‘Parliament bullying and abuse exposed in damning report

A damning report which came out of former staffer Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations has found that one in three people in federal parliament have been sexually harassed.

Parliament House is a “man’s world” where one in three people have been sexually harassed, bullying is rife and perpetrators rarely face consequences, a damning new report has found.

Sparked by former staffer Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations in March, the Independent Review of Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins released on Tuesday found the negative experiences of workers left a “trail of devastation” and undermines parliament’s performance “to the nation’s detriment”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison with the report. Picture: Adam Taylor

The report found one in three people working parliament had experienced sexual harassment, one per cent had suffered attempted or actual sexual abuse.

More than 77 per cent of people currently working in parliament reported having experienced, witnessed or heard about some kind of bullying, sexual harassment or abuse.

As part of her review Ms Jenkins made a number of recommendations including a code of conduct for MPs and staff, a crackdown on alcohol consumption, targets to achieve gender balance and the establishment of a new office to provide human resource support.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins has recommended an overhaul of how complaints of harassment, bullying and assault are handled in parliament. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

The review heard from 1,723 current or former staff, MPs, journalists or other parliament workers, many of whom gave anonymous accounts of shocking abuse.

“The MP sitting beside me leaned over. Also thinking he wanted to tell me something, I leaned in,” one person told the review.

“He grabbed me and stuck his tongue down my throat. The others all laughed. It was revolting and humiliating.”

One person said they were “sexually harassed multiple times, sexually assaulted, bullied and terrorised”.

“And I was told that if I ever sought help or spoke about what happened to me my professional reputation and personal life would be destroyed,” they said.

Another person described Parliament as the “most sexist place I’ve worked” where the “boys are lads” and their behaviour is “celebrated”.

They said young women were treated like “fresh meat” and females in the building were subjected to “looks up and down” from colleagues.

Thousands of women marched across Australia in the wake of Brittany Higgins’ allegations Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

The report said while many people spoke of the pride and sense of purpose from working in parliament “too often we heard that these workplaces are not safe environments for many people within them”.

“Largely driven by power imbalances, gender inequality and exclusion and a lack of accountability,” the report said.

It found rather than being held accountable, perpetrators were “often rewarded for, or in spite of, their behaviour”.

“The Commission heard about the particular difficulty of sanctioning parliamentarians

who engaged in misconduct, because they do not have an ‘employer’.”

One person told the review there were “no ramifications for bad behaviour because there

is no risk of MPs getting fired, or otherwise being held accountable for their actions”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the rates of abuse and harassment revealed in the report were appalling. Picture: Adam Taylor

Prime Minister Scott Morrison released the report, thanking those who contributed to the review including Ms Higgins.

“Her voice has spoken for many, as this report shows,” he said.

Mr Morrison said the reported rates of sexual harassment were “appalling” and “disturbing”.

“I wish I found it more surprising,” he said.

Mr Morrison said parliament had failed to set the standard for workplace behaviour, and committed to working with all political parties in developing a response to Ms Jenkins’ recommendations.

“Just because this is a challenging environment … this is no excuse to normalise inappropriate, unhealthy and unprofessional behaviour,” he said.

“I think the recommendations cover all the right territory.

“I don’t care what your job is or what your responsibilities are, nothing justifies that.”

Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins sparked the review by Sex Discrimmination Commissioner Kate Jenkins after publicly alleging she was raped in Parliament House by a colleague.

Ms Higgins said she was pleased the review had delivered its report and hoped it “inspired immediate action”.

“I want to thank the many brave people who shared their stories which contributed to this review,” she said.

“I hope all sides of politics not only commit to, but implement, these recommendations in full.”

Former prime minister Julia Gillard said it was time to change Australia’s federal parliament “forever”.

“We need a code of conduct and an effective way of receiving and acting on complaints. The Jenkins review gives us this,” she said.

“We need all political parties to work together with urgency and ambition and commit to deliver the bold reforms that are needed.”

Minister for Women Marise Payne has condemned the poor culture in parliament. Picture: Adam Taylor

Minister for Women Marise Payne said it was unacceptable the culture in Parliament had driven away people who wanted to make a contribution.

“One striking observation (in the report) is that people are rightfully proud that we’re working in the federal parliament,” she said

“They come here because they want to make a difference.

“It’s deeply disappointing that if anyone arrives here inspired only … to become disillusioned because of the treatment they experienced by others.”

Australian National University’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership director Professor Michelle Ryan there “isn’t a minute to waste” in implementing the review recommendations.

“All workplaces should be safe for women. It’s simply not good enough that they still aren’t, especially Parliament,” she said.

“We often speak about needing more women working in our parliament, both as MPs and as staff.

“But gender equality is not just about the number of women in a workplace; it is also about the nature of the women’s experiences in those workplaces.”