Teal’s chief of staff Sally Rugg ‘devastated’ to miss new protections

Monique Ryan’s former chief of staff had a bittersweet response to new protections for political staffers, as she continues a workplace dispute for unfair dismissal.

Sally Rugg.

Sally Rugg says she is “devastated” to miss out on new protections for political staffers as she and her former boss, teal MP Monique Ryan, work to settle a workplace dispute.

Federal parliamentarians – including Dr Ryan – on Wednesday bound themselves to a new code of conduct, which was a key recommendation from the Set the Standard report after complaints of systemic harassment and abusive behaviour in parliament.

Ms Rugg, the former Change.org boss turned political staffer, offered her congratulations to the “thousands of staffers” who contributed to the 2021 inquiry into commonwealth workplaces, tweeting it was a “landmark moment”.

Today the new MP Code of Conduct comes to federal parliament.

The Code is a key rec’ of Set the Standard report, from the 2021 inquiry into commonwealth workplaces.

Thousands of staffers privately contributed to the inquiry &this landmark moment. My congratulations to them❤️ pic.twitter.com/H0hL3pjmWl

— Sally Rugg (@sallyrugg) February 7, 2023

The Sydney Morning Herald reported Ms Rugg also posted to Instagram saying while she was “devastated” to have missed the protections, she was “glad they’re in place now for current and future staff”.

“I hope that speaking out about what happened to me will help those staff too, and all other workers who aren’t able to speak up,” she said. The post appears to have been deleted.

She said the Set the Standard report, by outgoing national Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, “laid bare the need for this explicit code”, the SMH reported.

Ms Rugg launched legal action against Dr Ryan and the commonwealth claiming she was unfairly sacked as the Kooyong MP’s chief of staff for exercising her “workplace right (to) make complaints and inquiries in relation to her employment”, court documents read.

“(The) applicant has exercised a workplace right … to refuse to work additional hours that were unreasonable.”

Ms Rugg is seeking compensation, pecuniary penalties and a declaration that the commonwealth breached the Fair Work Act when it “took adverse action” against her.

The new code of conduct will require people in a commonwealth parliamentary workplace to “act respectfully, professionally, and with integrity”.