Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews promoted after she made my life hell, says female staffer

A Liberal adviser is on stress leave from Karen Andrews’ office after claiming the new Home Affairs Minister bullied, humiliated and victimised her.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews appears via video link during a virtual swearing-in ceremony with Scott Morrison on Tuesday. Picture: AAP

A senior Liberal adviser has taken stress leave from Karen Andrews’ office after claiming the new Home Affairs Minister bullied, humiliated and victimised her over a six-month period.

The complaint, first made by the long-serving female adviser in August and raised again on March 14, has come to light after Ms ­Andrews was promoted from the industry portfolio by Scott Morrison on Monday in a reshuffle ­designed to enhance focus on women’s issues.

In a letter sent to Ms Andrews earlier this month, the senior­ ­adviser — The Australian has agreed not to name her at her ­request — claimed the workplace bullying was so significant she was “suffering severe stress, anxiety, sleeplessness and depression”.

She also alleged Ms Andrews’ office had asked her to “undertake work outside my employment”, claiming she was asked to “organise a fundraising event for the Liberal Party of Australia”.

The adviser has worked for NSW and federal governments for more than three decades, is highly regarded by cabinet ministers and has personally known the Prime Minister for 20 years.

She first lodged a complaint in August last year when she spoke with Ms Andrews about the culture and conduct in her office. The next day, she claimed in a letter sent on March 14, Ms Andrews’ chief of staff ­directed her never to call the minister again.

Ms Andrews “strenuously ­rejects these claims”, a spokesman said, declining to respond to specific questions about the complaint and the allegations contained in the letter. “Minister Andrews values a respectful and professional work environment for all of her staff,” the spokesman said.

After experiencing six months of subsequent alleged bullying starting in August, the adviser lodged a further complaint in writing in March 14 and took stress leave.

“The manner in which I have been treated is disrespectful, ­humiliating and demeaning … it demonstrates a pattern of victimisation by the chief of staff and you since I first raised these issues in August 2020,” she wrote in the complaint obtained by The Australian.

“This bullying conduct has ­occurred over the last 6-8 months and appears designed to force my departure from my employment … however given I have not done anything wrong, I do not believe I should be forced to leave my job and put myself in a very difficult ­financial position.”

In the latest alleged incident, three weeks ago — amid the ­debate over the treatment of women in parliament — Ms ­Andrews is alleged to have yelled at the adviser and hung up on her after making a dismissive comment during a team call.

“You then aggressively stated “Oh, I’m sick of this. We will take it off-line” and hung up on the team call,” the adviser stated in her complaint. “The comment was clearly an indication of your ­antipathy towards me and ­demeaned and humiliated me in front of others.”

The Australian has obtained the correspondence from sources concerned about the situation.

The Finance Department declined to respond to questions about the alleged use of parliamentary staff to organise party political fundraisers. “The ­Department of Finance does not comment on individual parliamentarians or their staff,” a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The March 14 email, ­addressed directly to Ms Andrews, alleges that after the ­adviser made the initial complaint she was ostracised and punished by having work directly within her policy remit removed from her, despite having 30 years’ policy experience. It also says she no longer had any direct access to the minister to discuss “complex or sensitive briefs or feedback from you on such briefs”.

 

She wrote that she was “treated materially differently to my peers in the office” and “no one-on-one meetings with you have occurred in the last 6 months in relation to my policy areas — I have been ignored, ‘worked around’ and unacknowledged”.

One of the adviser’s colleagues said she was highly competent, no shrinking violet and a “force of nature”. He said she was distraught, had been in tears and had never experienced conduct like this. But government sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said her office had been largely free of major upheavals, with only two staff leaving in this term of government, and disputed elements of the complainant’s version of events.

A government spokesman said: “Any staff matters are ­treated confidentially.

“There are established processes to raise issues available to any staff both within offices and through the independent Department of Finance, and also through the new staff support help line the government has recently established.”

Ms Andrews was one of six women promoted in the ministerial shake-up on Monday — from industry, science and technology to home affairs — as part of Mr Morrison’s bid to neutralise the Coalition’s sexism row and after weeks of criticism about the government’s handling of rape and sex harassment claims. It increased female representation in cabinet to 30 per cent.

Some senior Liberal figures have privately said Ms Andrews was chosen for the role, above other contenders, such as Stuart Robert — widely considered the frontrunner but who became Employment Minister — in large part because of her gender.

In interviews over the past month, Ms Andrews has been outspoken about the treatment of women in parliament, last week describing the experience for some as “horrendous”.

“Many women here do feel quite socially isolated – we aren’t included in many of the discussions that happen,” Ms Andrews told the ABC’s 730 last Tuesday.