Overview

• Senator Fatima Payman says an older male colleague at a work function urged her to drink wine and dance on a table in comments she found sexually suggestive and racially insensitive
• Payman lodged a formal complaint with the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service and said its prompt, caring response met her expectations
• The PWSS, created after Brittany Higgins’s assault allegations, handled around 3,000 calls in 2024 and now works alongside the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission to address misconduct
• Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe reports two of her PWSS complaints have seen no action for over six months and criticises both the PWSS and IPSC for lacking transparency
• Both senators note fewer alcohol-fuelled incidents in Parliament House but warn that entrenched racism and culture issues will need a younger, more diverse parliament to fully resolve