Parliament watchdog’s reporting may conceal rape, sexual assault complaints

Dozens of complaints of the most serious workplace offences, including rape and sexual assault, may go unreported each year, after parliament’s employee support service altered its reporting methods.

The service, which received 40 complaints of bullying and 28 instances of harassment during its second year of operations, has been slammed by a senator who alleged she was sexually harassed in Parliament House. Victorian independent Lidia Thorpe said the service was potentially hiding misconduct from the public under the proviso of protecting complainants’ privacy.

The number of complaints of rape or sexual assault, sexual harassment, assault, and stalking and intimidation was not provided in the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service’s most recent annual report because there were fewer than 10 individual complaints of each offence.

The service was established as a recommendation of the Jenkins review into Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces, launched following a number of sexual misconduct allegations, including a rape allegation made by former staffer Brittany Higgins.

During a truncated reporting period following the PWSS’s establishment – from October 2023 to June 2024 – there were 30 complaints of the offences, accounting for 9 per cent of reports. However, the offences were separated into individual line items in the service’s most recent account, but were only reported as having fewer than 10 offences.

The PWSS said their reporting processes had been “refined” between its first and second years of operation, and declined to provide like-for-like data.

“The 2024-25 report has categories with numbers reported as ‘<10’, which includes zero. This ensures all people in small cohorts are afforded privacy and no individual case can be identified. We are not able to comment on specific matters or provide any data that may identify individuals,” a spokesperson for the PWSS said.

The new reporting method means there is no way to determine how many complaints of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, assault and stalking or intimidation are reported each year to the service. Under the current reporting system, the number of undisclosed complaints could be as high as 36. Similarly, 18 cases of drug and alcohol use, or family and domestic violence complaints, may be left out of reporting.

After making public allegations of sexual misconduct against former Liberal senator David Van, independent senator Lidia Thorpe made a complaint to the PWSS. Thorpe said the service failed to properly address her complaint. Van denies the allegations.

“The staff at PWSS genuinely try to help, but the service is not fit for purpose. My own complaint stalled and was never resolved,” Thorpe told this masthead.

The senator said the service was designed to protect “the system” rather than complainants, and expressed concern the change in reporting would “hide what’s happening in this workplace”.

“Right now, the balance isn’t right. By removing or suppressing data, the PWSS is making the workplace look safer and more functional than it really is. Transparency shouldn’t be optional,” Thorpe said.

“We can protect privacy while still giving the public an honest picture of the harms occurring in this building. Without that clarity, we cannot fix the culture.”

When Thorpe’s statements were put to the PWSS a spokesperson said: “The PWSS does not comment on individual matters. We will continue to report in a way that respects the privacy and confidentiality of individuals as appropriate.”

Independent MP Zali Steggall, who sat on the parliamentary leadership taskforce charged with enacting the Jenkins review, said the service’s reporting methods needed to balance transparency and complainant privacy.

“It’s unfortunate that a process supposed to bring greater accountability and transparency into Parliament may not be fully meeting this aim,” she said.

At least 61 per cent of complaints in the past year came from the staff of MPs.

Most recently a complaint from a staffer in Nationals MP Michelle Landry’s office, who alleged Barnaby Joyce yelled at her over a request to fill out a parliamentary leave form to attend a funeral was referred to the PWSS. Joyce denies the allegations, which, if lodged, would be reported in next year’s figures.

Several allegations of bullying lodged to the PWSS against Labor senator Dorinda Cox – who represented the Greens at the time – would have been captured in the service’s most recent report. Cox lost 20 staff over the course of three years, with some publicly blaming the culture in her office for her departure. Cox apologised for “shortcomings” in her office.

Of the 417 complaints received in the last financial year, the PWSS provided support for 139 mental health complaints and 192 instances of workplace conflict.

If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.

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