Towards the end of a week when most members of the Opposition collectively ‘bayed’ at Teals MP Zali Steggall when she stood up to speak in the House of Representatives, the Government introduced the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service Amendment (Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission) Bill.  

This delivers on Recommendation 22 of ‘Set the Standard’, the Australian Human Rights Commission’s report into Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces initiated in March 2021 by the Morrison Government in the wake of the women’s marches around Australia and victims attesting to the toxic workplace culture in Parliament House.

The Inquiry, led by then Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, revealed Parliament as an unsafe, hyper masculinised and often misogynistic workplace that was especially disabling for women. In Kate Jenkins words ‘a male-dominated and testosterone-fuelled culture’.

While the focus of the Inquiry was on the whole Parliamentary workplace, the spotlight was on the behaviour of parliamentarians. In the words of the report:   

“The (Human Rights) Commission heard about the particular difficulty of sanctioning parliamentarians who engaged in misconduct, because they do not have an ‘employer’. As one participant put it ‘there are no ramifications for bad behaviour because there is no risk of MPs getting fired, or otherwise being held accountable for their actions’.”

The key recommendation in ‘Set the Standard’ was establishing a code of behaviour enforced by an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC). It will investigate complaints against parliamentarians, staff employed by them and workers in Parliament House, with powers to compel cooperation. It won't examine behaviour inside the chambers, such as that endured by Zali Steggall. Nor will it investigate behaviour by MPs at Estimates hearings.

In WEL’s view, there is a way to go for the Bill to enable a Parliamentary Commission with real teeth.

As currently proposed, the Commission will recommend sanctions if there has been a breach of standards but either the Senate or the House of Representatives Privileges Committee will ultimately decide on the sanctions and whether and what the public should know. In other words MPs will stand in judgement on MPs and determine the level of transparency.

Parliament next sits on 9 September. WEL will be contacting MPs to urge amendments to the Bill to enable recommendations and decisions where sanctions are involved to be made public, while protecting complainants.