ABC reporter wins apology over dress code incident

A journalist should not have been kicked out of Parliament for showing “too much skin” because she was professionally attired, an investigation has found.

A female ABC journalist should not have been kicked out of Question Time yesterday for showing “too much skin” because she was professionally attired, an investigation has found.

ABC reporter Patricia Karvelas was asked to leave the press gallery during Question Time yesterday by a member of Parliament House security and was told she was “showing too much skin”.

ABC journalist Patricia Karvelas at Parliament House yesterday. Picture: Gary Ramage

The outraged journalist tweeted this picture yesterday.

The Radio National Drive host was wearing a blouse with sleeves longer than some MPs, including former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop, sometimes wear on the floor of Parliament.

She took to Twitter yesterday to call the decision “insane”.

Ms Karvelas received an apology today from senior government minister Christopher Pyne after Speaker Tony Smith found she should not have been asked to leave.

“The journalist in question was attired in a way which would be reasonable for professional business attire,” Mr Smith told Parliament after Question Time, while Ms Karvelas sat in the gallery pointedly wearing a jacket.

“She should in hindsight not have been asked to leave.”

He noted that Parliament had dress codes for journalists, which stated that while they were in the Senate and House of Representatives chambers they must maintain the same standard of dress as MPs and senators.

That includes a shirt with a collar, a jacket and trousers for men and a “similar standard of dress” for women.

Patricia Karvelas says the dress code is “out of step with contemporary standards”.

The Speaker was asked to investigate the incident by Labor after Ms Karvelas called it out on Twitter.

Mr Pyne had told the House yesterday that there were dress code rules for both the House and the gallery.

Ms Karvelas said yesterday she thought the dress code rule was “out of step with contemporary standards”.