Anthony Albanese urges women to come forward with assault, harassment claims

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has responded to reports of shocking male behaviour in the party and poor handling of past allegations.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has urged women in the party to speak out and come forward with allegations of sexual harassment and assault as questions emerge over how the ALP has handled old complaints.

It follows a news.com.au report on Sunday that women were using a private Facebook group that includes 1300 current and former staffers to air shocking allegations of male behaviour in the ALP.

Mr Albanese called on women to raise complaints at a press conference in Canberra today to highlight Labor’s “family friendly” policies for women with young children.

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Leader of the Australian Labor Party Anthony Albanese has urged women to come forward with their complaints of inappropriate behaviour. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

“I encourage women to speak out. I encourage men to listen to those concerns and to respond,’’ Mr Albanese said.

“I am certainly available to talk to anyone in the Caucus who has any complaints, and indeed, I would say that we have published a process including a complaints procedure process as part of what the National executive adopted just a month ago.

“We need to make sure we listen to the concerns that are put forward and respond,’’ he said.

“In fact, it is a good thing that women in the Labor Party have this Facebook site that they have through the Elizabeth Reid network. I’m obviously not a member of that network, but I certainly have read what was said, and it is of real concern.”

But Mr Albanese refused to disclose if a case in recent years involving a senior Labor staffer included an allegation of a sexual assault.

He was then asked a string of questions about whether of not his office shielded him from detailed knowledge of previous allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

“The woman has asked that it be dealt with confidentiality. It was dealt with at the time to the satisfaction of the woman concerned and she, certainly, was satisfied with the way that it was dealt with,’’ he said.

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Furious female Labor staffers have warned MPs and male staffers accused of sexually harassing them at Parliament House that they will ‘no longer keep their secrets’.

Some of the allegations raised by the women on the private Facebook page date back to the Rudd-Gillard years.

Former deputy Labor leaders Tanya Plibersek and Jenny Macklin told the women that the allegations they have raised are unacceptable and cannot continue within the ALP.

The shocking allegations – include sex without proper consent with intoxicated women, abusive language, sexual harassment and demands for sex from bosses.

“I truly believe by speaking up we can change this toxic culture,’’ one woman wrote.

“These men need to know that we will no longer keep their secrets. Enough is enough.”

Mr Albanese indicated there were also processes established that may be able to investigate historical claims.

“We have had a process established, not by me, led by the women in the Labor Party, including the caucus chair,’’ he said.

“They made recommendations after consultation with both former and current staff. There are processes there that are available, and I would encourage women to come forward.”

“I believe women who come forward.”

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Former Labor leader Jenny Macklin said the anonymous allegations they have raised are unacceptable and cannot continue within the ALP. Picture: Lukas Coch/AAP

Mr Albanese said he was not aware of any claims put forward against the members of the current ALP Caucus.

“I am happy to listen. There are processes that are always available to deal with these issues. I was not aware of a couple of issues. I was aware of an issue last year that was dealt with to the satisfaction of the woman involved.”

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles offered an apology to any of the female staffers who had complained of abuse and harassment.

“On behalf of the party, I am deeply sorry for the experiences that these women have had,” he said.

“What matters now is going forward that we do everything we can to ensure that this behaviour stops.”

“There are internal processes within the party, but there are now processes which have been established with the Parliament, and I think it’s really important that all of us are doing everything we can to support people and women to come forward, and to work through those processes.”