Employers could be forced to take more proactive action on workplace sexual harassment under reforms to shift the burden away from victims. The Morrison government’s long-awaited response to Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins’ Respect at Work report is imminent. The report was handed to then industrial relations minister Christian Porter in March 2020 and the government is yet to make …

Liberal Senator Eric Abetz has been accused of slut-shaming Brittany Higgins and saying she was “so disgustingly drunk” she “would sleep with anybody”. Senator Abetz has categorically denied making the alleged comments which were aired by Tasmanian Speaker Sue Hickey under Parliamentary Privilege today. Ms Hickey told State Parliament she spoke with Senator Abetz on March 1 at a Hobart …

Tasmania’s Premier has written to the Prime Minister, urging him to “consider” accusations Liberal senator Eric Abetz “slut-shamed” alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins. In a written statement, Peter Gutwein said Tasmanian Speaker Sue Hickey told him several weeks ago that Senator Abetz had made offensive comments — which he has since strongly denied — but not to the level of detail raised in the state’s Parliament this …

A guard on duty the night of the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in a Parliament House ministerial office has questioned Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s claim it was a “security breach”. Higgins, a former Liberal staffer, alleges she was raped by a colleague in minister Linda Reynolds’ office in March 2019. Experienced security guard Nikola Anderson found Higgins naked on a couch in …

WARNING: Some readers may find the following content distressing Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed a government staff member’s sacking after graphic images of sex acts inside Parliament House were leaked. The images and videos of government staffers performing the lewd acts in Canberra were revealed by a whistleblower who says “now is the time to speak up”. The man, …

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s former boyfriend could face criminal charges after a damning report by the state’s anti-corruption watchdog. The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption found former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire gave false or misleading evidence to the ICAC during an investigation into alleged corruption at Canterbury Council. ICAC handed down its report into Operation Dasha on Monday, recommending …

People northwest of Sydney have been ordered to evacuate their homes amid unrelenting heavy rain that’s causing surging rivers to break their banks. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning that extends over half of NSW. Major flooding is occurring along the Colo River in the Hawkesbury region and the State Emergency Service ordered around 200 residents out on Tuesday morning. …

Submissions to an independent review of parliamentary workplace culture will remain confidential and exempt from freedom of information (FOI) requests, under proposed legislation that has passed the Senate. The Upper House passed amendments to archives and freedom of information laws on Thursday. Finance Minister Simon Birmingham, who worked with the opposition and crossbench to set up the inquiry, said the …

A proposal by one of Australia’s top police officers to use phone apps to record sexual consent has been branded “naive”. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the country needed to modernise ideas around “positive consent” where consent is “active and ongoing throughout a sexual encounter”. “Intimate violence particularly against women is a real problem crime for us at the …

PM Scott Morrison has suggested a Liberal staffer sacked for verbally abusing a female political opponent used vile language on other occasions. Federal government adviser Andrew Hudgson lost his job after being accused of yelling a horrendous slur at Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O’Connor in 2019, while he was working for the premier. The Department of Premier and Cabinet investigated the incident …