Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Marian Sawer and Dr Maria Maley for the publication and launch of their new book ‘Toxic Parliaments and what can be done about them’, in which they analyse the reforms that have taken place in the parliamentary workplace in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, after the #MeToo movement and revelations of sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace.

The book launch event, organised by the Global Institute for Women's Leadership (GIWL) included a panel discussion with Kate Jenkins AO, Australia's foremost authority on respect and equality in the workplace regarding how institutional features of Westminster parliaments, such as adversarialism and parliamentary privilege, have contributed to continued sexism and sexual harassment in the parliamentary workplace and explored possibilities for long-lasting, institutional change. In the case of Australia, the proposal for an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission to enforce better behaviour standards aims to transform the parliamentary work environment into a safer and more respectful space as Hannah Dixon explains in this article of the ANU reporter.

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