The report by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins into misconduct in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces describes workplaces like no other: awash with alcohol, long hours, high ambitions and even higher stakes, vulnerable staff without tenure or even the protections usually afforded to contract workers, living in a bubble away from family and friends for much of the year, constant travel, poor work-life balance and, especially for backbencher staff, no visibility of the criteria that drove a staff appointment or clear expectations of a role.

So, these parliamentary workplaces tick all the risk-factor boxes for sexual harassment, and the most surprising outcome of the Jenkins inquiry is that the rate of sexual harassment is “consistent with the national average of 33 per cent”. I hypothesise that the enormous scrutiny of the Federal Parliament, and the consequent risks harassers run if they are publicly uncovered, must be some sort of mitigation.