Federal parliament has been asked to acknowledge publicly the harm caused by bullying and sexual misconduct at the apex of Australian politics. 

One-third of people working in Canberra’s parliamentary precinct and electoral offices report being sexually harassed on the job.

“It is a man’s world and you are reminded of it every day,” one person told Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins’ review of parliament’s workplace culture. 

“Thanks to the looks up and down you get, to the representation in the parliamentary chambers, to the preferential treatment politicians give senior male journalists.”

Ms Jenkins made 28 recommendations including a public acknowledgement by parliamentary leaders and department heads of the harm caused by bullying, and sexual harassment and assault.

It also calls for targets for gender diversity among parliamentarians, codes of conduct for MPs, senators and their staff members as well as an independent standards commission.

“I’m deeply grateful to each of the people who engaged with us. It is a privilege to have been trusted by you,” Ms Jenkins told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday. 

“Many people shared distressing experiences of bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault, sometimes for the first time. They said these things could never be shared with anyone else.”

Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins was a catalyst for the review when she went public in February about her alleged 2019 rape in a minister’s office by a colleague. 

“I do thank her for standing up and speaking up. Her voice has been listened to,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Current and former politicians and staffers were among 1723 people, mostly women, who contributed to the review that involved nearly 500 interviews.

One person spoke about aspiring male politicians who thought nothing of “picking you up, kissing you on the lips, lifting you up, touching you”.

“Pats on the bottom, comments about appearance, you know, the usual … the culture allowed it,” they said.

Another detailed how an MP sitting beside them leaned over “grabbed me and stuck his tongue down my throat”

“The others all laughed. It was revolting and humiliating.”

Three-in-four people in commonwealth parliamentary workplaces have experienced, witnessed or heard about bullying, sexual harassment or assault.

About half of the recent sexual harassment incidents canvassed by the review occurred at Parliament House itself.

Mr Morrison said workplace stress was “no excuse whatsoever to normalise inappropriate, unhealthy and unprofessional behaviour”.

By Georgie Moore in Canberra

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