Greens staffers on ‘toxic, bullying’ culture in their own words

Greens MPs bullied and intimidated staff, according to raw testimonies from staffers who blew the whistle on the party’s workplace habits four years ago, while Greens candidates seduced volunteers.

Leader Adam Bandt was briefed on a series of scathing assessments of his party’s culture in 2021, leading him to order compulsory workplace training for all parliamentarians in the party, but his office still failed to stop a subsequent alleged culture of bullying in the office of Greens senator Dorinda Cox.

Bandt has ducked questions, including cutting short a press conference, over complaints about Senator Dorinda Cox’s behaviour and 20 staff quitting her office and several making complaints, underlining the sensitivity for a party that has led the charge calling for an MP behaviour watchdog.

In a staff-initiated survey following the Four Corners report into political culture in Canberra, 11 Greens advisers filed anonymised responses about the toxic workplaces run by the minor party hoping to win the balance of power at the election. Around 100 people were employed by the federal Greens at the time of the survey conducted in late 2020 and released in 2021 and 33 responded to the survey.

“There is a culture of servitude that results in the covering up or excusing of bad behaviour,” one complainant wrote.

The anonymous reflections provide a unique insight into the party’s culture because they were made without fear of retribution.

One staffer said “high-profile” Greens candidates would “take advantage of volunteers in a sexual way”.

“While the age of consent in Victoria/Australia is 16, this does not mean that someone older than 16 is incapable of being groomed, particularly by a high-profile candidate who they see as a role model,” they said.

This masthead is not suggesting the allegations are true, only that they were made. The identities of the candidates and MPs are not known.

Another staffer said Greens MPs often complained about being yelled at in the houses of parliament “but this attitude is absolutely not carried forward towards their own offices”.

Greens leader Adam Bandt cuts short a press conference last week.Credit: Ten News

“There’s no accountability for the often unsafe work environments MPs create for their staff, and there does not seem to be any interest from [Greens MPs in the party room] or senior leadership in actually owning up to this and concretely addressing the problem,” a third staffer wrote.

“The problem [politicians are] very well known and gossiped about regularly, but that does not translate to taking action to protect staff from the consequences of an abusive employer and the insurmountable power imbalance ingrained in our employment contracts.”

“I’ve personally been yelled at in public and privately and I’ve witnessed this in other offices, when I’ve voiced concerns they get passed up the chain until they get lost in party room.”

A fourth staffer said Greens MP were “not walking the talk” and a fifth said the party needed stronger protections “for staff experiencing bullying or intimidation by MPs”.

A fifth staffer said there was “not an office in the current party room of which I have not heard of an MP behaving in a questionable way towards staff”.

One MP was well known to treat staff in a “potentially illegal” manner, another staffer said, but “this is just one example”.

“I think that if an MP hears from credible sources that a colleague is not treating their staff correctly they have an ethical responsibility to take action. This is about leadership and if party room members can’t even hold each other accountable then how can they uphold our Greens values.”

An eighth response stated: “I genuinely don’t think this is a healthy workplace and would actively caution any friend who expressed a desire to work for the party.”

As prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull instituted a ban on ministers having sexual relationships with their staff.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Bandt said in response to this story that he proactively reviewed the party’s culture and established a staff workplace committee after becoming leader in February 2020. The staff survey in question was conducted to ask if the Greens should follow the lead of then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and institute a “bonk ban”.

“While a small number of staff raised concerns, the concerns were serious and we took them seriously,” Bandt said in a written statement.

“This was four years ago, and where specific concerns were raised, we acted on them at the time. We also encouraged staff to bring details of any complaints forward through complaints processes.

“As a result of the proactive review four years ago, including the survey results, we strengthened our processes, put in place mandatory training for parliamentarians and committed to push for stronger independent parliamentary processes and institutions to deal with staffing matters, which we ultimately succeeded in obtaining.

“The Brittany Higgins matter and the subsequent Jenkins review, as well as the Greens’ push for strong standards and independent bodies to support staff, has led to the strengthening of Parliamentary processes, including putting in place the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission, and the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service which we regularly and actively encourage staff to use.”

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