Thirty allegations of serious crime, including sexual assault, rape and stalking inside Parliament over a nine-month period

A stunning report by parliament’s new support service has revealed 30 serious allegations of sexual assault, intimidation and stalking were lodged in just nine months.

Of the 339 incidents reported during the nine-month period, 33 were incidents of bullying, 62 were incidents of domestic violence, domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse or mental health, and 90 were incidents of workplace conflict.

A further 124 cases were identified as ‘other, unknown, blank or not applicable’.

The Jenkins report, titled ‘Set the Standards’, heard from 1,723 current and former parliamentary staff, includes statistics the Prime Minister described as “appalling”.

“There is still work to be done…parties across the political spectrum have continued to deal with serious workplace incidents publicly and privately with varying success,” Higgins said.

A footnote in the report stated that “the percentage of sexual assault may appear high because support staff take a trauma-informed approach and record events as the client describes them.”

“People use the phrase ‘sexual assault’ to describe a wide range of behaviors, from being uncomfortable with how someone looks at them to the traditional use of the word rape.”

“It is likely that very few of these incidents are actually allegations of rape.”

It was also noted that some complaints may be several years old.

National leader David Littleproud said: Today The statistics in the support services report were shocking, but still a step in the right direction.

“I think these numbers today show that after 12 months of reforms, we have created an environment where people will feel comfortable coming forward, not just on an emotional level but also supported.” “On a legal level where appropriate,” he said.

“If there are serious crimes that are illegal, then they should be prosecuted by the force of the law.”

The report, which is publicly available, stated that more than 50 percent of the complaints were made by political personnel.

A further 12 per cent were reported by parliamentary department staff and 17 per cent by MPs or senators.

All cases in the report are anonymous.

PWSS was founded in September 2021 and says it provides “end-to-end human resources services for parliamentarians and their staff.”