Tasmania will establish a joint standing committee to lay the groundwork for change after a report raised serious concerns about a “toxic and unsafe” workplace culture in the state’s ministerial and parliamentary services.

Tasmania’s anti-discrimination commissioner Sarah Bolt released her independent review,  Motion for Respect, on Monday.

The report focused on discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying and is based on the experiences of 318 respondents.

It found 24 per cent of respondents had experienced discrimination, 15 per cent had experienced sexual harassment and 40 per cent had experienced bullying.

Two out of three had witnessed discrimination, sexual harassment or bullying but only 11 per cent of those who witnessed it intervened.

Members of parliament and managers were the two top groups reported to be engaging in discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying, with managers having little or no expertise in “people management”.

Eighty-two per cent of repsondents said they were unhappy with complaints processes.

It comes after a NSW parliamentary report this month also found unacceptable levels of sexism and sexual harassment within state parliament.

‘Cascading effect’

“The evidence demonstrates that for many people working within MPS, going to work can be a harrowing experience due to discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying,” Ms Bolt said.

She said the cascading effect of unsafe workplace behaviour, and the effect this had on the public sector more broadly, was of particular concern.

Ms Bolt also found a pervading ‘suck it up’ attitude and a fear of repercussions and reprisals for complaining.

People who participated in the review outlined a culture of unsafe behaviours, a lack of accountability, protection of perpetrators, perceptions of bias and lack of process in complaint handling. Extensive gatekeeping and a resistance to act on inappropriate behaviour was commonly raised.

Sarah Bolt

“People who participated in the review outlined a culture of unsafe behaviours, a lack of accountability, protection of perpetrators, perceptions of bias and lack of process in complaint handling. Extensive gatekeeping and a resistance to act on inappropriate behaviour was commonly raised,” she said.

“Key words used repetitively to describe the workplace in both the survey and throughout the submissions were ‘toxic’ and ‘unsafe’.

Ms Bolt also singled out those who enabled poor workplace practices, saying they were driven by self-entitlement, power imbalances, workplace silos and lack of accountability.

Need for improvement

Premier Jeremy Rockliff decsribed some of the commentary in the report as confronting and said it contained some very serious concerns and challenges and highlighted a lack of awareness around complaint procedures.

“It is clear ministerial and parliamentary services need to focus on improving processes and policy, as well as training and reporting mechanisms,” he said.

Mr Rockliff said it was important to act quickly on the recommendations.

“A Joint Standing Committee will be established which will have a key role to play in working through the recommendations to establish a framework for implementation, in relation to the Parliamentary workplace.

“Advice is being sought in relation to establishing a similar mechanism to look at how to successfully implement recommendations in Ministerial, Opposition and electorate offices,” he said.

The government would aim to introduce workplace training starting with MPs and managers later this year, the Premier said.

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