<!--The Official Report of Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly of the Parliament of South Australia are covered by parliamentary privilege. Republication by others is not afforded the same protection and may result in exposure to legal liability if the material is defamatory. You may copy and make use of excerpts of proceedings where (1) you attribute the Parliament as the source, (2) you assume the risk of liability if the manner of your use is defamatory, (3) you do not use the material for the purpose of advertising, satire or ridicule, or to misrepresent members of Parliament, and (4) your use of the extracts is fair, accurate and not misleading. Copyright in the Official Report of Parliamentary Debates is held by the Attorney-General of South Australia.-->
<hansard id="" tocId="" xml:lang="EN-AU" schemaVersion="4.0" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="hansard_1_0.xsd" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2007/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
  <name>Legislative Council</name>
  <date date="2024-05-02T14:15:00+09:30" />
  <sessionName>Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)</sessionName>
  <parliamentNum>55</parliamentNum>
  <sessionNum>1</sessionNum>
  <parliamentName>Parliament of South Australia</parliamentName>
  <house>Legislative Council</house>
  <venue></venue>
  <reviewStage>published</reviewStage>
  <startPage num="5519" />
  <endPage num="5555" />
  <dateModified time="2024-05-03T15:33:12+09:30" />
  <proceeding continued="true">
    <name>Answers to Questions</name>
    <subject>
      <name>Review of Harassment in the South Australian Parliament Workplace</name>
      <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000563">
        <inserted>
          <heading>Review of Harassment in the South Australian Parliament Workplace</heading>
        </inserted>
      </text>
      <talker role="member" id="4363" referenceid="93519aefc9814df9a5e20a43c35e142f" kind="question">
        <name>The Hon. T.A. FRANKS</name>
        <house>Legislative Council</house>
        <questions>
          <question date="2024-05-02T04:45:00+09:30">
            <name>Review of Harassment in the South Australian Parliament Workplace</name>
          </question>
        </questions>
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000564">
          <inserted>In reply to <by role="member" id="4363" referenceid="93519aefc9814df9a5e20a43c35e142f">the Hon. T.A. FRANKS </by>().20 March 2024).  </inserted>
        </text>
      </talker>
      <talker role="member" id="4697" referenceid="c1607c57d2294390bdc2b07c15f35010" kind="answer">
        <name>The Hon. K.J. MAHER</name>
        <house>Legislative Council</house>
        <portfolios>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Minister for Aboriginal Affairs</name>
          </portfolio>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Attorney-General</name>
          </portfolio>
          <portfolio id="">
            <name>Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector</name>
          </portfolio>
        </portfolios>
        <questions>
          <question date="2024-05-02T04:45:00+09:30">
            <name>Review of Harassment in the South Australian Parliament Workplace</name>
          </question>
        </questions>
        <page num="5555" />
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000565">
          <inserted>
            <by role="member" id="4697" referenceid="c1607c57d2294390bdc2b07c15f35010">The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector):</by>  </inserted>
        </text>
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000566">
          <inserted>I note that it is a matter for the parliament, through its presiding officers, to undertake staff surveys and seek a SafeWork SA audit as referred to in the honourable member's question. Nonetheless, I have sought advice from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment (OCPSE) and am advised that parliament did not conduct a workplace employee survey in February 2024.</inserted>
        </text>
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000567">
          <inserted>I am advised that SafeWork SA has been monitoring the progress of the recommendations and has reviewed the three progress reports from the Clerks of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly that have been tabled in parliament. SafeWork SA has not yet been requested to undertake a compliance audit as proposed by recommendation 14. </inserted>
        </text>
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000568">
          <inserted>While not specifically directed to the parliament, the state government has taken significant action on psychosocial risks in the workplace, which was a key issue raised in the then-Acting Equal Opportunity Commissioner's report. </inserted>
        </text>
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000569">
          <inserted>In 2023, the government made amendments to the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 to address psychosocial risks. The new regulations came into operation on 25 December 2023. </inserted>
        </text>
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000570">
          <inserted>The amended regulations provide a framework for employers and workers to identify psychosocial hazards, assess the corresponding risk and implement reasonably practicable risk control measures. </inserted>
        </text>
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000571">
          <inserted>Sexual and discriminatory harassment in the workplace, or related to the workplace, are required to be addressed under the new regulations and the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 by way of taking reasonably practicable steps to prevent risks associated with harassment. </inserted>
        </text>
        <text id="20240502b368256a93ae4f3e90000572">
          <inserted>To support the new regulations, a model code of practice for managing psychosocial hazards and a model code of practice for sexual and gender-based harassment are being prepared for consideration and approval in South Australia, as required by the Work Health and Safety Act 2012. These codes have been published as guidance material on SafeWork SA's website.</inserted>
        </text>
      </talker>
    </subject>
  </proceeding>
</hansard>