Cox apologises as more former Greens staff allege bullying

Greens senator Dorinda Cox has apologised for any “shortcomings” in her office but hit out at coverage of bullying allegations as two more women allege mistreatment by Cox.

The additional allegations pile pressure on party leader Adam Bandt to address the complaints rather than directing them to a parliamentary support agency powerless to discipline MPs.

Senator Dorinda Cox has pointed to the challenges facing her office, which has had 20 staff leave.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

This masthead revealed on Wednesday that Cox had lost 20 staff in three years, with several lodging formal complaints with the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (PWSS) and Bandt’s office, alleging bullying and a hostile culture, in some cases seeing staff reduced to tears.

Cox, a Yamatji-Noongar woman, said in a statement on Friday that there was “disappointingly significant missing context” in reporting on her office, which was responsible for five portfolios and Australia’s largest electorate. The pandemic, setting up two offices, leading committee inquiries and the Voice referendum were further challenges, she said.

“As the employer, I take responsibility for any shortcomings in what has occurred during this period and I apologise for the distress this may have caused,” Cox said.

Lou Hendricks, a former journalist with decades of experience, and Vivienne Glance, a current Greens WA state candidate, both said on Friday they had decided to speak to support the other staff who went public with allegations against the Greens’ First Nations spokeswoman earlier this week.

Hendricks, who worked for Cox for about nine months as media adviser before quitting in March this year, said she had raised concerns with Bandt’s office and with the PWSS “on numerous occasions” but the situation had not improved.

“I did my best to support colleagues experiencing behaviours that are typically regarded as bullying while also experiencing similar, and trying to keep myself safe too,” Hendricks said. “I referred my concerns upward to the leader’s office, particularly when I heard comments about self harm [from other staff].

“Staff were anxious, visibly distressed and in some cases speaking about taking their own life which was a huge red flag and demonstrated how seriously their mental health was affected. I found it to be an unnecessarily aggressive environment that was unhealthy, draining and unsustainable.

“Using politics, portfolios or a referendum as excuses for this behaviour is offensive, pathetic and victim blaming. The number of resignations, including senior staff, this year alone tells a strong story.”

In emails seen by this masthead, Hendricks told Cox on February 29 this year that after going on leave “the workplace culture in our EO/parliamentary suite has not improved” and that she was resigning.

Later that morning she emailed a senior staff member in Bandt’s office to notify them of her resignation because “the circumstances in Senator Cox’s office have not been conducive to a psychologically safe workplace”.

The Bandt staffer, who has since left that office and who this masthead has chosen not to name, replied: “you can access an exit interview with the PWSS HR team as part of your resignation process ... you are always welcome to call me, at any time before or after your last day”.

In Cox’s statement she said that she had “an immense amount of respect and gratitude to my team who prepare and support me for the work I undertake”. She had received executive coaching and mentoring from former MPs as part of a “proactive approach” to staff wellbeing, Cox said.

“I chose on two occasions to commission independent cultural diagnostic health checks of my office,” Cox said. She said she proactively worked with PWSS on any complaints to improve her team’s culture and wellbeing and had received “consistent and overwhelming support” for her work from her community.

Lou Hendricks (left) and Vivienne Glance have spoken about Greens senator Dorinda Cox to support other former staff.

Vivienne Glance, a Greens candidate at the upcoming WA March state election and former party official who worked as Cox’s constituent liaison and then chief of staff from January 2023 to January 2024, said she had chosen to speak after Aunty Esther Montgomery and Sarah Quinton came forward.

She stressed she did not want to criticise her party but that she had to speak because “during my time working in Senator Cox’s office, I both witnessed and was subjected to what some have described as bullying by her”.

Bandt cut short a press conference in Perth on Thursday after insisting that parliament’s independent workplace support service, PWSS, was the appropriate body to deal with staff issues because it was immune from politics. He reiterated that view on Friday in a statement.

“My staff encouraged every staff member who raised concerns to raise these matters with the PWSS, which is the independent body that has legal powers and responsibility to deal with complaints about MPs and their offices,” Bandt said.

But Glance and Hendricks said the service was ineffective. “After many months, I formed the opinion that there wasn’t much that the PWSS could do to help, other than listening, asking staff what they were doing for ‘self-care’ and talking about ‘cultural diagnostics’,” Hendricks said.

Glance said she was never told the outcome of her complaint to PWSS, which took from January to September this year. “I was told this was because of privacy issues, but these were never explained to me,” Glance said.

Glance said it was essential that MPs be held accountable for “poor conduct that contributes to an unsafe workplace, such as bullying and harassment, unreasonable job demands, poor organisational management, and so on, but the PWSS has limited scope to act” beyond counselling staff.

She said the Special Minister of State, Don Farrell, should strengthen the agency. “Otherwise, the organisation is merely window dressing,” Glance said. Parliament legislated a new independent agency to police workplace standards in politics last month, but it can only hand out fines with bipartisan support.

A spokeswoman for Farrell declined to comment on Cox’s case but said the government had strengthened the support service and enacted a new standards agency.

The PWSS said it does not comment on whether it is involved in specific workplace matters as its support is confidential.

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