A sobering report by Parliament’s new support service has revealed 30 alleged serious reports of sexual assault, intimidation and stalking were lodged in just nine months.
The inaugural annual report from Parliament House in Canberra’s Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (PWSS) stated it handled 339 cases between October 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024 from inside the walls of Capital Hill.
Of the 339 incidents reported over the nine-month period were also 33 cases of bullying, 62 reports of family and domestic violence, alcohol and drug use or mental health and 90 cases of workplace conflict.
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A further 124 cases were described as ‘other, unknown, blank or not applicable’.
The behavioural watchdog in the nation’s capital was set up after a review by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins in 2021 revealed parliament had a “revolting and humiliating” workplace culture.
The Jenkins report, titled ‘Set the Standard’, heard from 1723 current and former parliamentary staff, and contains statistics the Prime Minister described as “appalling”.
There has been a spotlight on culture and behaviour in the corridors of power since former staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped at Parliament House in 2019.
Higgins told The Sydney Morning Herald the number of complaints that were regarding sexual assault or rape was confronting but not surprising.
“There is still work to be done … parties across the political spectrum have continued to publicly and privately deal with serious workplace incidents with varied success,” Higgins said.
The footnote in the report noted “the sexual assault percentage may appear to be high because support staff take a trauma informed approach and record incidents as described by the client”.
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“People use the expression ‘sexual assault’ to describe a wide range of conduct, from feeling uncomfortable about how a person looked at them to what would be a traditional use of the word rape,” it stated.
“It is likely that very few of those matters would actually be allegations of rape.”
It was also noted that some complaints may be several years old.
Nationals leader David Littleproud told Today the statistics in the support services report were shocking yet a step in the right direction.
“I think what these numbers today demonstrate is that after 12 months of reforms, it shows that we’ve created an environment where people feel comfortable to come forward, that they’re going to be supported not just at an emotional level, but also, where appropriate, at a legal level,” he said.
“If there are egregious crimes that are illegal, then they should be prosecuted to the full force of the law.”
The report, which is public, noted more than 50 per cent of the complaints were lodged by political staffers.
A further 12 per cent were reported by parliamentary department staff and 17 per cent from MPs or senators.
All cases are anonymous in the report.
Major incidents inside parliament recently include Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ chief of staff Jo Tarnawsky’s allegations of bullying and Independent senator Lidia Thorpe’s accusations of both bullying and sexual assault.
The PWSS was established in September 2021 and states it provides an “end-to-end human resource service for parliamentarians and their staff”.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).