In Australia, High Immunity for Members of Parliament, Judges and Civil Servants – Publication

“It’s about putting everyone on an equal footing.” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison The amendment to the law relating to sexual discrimination was announced on Thursday. Key effect: MPs, judges and civil servants will now be held accountable for sexual harassment of their colleagues in the workplace.

Until then, although they could be criminally prosecuted for sexual harassment, they enjoyed being free from harassment in the workplace. With this turning point, the Conservative government is trying to quell public anger after allegations of sexual harassment in parliament.

The move follows an investigation into sexual harassment entitled Respect @ Work, which was released last year. She also intervenes After a strong feminist mobilization Two cases involving some ministers and a few weeks after the administration was weakened.

A former civil servant said he was raped by a colleague in a minister’s office in parliament in 2019, while a senior government legal adviser was revealed in 1988 to be the minister accused of raping a teenage girl he had studied with.

Many voices have long condemned the sexual culture of the Australian political class. Michaelia Cash, who replaced the government’s top legal officer last week, said it is a matter of the law that sexual harassment in the workplace under legislative changes. “Serious Misconduct” And would be the right factor to stop. The government also plans to extend the reporting period from six months to two years.

Mr Morrison has come under fire for failing to act on 55 recommendations made in the January 2020 report on the work report. The prime minister rejected the criticism on Thursday, saying his government had already promised to fund a number of recommendations that would be considered a high priority.

“Last year, we focused on these urgent needs to protect women at a time when they were most vulnerable during the Govt.” He underlined and congratulated himself for what he had done “Solve these problems in the long run”.

In Australia in 2016, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 25 men were sexually abused before the age of 15.There were 200,000 adults (1.1% of the population) in the last twelve months. In 2018-2019, 97% of abusers were men.