One third of respondents to a survey of staffers in the NSW parliament said they have experienced bullying or sexual harassment at work, according to a new report released on Friday.
Meanwhile, five people reported they have experienced actual or attempted sexual assault while working in a NSW parliamentary workplace over the past five years.
Conducted by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, the report explains that the offices of some MPs are considered “well-known hotspots” for harmful behaviour, where there is high staff turnover.
“[This Member of Parliament’s] office is well known as the worst office,” one staffer said, as highlighted in the report. “[They] enjoy bringing grown men to tears. Employees are bullied, traumatised and no legitimate action can be taken, there’s no compensation available to them. It is crazy that there is no mechanism to remove that person.”
“A huge amount of completely abhorrent behaviour occurs every single day. The MP communicates what they want done poorly, staff don’t clarify because they are scared, and then they are reprimanded viciously for not doing it the way the MP wanted,” another respondent said.
The report indicates that the key drivers of the harmful behaviour that occurs in NSW parliament include the unequal distribution of power between politicians and staff, and the underrepresentation of women and people of diverse backgrounds in decision-making roles.
Sexual harassment
Women were more likely to experience sexual harassment than men across all roles, with female MPs (46 per cent) being the most likely group to report experiencing sexual harassment.
The most common types of sexual harassment experienced include intrusive questions about your personal life or comments on one’s physical appearance, sexually suggestive comments and jokes, and inappropriate staring or intimidating leering.
67 per cent of the sexual harassment reported was perpetrated by someone at a more senior level, with 1 in 10 experiencing sexual harassment from someone at the same level.
NSW parliament house was the most common place for sexual harassment to occur (44 per cent), followed by in an electorate office, and work-related social events.
“[The Parliamentarian] would make sexual remarks about females in the office and comment on their clothing. Some days you would walk into [the office] and they would make a comment that was inappropriate [such as] “jeez your boobs look good in that”… That type of behaviour would not be acceptable in any other workplace,” a staffer said.
“Some [MPs] only hire females who are good looking and under a certain age, and there is definitely an air of sexuality about those offices compared to other offices that have a more merit-based recruitment,” another said.
“I’ve known offices where it is common knowledge that the staffers were sleeping with other staffers or DLOs and sometimes, the Minister. It seems to be an approach to increase your chances of sex by hiring the “right stock”.”
In the report, younger female staffers talked about sexual harassment as being normalised in the workplace, mentioning the unequal power dynamics between MPs and staffers.
“It’s very normalised, the MP and Chief of Staff sleeping with junior staff. The power dynamics were so unbalanced, it thwarted any possibility of a balanced relationship,” one staffer told the review.
“It felt like the 1970s, old rich white men employing these beautiful young women in their 20s. People would come to the office and joke “[This Member] always employs the lookers.”
“How the men in the building talk to each other about women – conversations in front of junior members of staff about which staff member the MPs would like to have sex with. Like locker room talk. I was shocked.”
Premier’s response
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet held a press conference on Friday morning shortly after the report’s release, admitting that parliament’s culture is “toxic and wrong”.
“These statistics, the anecdotes, the report that has come through.. clearly demonstrate that change needs to happen. Today change will happen,” Perrottet said.
“If parliamentarians can not lead and provide an environment where workplaces are safe, what hope do we have for other workplaces?”
Perrottet said he has never personally witnessed any of the behaviour that was outlined in Broderick’s report, although he accepted that the toxic culture of sexual harassment, sexual assault and bullying was a significant issue.
“We cannot have a situation where the NSW parliament is not a safe place for people to work,” he said.
“The public must have confidence in its politicians. It can’t have confidence in its politicians in circumstances where the parliamentary environment…is not free from bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
“This must end. It ends today and we will work very closely with all sides of politics to implement change for the betterment of workplaces in the New South Wales parliament, but ultimately as role models in this state to every workplace across New South Wales.”
NSW Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor urged any person inside NSW parliament who had perpetrated the behaviour outlined in the report to leave.
“For those particular people that may be reading that report today, you know who you are, and my very strong advice to you is that you do not belong in the parliament of New South Wales,” Taylor said. “I ask you to think very long and hard about this, and I ask you to make sure that if this is you that is mentioned, get the help that you need and please leave the New South Wales parliament.”
In a statement, Greens MP Jenny Leong said she was not surprised by the report, after working in the NSW parliament for 7 years.
“Parliament is a toxic, sexist and at many times unsafe workplace – nobody inside the institution needed this report to know this,” Leong said.
“The toxic and aggressive “boys club” style of politics, that too many people in this place wear as a badge of honour, needs to change. It’s clear from this report that those with the responsibility to fix things turned a blind eye to abhorrent behaviour and allowed a toxic culture to fester.
“I am committed to working with all the men in leadership positions – because let’s be frank, they pretty much all are – to ensure the Framework for Action set out by the Broderick Team is implemented.
“Everyone deserves to be safe at work, at home, and in public. We owe it to everyone who works in our parliamentary workplaces now, and everyone who will in the future, to end this toxic culture.”
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.