March 4 Justice Rally

Today there have been 40 marches around the country by women and men marching for justice.
It is a sad indictment on our culture that this has become necessary.
Today in Canberra I met protestors on the front lawns of parliament house. To hear their concerns, many of which I share, and to give support and pay respect to the many women who have suffered sexual assault in my electorate, and around the nation. The fact that 1 in 4 women in Australia will suffer some form of sexual assault is unacceptable.
This is not a political issue, it’s a human issue. We must do better, and now is the time. We need to seriously look at the culture of Parliament House, as well as every other workplace in Australia. The Government has taken a number of steps in the past few weeks to address the concerns raised by current and former staff and by parliamentarians.
• We have established an independent and confidential 24/7 telephone service to support current and former Commonwealth ministerial, parliamentary and electorate office staff, and those who have experienced serious incidents in any Commonwealth Parliamentary workplace.
• The Government has announced an independent review into Commonwealth Parliamentary workplaces which will be led by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Ms Kate Jenkins.
• Stephanie Foster, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, has been tasked with assisting and advising the Prime Minister on how to improve processes to support people, in particular staff, when serious incidents arise.
Everyone has the right to protest and raise their voice. These are serious issues and the whole Parliament is working through the response to the concerns that have been raised.
But this has to go further. Women in our communities need to feel safe and protected wherever they are. Whether they are at home or at work or out in the community going about their daily lives.
Today, a small group gathered outside my electorate office and presented a copy of a petition to my staff. I’m sorry I wasn’t in Mildura to hear their voices in person, but I will present this petition to the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Nationals, Michael McCormack. The government is working to address the issues in the raised in the petition.
Regarding the Respect@Work report, raised in the petition, the Government is in the process of implementing a number of recommendations from that report, including establishing a Respect@Work Council to advise on measures to improve prevention of, and responses to, sexual harassment at work, as well as develop materials (online platform, training and education resources) in support of that work.