<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>332796</docID> <postdate>2024-11-10 13:28:47</postdate> <headline>Workplace culture at Parliament House has ‘a way to go’</headline> <body><p><img class=" wp-image-302369" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_7549-resized-e1709865458955.jpg" alt="" width="902" height="601" /></p> <caption>In just nine months 30 cases of serious wrongdoing have been reported at Parliament House.</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Andrew Brown</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Federal parliament's workplace support service has handled 30 complaints of sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking and assault in its first nine months of operation.</strong></p> <p>Figures from the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service's annual report show the body handled 339 complaints in its first few months of operation.</p> <p>Between October 2023 and the end of June 2024, 30 of the cases managed by the services concerned rape or sexual assault, assault, sexual harassment, harassment, stalking or intimidation.</p> <p>A further 33 cases in the nine-month timeframe were about bullying.</p> <p>The report said 62 cases involved family or domestic violence, alcohol and drugs or mental health, while there were 90 cases of workplace conflict being managed.</p> <p>The support service was established after a recommendation from the landmark Set the Standard report, which examined widespread misconduct in federal parliament.</p> <p>Health Minister Mark Butler said more needed to be done to address workplace conduct at Parliament House.</p> <p>"It's really concerning, but as many who have worked in parliament or around parliament for a long time perhaps have said, it's not entirely surprising," he told Sky News on Sunday.</p> <p>"This is a workplace that really does need to lift its standards, and I think putting that process or that structure in place is an important first step. People need to be held accountable for poor behaviour.</p> <p>"This process is starting to work, but I think this report really concerningly shows that parliament still has a way to go."</p> <p>MPs passed laws earlier this year to establish an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission, with powers to investigate workplace conduct and enforce a behavioural code.</p> <p>Nationals Leader David Littleproud said it was on MPs and senators to make Parliament House a safe workplace.</p> <p>"What these numbers today demonstrate that after 12 months of reforms, it shows that we've created an environment where people feel comfortable to come forward," he told Nine's Today program.</p> <p>"We've got to create that environment, and I think we're doing that and these numbers demonstrate that those reforms are slowly working, but we can all do better, whether it be in Parliament House or outside Parliament House."</p> </body>