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Details of the settlement between Mr Barber and the staffer in his office,who said she had been subjected to sex discrimination,bullying and victimisation while working there,were circulated to Greens MPs on September 6,2017 by the husband of the alleged victim.

After he received no response to his approach,the man emailed a wider group of 22 senior party officials with details of case on the morning of Tuesday,September 26.

By Thursday lunchtime,Mr Barber,who had already announced that he did not intend to recontest his seat,had quit politics.

But Ms Ratnam,who replaced Mr Barber in his Parliamentary seat,says that she did not know of the matter until after she replaced Mr Barber in the State Parliament and as party leader,sworn-in as an MP on October 19.

“I became aware of it only after I joined State Parliament and after it had been resolved,” Ms Ratnam told the ABC on Wednesday.

Mr Jacobs,the Greens state co-convenor who has also worked in Mr Barber's office,toldThe Ageon Wednesday that he first became aware of the matter several weeks before Ms Ratnam was sworn-in but that he did not talk about the case with his wife before she joined Parliament.

As the party sought to contain the damage from the revelation on Wednesday,a senior party official issued a warning on Wednesday morning that the “leaker” should “minimise further transmission of documents” containing details of the case.

Samantha Ratnam became leader of the Victorian Greens after Greg Barber stepped down.Credit:Darrian Traynor

In her ABC interview,Ms Ratnam said the issue in Mr Barber’s office had been resolved with “due process”.

“This was an employment matter that was resolved through a confidential agreement,” Ms Ratnam.

“It is really important ... to understand this for what it was,which was a process that occurred through a Parliamentary process,through a due process,which was an employment matter and resolved through that due process,not involving the party and any other MPs.”

The party leader said she and her colleagues had no tolerance for sexism or discrimination.

“Like all organisations,we have issues from time to time,” Ms Ratnam said.

“Issues of sexism,of discrimination have no place in our party and we are continuously working to ensure we have a culture that is free from discrimination.”

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