Minister for Women Katy Gallagher leads a bipartisan taskforce that will draft legislation for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The document comes more than two years after anindependent inquiry in the wake of former stafferBrittany Higgins’ revelation she had been raped in a minister’s office found parliament had a “revolting and humiliating”workplace culture.
A bipartisan parliamentary leadership taskforce,led by Minister for Women Katy Gallagher,is drafting legislation for the much-delayed Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission,which it is hoped will begin operations by October.
Former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins’ November 2021 report,Set the Standard,called for the creation of the commission and for it to have the power to punish people and organisations for serious breaches of workplace safety such as sexual assault,violence,harassment,bullying and discrimination.
A draft structureleaked to this masthead in Aprilrevealed the commission’s potential powers to punish MPs,staff and others in Parliament House for serious breaches,and how it could suspend politicians found to have breached the parliamentary code of conduct.
In a new document sent to staff groups on April 24,the commission is described as a “disciplinary body”,which in most cases means consent from a complainant is needed for an investigation to be carried out. But the document notes that employers have a duty under the Work Health and Safety Act to ensure the workplace is always safe,which would require them to report allegations to the commission even without the complainant’s consent.
Under the legislation,an employer has to manage and eliminate any risks that could affect the health and safety of employees,meaning that if a worker makes an allegation about something that could cause further harm in the workplace,the employer must report it to a disciplinary body.