Brittany Higgins speaks after meeting with Scott Morrison today about workplace harassment

Brittany Higgins revealed how talks with Scott Morrison became “quite tense” as their opposing views on a key point dragged out the discussion.

Brittany Higgins has revealed the moment she broke down in tears during tense talks with Prime Minister Scott Morrison over workplace reform.

The former Liberal staffer, 26, told news.com.au that it was an “emotional” moment returning to her former workplace and respectfully asking the Prime Minister to join her in delivering “real change”.

“Obviously it was emotional talking about the failings in the system. I think he witnessed that, which I guess, in that moment, was all he could do,’’ she told news.com.au.

But it was explaining how isolated she felt at times in the months and years after her alleged rape that was the trigger for a brief moment of tears during the marathon meeting that was observed by senior government advisers and a representative from the solicitor-general’s office.

“It was explaining how insular the system is when you’ve gone through a trauma and trying to report it and how vulnerable you are and how few protections you have,” Ms Higgins said.

“Explaining that, as someone who was really at the bottom of the food chain.”

The meeting went for longer than expected because Ms Higgins and her team of supporters including feminist Wendy McCarthy wanted to push the PM to agree to in-principle support for reforms to ministerial staffing arrangements.

Brittany Higgins speaking after her meeting with Scott Morrison.

“It became quite tense when it came to actually delivering on anything beyond what has already been announced and the reviews in place,” Ms Higgins said.

“I said I was disappointed. And that’s why the meeting went for an hour and a half.”

Ms Higgins said that the Prime Minister conceded to her that the “system had let her down” but also argued many people had tried to help her in good faith.

“He opened with that. He opened with that concession that the system had let me down. Which was nice,’’ she said.

“He did seem committed to the reform.

“But it really came back to ‘what are you going to do?’”

Brittany: ‘Enough is enough’

The former Liberal staffer emerged from her meeting with Mr Morrison declaring “enough is enough” on the code of silence surrounding sexual harassment and violence towards women.

Calling for a new, independent mechanism to protect political staffers, Ms Higgins said the onus was now on the Prime Minister to deliver meaningful change.

Ms Higgins, 26, whose alleged rape at Parliament House sparked a national movement, called on the Morrison Government to commit to in-principle workplace reforms for all political staffers at the meeting in Sydney today.

Two months after going public with her account of an alleged rape at Parliament House in an exclusive interview with news.com.au, Ms Higgins was in Sydney to hold talks with political leaders.

Ms Higgins told the PM that ‘enough is enough’. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

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Addressing the media on Friday afternoon, Ms Higgins said: “It was very hard to come here”.

“But we had a discussion about what needs to happen in terms of the MPs Act, where there needs to be better safeguard the staffers, where the power dynamic between parliamentarians and individual staffers.

“It was hard. It was difficult. It wasn’t easy. I think it was a conversation that needed to be had. It was an honest and frank discussion. It is important that we had it.”

Emerging from the hour-long discussions, she added: “It was a difficult conversation, it was robust, but ultimately, in the end, I think there was a consensus that reform needs to happen.

“I am hopeful that it will. And he is going to do the right thing by women here. I think we can have a divergence of opinion, but fundamentally, I think there was the consensus for reform, and that was encouraging and that was necessary.

“I think he fundamentally seemed to understand what had happened to me, and how it happened in a more holistic way.

“And that was encouraging, I think, by the end of the conversation.

“Progress moves slowly. I am hopeful that it’s going to happen. I guess time will tell.”

Ms Higgins presented the PM with a statement outlining her options for reform, explaining she had sought to “speak plainly about the cultural issues in Parliament House.”

“From the outset, I have been driven by my desire to ensure that no other person would have to go through the trauma that I experienced during my time as a political staffer,’’ she said.

“For too long the culture of silence has allowed workplace bullying, harassment and other inappropriate conduct to go unchecked.

“The conduct of our parliamentarians and their staff matters. They are afforded the privilege of working at the heart of our democracy, they are responsible for steering the national agenda and as a result should be held to the highest standards of moral integrity.”

The former Liberal staffer (left) arrives at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices in Sydney with Heidi Yates (right), the Victims of Crime Commissioner for the ACT, for a meeting with Mr Morrison. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Damian Shaw

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Ms Higgins said that workplace harassment “was not inevitable. It is not acceptable. It is preventable.”

“In the past five years, one in three working Australians experienced sexual harassment. That is not good enough. Every single Australian deserves to feel respected, supported and safe at work and in their daily life,’’ she said.

“One case of workplace harassment is one case too many; the tens of thousands of incidents that occur across Australia each year are a national shame.

“Political advisers have very few protections, resources and confidential reporting mechanisms to address any workplace issues. They are not public servants and work in an extremely high-pressure environment.”

Ms Higgins said that since she came forward, the Australian public has heard many disturbing stories about what happens behind closed doors in Parliament House.

“Too often, a toxic workplace culture can emerge that enables inappropriate conduct and this is exacerbated by the disparity in the power dynamics,’’ she said.

“It is my hope that this national discussion will translate into meaningful reform to ensure that this sort of behaviour is no longer tolerated. Cultural change is only achieved when we stand up and say ‘enough is enough’.

“The onus is now on the Government to show leadership on this issue and act to ensure what I endured is not allowed to happen again.”

At present, the Department of Finance is responsible for investigating workplace complaints and making recommendations to parliamentary offices.

“Essentially, all the power in the workplace is held by the parliamentarian and there is very little current human resources on offer are able to do to support employees,’’ Ms Higgins said.

“There is a plethora of anecdotal evidence from former MoP(S) Act employees who have been left frustrated by the inability of the current processes and procedures offered by the Department of Finance to resolve complaints inside Parliamentary offices.

“Departments are accountable to the executive branch of government. It is not appropriate that a government Department is then tasked with overseeing and investigating the behaviour of Parliamentarians and their staff. The Department of Finance is required to police the conduct of the people who give them directives. This is naturally a conflict and has the potential to inhibit the impartiality of the Department of Finance.

“Employees at Parliament House, including parliamentary staffers, have some of the flimsiest workplace rights of any Australian employees.

“There is a need for an independent and confidential parliamentary conduct ombudsman or other stand-alone human resources authority for employees of the MoP(S) Act. The new human resources authority would provide clear and consistent guidance, advice and rulings for parliamentarians. Similar to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) established in 2007, it would assist the Special Minister of State and the Department of Finance, as a single legislative authority, in the management of the human resources needs for all employees under the MoP(S) Act.”

Speaking after the talks, the PM said he was pleased to be able to meet with Ms Higgins and listen to her views on how we can make Parliamentary workplaces safe and more respectful.

“We are committed to reform of the Parliamentary workplace,” he said.

“I look forward to her participating in the ongoing discussions on this matter through the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces.

“Ms Higgins’ views and experience will be invaluable to the work of Commissioner Kate Jenkins. I acknowledged her courage in coming forward and assisting in this work. I am committed to achieving an independent process to deal with these difficult issues.

“In addition, the meeting was an opportunity to thank her personally for her contribution to my Government. As I told Parliament, whether it’s Members, Senators, or our staff, we all want to make a contribution to our country and we should be able to do that in a safe environment for everyone.”

Ms Higgins also held discussions with Labor leader Anthony Albanese this morning and met with the Prime Minister this afternoon.

“It was a very constructive meeting and I was very grateful for their time,’’ she told reporters after completing discussions with the Labor leader.

She was accompanied by her partner, journalist David Sharaz. Ms Higgins has previously accused the Morrison Government of leaking and backgrounding against Mr Sharaz to undermine her campaign for justice.

Originally published as Brittany Higgins speaks after meeting with Scott Morrison today about workplace harassment