close
close

Association-anemone

Bite-sized brilliance in every update

The parliamentary reporting process after the program will continue
asane

The parliamentary reporting process after the program will continue

The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) has confirmed that an After Hours Access (AHA) reporting process recommended by Stephanie Foster will continue until the end of the 47th Parliament.

The reporting mechanism informs MPs when staff enter the Australian Parliament building after hours (between 11pm and 5am) daily.

It also requires members of parliamentary staff (MOPs), volunteers, departmental liaison officers and sponsored permit holders to complete an AHA form.

All other pass holders are exempt from the reporting process, as well as any pass holder entering Parliament before 11pm and after 5am.

APH presidents signed the process on Tuesday, implementing the recommendations Parliamentary workplace review: responding to serious incidents.

In a circular, DPS said completed AHA forms will be emailed to employers or parliamentary sponsors as they are recorded.

“All APH pass holders will be required to swipe their card to exit the building between 11pm and 5am,” the statement said.

“The collection, management and dissemination of information collected in this process is subject to Electronic access control system code of practice.”

The Foster review found that current workplace parliamentary procedures and processes were not designed or capable of responding appropriately to serious incidents, particularly sexual assault.

Foster, who is now Home Secretary, completed the review in 2021 when he was deputy secretary of PM&C. Her report followed a lead from former Prime Minister Scott Morrison after he reported that Brittany Higgins had been raped by Bruce Lehrmann — both Liberal Party staffers — in a ministerial office in March 2019.

READ MORE:

Law Reform Commission to review justice responses to sexual violence