What people said about bullying and harassment in federal parliament:

* “I do often describe Parliament House as the most sexist place I’ve worked. I guess there is a workplace culture of drinking. There’s not a lot of accountability. The boys are lads. And that behaviour is celebrated.”

* “It is a man’s world and you are reminded of it every day 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.”

* “It was just a pride to be able to work there because to me, that’s the ultimate place of public service. And can I tell you, when I left there … I would never, ever set foot in the place again.”

* “Aspiring male politicians who thought nothing of, in one case, 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.”

* “(T)he MP sitting beside me leaned over. Also thinking he wanted to tell me something, I leaned in. He grabbed me and stuck his tongue down my throat. The others all laughed. It was revolting and humiliating.”

* “When the work is that fast paced, and the needs of the minister are so unrelenting, you lose perspective on what is appropriate, what your rights are and the way in which you deserve to be treated.”

* “There’s this in-built kind of thing where people think that they have to protect the party and protect the minister or the member at all costs.”

* “You end up at a (parliamentarian’s) office at 9:30pm at night, and you’re drunk on free booze, and they’re pulling out more booze … It’s not a recipe for good professional behaviour.”

(Source: Set the Standard report, Australian Human Rights Commission)

By Georgie Moore in Canberra

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