Australian political leaders apologize to staff for abuses
ABC News
Australian political leaders have apologized to staffers who have endured decades of bullying, harassment and sexual assault inside Parliamentary House and other government offices
CANBERRA, Australia -- Australian political leaders apologized to staffers who have endured decades of bullying, harassment and sexual assault inside Parliamentary House and other government offices.
The presiding officers of the House of Representatives and Senate delivered the apology Tuesday on behalf of a cross-section of parties as part of a statement acknowledging a toxic workplace culture.
That culture was exposed by Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins' investigation.
The investigation was triggered by former government staffer Brittany Higgins, who went public a year ago with her allegation that she had been raped by a more senior colleague in a minister’s Parliament House office weeks before the 2019 election.
