SA Best MLC Connie Bonaros’ sexual harassment complaint sparked a a review into State Parliament’s workplace culture. Now, the MP has urged every other Member of Parliament to also support all recommendations made by the former acting Equal Opportunity Commissioner in her report handed down last week.
In June, former Liberal MP, now independent, Sam Duluk will face trial after being charged with assault for allegedly slapping Ms Bonaros on the behind at a Christmas function at Parliament House in 2019.
The alleged assault initiated a long-overdue inquiry into sexual harassment in state parliament. The 166-page report was handed down on Tuesday by acting Equal Opportunity Commissioner Emily Strickland with 16 recommendations for change.
Up until now, Ms Bonaros has been careful not to publicly comment on the Commissioner’s inquiry.
“There is no turning back from here – there has to be action now,” she says in her first in-depth interview since the report was released.
“This cannot be swept under the carpet – not in today’s environment and not while I’m around,” she says in the lead-up to International Women’s Day on Monday.
“We now have a clear and defined road map to get us out of this quagmire. There is no excuse for not implementing all 16 of the Commission’s recommendations.”
Bonaros expressed her anger and sadness over the stories and accounts presented by the commissioner.
“It beggars belief that we’ve managed to sweep this under the carpet for as long as we hav,” she said.
“If we can’t get it right, how on earth can we expect any other workplace to get it right?”
She added a centralised human resources department was long overdue.
“The fact that any workplace doesn’t have an HR unit in place in line with what the commissioner has outlined is simply outdated,” she said.
“We are operating in an archaic, outdated system based on conventions of a bygone era.”
Sourced By: ABC News/Daily Telegraph
