countless others have spoken out before. Brittany Higgins' story was not even the most recent story but hers was the final straw, and this parliament must commit to making it the last story like that that someone has to tell.

Brittany Higgins, Rachelle Miller, Chelsea Potter, Josie Coles, Emma Husar, Julia Banks and so many others who shared their stories with Commissioner Kate Jenkins did so because they felt they had to in order to reveal the toxic culture, the sexism, the bullying, the lack of support, the he-said, she-said mentality and the cover-ups. They did this in the hope that something would change. They chose to speak up for themselves but also for those who weren't able to speak up. We know from the report that the vast majority of staff who have been harassed in this place have made no formal report because they had no faith that anything would be done.

We have heard and we have listened, but we must keep listening. The Prime Minister must listen in particular to Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins tomorrow at the Press Club. We must make sure that current and former staff—affected survivors—are involved in these reforms in a meaningful way and feel supported to tell us when we're not doing enough. We must work to support those who have suffered and those who are still suffering from their experience. We must maintain a robust, independent, confidential complaints process that people can trust. We must work to put in place a code of conduct that not only sets the standard but makes sure there are consequences when those standards are not met. We need to tackle inequality, racism, classism, homophobia and lack of representation in our parliament. The culture in this place will only change when decisions are being made by people with differing views and experiences. We must work for a more diverse and inclusive parliament that better represents our community with more women, more people of colour, more people with disability, more LGBTIQ+ people and people with diverse backgrounds.

I want to thank Commissioner Jenkins and her team again for the incredible work that they have done in setting out what we need to do. We owe it to everyone who took part, to everyone in this place and to everyone in the country to show some leadership and get it done. I also want to acknowledge that this work needs to be done not just in this workplace but in all workplaces around the country. We must keep working to implement a positive duty on employers to ensure that every worker in every workplace is safe and respected.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] The apologies provided by both the Prime Minister and opposition leader of this parliament are simply virtue-signalling, hollow statements. The opposition leader and wannabe Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, oversaw one of the greatest smear campaigns of a sexual harassment victim in this parliament. Rather than address the actions of the perpetrator, Mr Slipper, Mr Albanese ran defence and provided the millions of dollars of taxpayers' money to further prolong, torment and victimise the victim. This, in turn, forced the victim to acquire more than $4 million worth of legal bills that he remains financially responsible for. While an act of grace was provided by Labor to pay for Mr Slipper's multimillion-dollar legal bill, the victim has been left fearful of bankruptcy with a $4 million debt. Where is the apology and act of grace to Mr Ashby?

What saddens victims of the sexual harassment that continues to occur in this parliament is the fact that most victims have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements in return for cash settlements. Victims live with the burden of knowing the perpetrators are free to carry on with their jobs, their stature and their positions without any fallout. The act of cover-up of sexual harassment by political parties is disgraceful. If they were truly remorseful for the behaviour of current and former politicians, they would release the victims from confidentiality clauses and let them speak freely of the pain and suffering their members caused.

I am aware of at least three confidential payouts made to staff of the former Speaker. These were orchestrated by senior members of both the Liberal and Labor parties. It is not the responsibility of the taxpayer to pay out victims; it should be the politician. Only then will it make them pull their heads in. Politicians should not be treated as protected species. Too many of you have blood on your hands and the standard some of you have set as parliamentarians is shameful, both to the people who work alongside you and to the greater public. It's no wonder some staffers think it's funny to film themselves masturbating on MPs' desks and sending it on to their colleagues.

I take my hat off to Brittany Higgins for coming forward. Brittany Higgins' alleged rape was not committed by a member of parliament but by a work colleague. And yet it was used to a political level for point scoring—something the Labor Party went out of its way to avoid during the Slipper case. The public sees through the pathetic attempt to deal with the subject of sexual harassment within Parliament House and, while I sympathise—truly sympathise—with each of the victims, it should be the perpetrator they're seeking an apology from, not me.

Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise briefly in support of this acknowledgement and, indeed, share the views of the Leader of the Government, the opposition, the Nationals and the Greens. Bullying, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct are totally unacceptable. I just note that it is senators who set the tone and who set the culture of the way in which this building is run, and that it's up to us to make sure, where there's improper behaviour, that it is dealt with decisively. In the case of a senator engaging in this sort of conduct, we need to make sure that we watch our colleagues and also that leaders of parties are strong and decisive when this behaviour occurs.

I thank Ms Jenkins for her efforts and for putting together a good report. The truth will be in the eating of the pudding, and I hope that these recommendations pass through both chambers quickly.

Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to add my contribution to the statements that have been made and respond to the acknowledgement outlined today and in the other place. Of course, culture starts at the top and that's why it is absolutely important that as members of parliament we not only look at the details of this report, read and hear the words and the pain of those who have told their stories to the commissioner, been brave enough to come forward, either privately or in the public realm, but work together to respond and do this with genuine force, passion and commitment.

I am truly sorry for those staff, past and present, who have suffered harassment, bullying and assault in this place as just a part of doing their job. I know that there are a number of staff who would've liked to have been here today to have seen this acknowledgement themselves and, because of the circumstances, have not been able to. I think it is important to reflect on the fact that many of our staff today will be listening to the very words and holding us, as MPs, to that standard that we have now committed ourselves to.

I know that Ms Higgins, Ms Miller and Ms Cole and others are in the building today because what is happening here is important. I hope that they no longer have to feel terrified, upset and worried about when they walk back in that front door ever, ever again.