The report came out this week.
Sexual harassment and bullying are huge issues in Australia’s parliament, with both MPs and staff affected after a high profile inquiry found “sexist culture”.
With a seven month investigation, the government-aided report found that one in three people currently working in parliament “have experienced some form of sexual harassment while working there”.
This included 63% of the country’s female parliamentarians.
“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,” said one of the report’s 1,700 interviewees.
The report has made 28 recommendations, with a formal statement of acknowledgement by other political leaders set to target gender diversity and “a proactive focus on safety and wellbeing.”
The report comes as widespread outrage swarmed Australia after the alleged rape of parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins inside a minister’s office after a night out with Liberal Party colleagues.
The allegations are still going before a court and have sparked demands for reform.
Higgins welcomed the report and thanked “the many brave people who shared their stories which contributed to this review”.
“I hope all sides of politics not only commit to but implement these recommendations in full,” she said in a statement sent via the Australian National University.
Greens’ Senator Sarah Hanson Young said the report was a “damning expose of the sexist culture and harassment in politics”.
“The statistics and comments are shocking, but for many women here they are not surprising and ring true to our own experiences,” she said.
