I remember very well, during the election campaign in 2022, knocking on doors in my electorate of Chisholm. The issues of integrity and of trust in institutions, in parliament and in the government were a really big deal. At the heart of some of these conversations, every single day, was the issue of gender equality and the experience of women in this place. Indeed, it was a frequent question I had on the doors, with my now constituents asking me, 'How will you go in that place?' This is a really important issue in my community and in communities right across the country. People expect to see consequences for bad behaviour here. This institution really does matter. It must be a place that sets the standard, where integrity, respect, accountability and inclusion are at the centre of everything we do. And this must be a safe workplace.

I want to acknowledge everybody who did so much work to bring this bill to the House today, including the member for Newcastle, Minister Gallagher, Kate Jenkins and the hundreds of people who participated in and contributed to the set the standard inquiry. Here I want to say that I contributed to the set the standard inquiry before I was a candidate to be in this place, not knowing that I would end up here. I want to be a bit personal for a number of reasons, including the fact that yesterday we had a celebration of affirmative action in the Labor Party, marking 30 years of rules changes in the Australian Labor Party. What I have been reflecting on is that we bring our whole selves to this place, and there is a reason that we have fought to have more female representation on this side of the House. It's to make the kinds of changes that need to be made in this country.

So I will say that I participated in interviews and completed surveys during the set the standard inquiry process because, about 10 years ago, I worked here, and I do not believe I worked in a safe environment. I do not intend to detail discrete experiences here in the chamber today, but I want to do everything that I can, now that I'm a member of the House of Representatives, to make sure that this place is a safe and respectful environment. I take my responsibility as an employer very seriously and I take my responsibility as a woman in this place very seriously. I want to make sure that there are real and meaningful consequences for bad behaviour.

I'm also really sad to reflect on the fact that people I know, people who I care for and are my friends, have had their careers cut short due to the environments that they've worked in here, whilst others, who very well may have misbehaved, have thrived. This isn't fair. This isn't fair at all.

So the bill before us today will make a real difference to the culture in this place and the experiences of workers in this place. It is an incredibly important achievement from everybody who has worked on it.

Since the Set the standard report was first handed down, the Labor Party has been committed to implementing all 28 of its recommendations. Of course parliamentary workplaces, like every other workplace in this country, should be safe and respectful for everyone. Last year, the government, working with the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce and its Staff Consultation Group, established the statutory Parliamentary Workplace Support Service. The PWSS, the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, commenced its enhanced operations in October last year, providing centralised human resources support to parliamentarians and their staff. The PWSS also provides services to a broader cohort of people who work in the parliament, to support a safe and respectful workplace.

This bill will establish the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission, and this entity will be able to investigate complaints about breaches of behaviour codes that will apply in the parliamentary workplace. Its commencement will mean those codes can finally commence. It will have fair and confidential processes. It will be independent and it will be impartial.

Our government has worked really closely with parliamentarians, through the PLT, staff and others across parliament to get these important reforms right, so that, when serious workplace issues arise, people have recourse through an independent investigation and real accountability for those doing the wrong thing. We've also sought to align as much as possible with the approach and recommendations of the Set the standard report, whilst balancing the need for the legislation to carefully interact with the role of the parliament—which is, of course, a unique workplace. We've sought really carefully to strike this balance.

The IPSC would be established as part of the PWSS. There's going to be a functional separation between the IPSC's investigation function and the PWSS's functions. Nevertheless, they will work together in complementary ways. It is intended that the PWSS will continue to be the front door for complainants, although a complaint could be made directly to the IPSC. The IPSC would not commence investigations that would be better addressed through the PWSS's complaint resolution function. As an independent and impartial body, the IPSC is well placed to undertake investigations and determine whether misconduct has occurred. Their process is very important in all of this. The IPSC will be able to directly impose sanctions on MPs, including training, behaviour agreements and reprimands, and will refer serious findings to the relevant privileges committee, to recommend appropriate sanctions to the parliament. This is really important in restoring faith in institutions that we know globally are in decline, including in Australia. People do expect parliamentarians to behave in a way that demonstrates integrity and accountability, and this body, I think, will enhance that part of the role of an MP.

The relevant house privileges committee would then be responsible for considering the appropriate sanction and would be required to report to the parliament with their recommendation. This would require a public report and ensure they are accountable for their recommendation to the parliament. This is consistent with the longstanding convention of the parliament appropriately holding members to account.

Passage of this legislation will help finalise the implementation of government recommendations from the Set the standard report. This was a historic report and, as I noted earlier, the government accepted the recommendations. So this really means that we are being good-faith operators in relation to what we believe are our obligations from those recommendations in the report and honouring the evidence that so many people generously and courageously gave to the inquiry. As I mentioned earlier, there were hundreds of people that were involved in that process.

This legislation will help ensure this workplace is able to lead by example and is safer for everyone—for parliamentarians, for staff—who works in this building and in other parliamentary workplaces. Parliament House is a unique workplace. We do want to attract the best here, and we want everyone who works here to have an enriching and fulfilling experience. Nobody's career should be cut short because they were subjected to inappropriate conduct with no recourse to any kind of action against any alleged perpetrator. All of us here have a shared responsibility to make sure that people who work in this building and in other political offices are able to do their job in a safe way and where they're confident that the systems and supports are there for them when they need them.

I think 'set the standard' as a title for the report is incredibly important, and I also reflect on the perhaps cliché maxim 'the standard we walk past is the standard that we accept'. I think it is really important that all of us here recognise the responsibility we collectively have to make sure that we are all paying attention and making sure that standards do not slip and that everyone here is included, respected and safe in this workplace and other parliamentary workplaces. We've taken time to get this right. I'm really pleased that we are here today speaking about the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. I hope that this will mean that, in the future, if things go wrong—and we absolutely hope that they do not and that the culture in this place improves—there will be meaningful consequences that will be able to be delivered. I'm very pleased to commend this bill to the House.