Australia says politicians no more exempt from sexual harassment rules
08 April, 2021
Australian politicians won't be exempt from rules against sexual harassment at the job, the conservative government declared Thursday as it tries to quell general public anger above parliamentary sex abuse scandals.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government would overhaul the country's sexual discrimination laws to create people of parliament, judges and consumer servants in charge of harassing colleagues at work.
"It's about receiving everyone on as a lot of a playing field as possible," this individual told reporters in Canberra.
MPs, judges and open public servants are exempt from anti-harassment rules that connect with other Australian workplaces, though they are able to still deal with criminal prosecution for sexual assault.
The move was in response to a "Respect@Work" report -- passed down more than a year ago carrying out a national inquiry into sexual harassment -- and comes just weeks after sexual abuse allegations rocked Australia's halls of power.
A ex-staffer in Morrison's Liberal Get together lately went public with allegations she was raped by a colleague in parliament in 2019, while a senior minister was forced to deny raping a 16-year-old if they were both students in the 1980s.
Critics said the cases, and the government's apparent first reluctance to do something, have highlighted a "toxic" and sexist traditions in Australia's parliament.
Attorney-Standard Michaelia Cash -- who the other day replaced the rape-accused minister on the government's top legal role -- said other proposed legislative changes would include classifying sexual harassment at work as "significant misconduct" and rendering it valid grounds for dismissal.
The federal government also plans to extend the period when a victim can report an incident from half a year to 2 yrs, she added.
The Respect@Do the job report was used by the government's own sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, and Morrison has been under growing criticism for failing to act on its 55 tips since it was initially submitted in January 2020.
The prime minister rejected the criticism on Thursday, saying his government had already focused on funding several suggestions it felt were substantial priority.
"This past year, we were incredibly focused on those incredibly urgent must protect women at the same time when they were incredibly vulnerable during Covid," he said.
"We put the additional resources in and today we're able to address these extra systemic and longer-term problems which are very significant and I'm pleased we're able to do this today."
The rape allegations sparked nationwide protests, with tens of thousands of women taking to the streets to demand gender equality and a finish to sexual violence.
In recent weeks, Morrison's coalition government has been rocked by a litany of fresh sexual abuse and harassment complaints -- from an employee member photographed masturbating on a female politician's desk, to circumstances MP being accused of raping a sex worker, to some other lawmaker apologizing for harassing women online.
A media blitz targeted at exhibiting Morrison's empathy with women of all ages has only added to the furore through some missteps, and he eventually demoted two top ministers in an attempt to draw a line under the scandals.
The federal government says it hopes to introduce the amended legislation to parliament by June.
Source: japantoday.com
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