Anyone who has ever worked on Capital Hill or any other Commonwealth parliamentary workplace is being urged to take part in the Kate Jenkins-led Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces, which is now taking submissions.
The federal government chose Australia's sex discrimination commissioner in early March to lead the review, which was triggered by the alleged rape of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.
Commissioner Jenkins says she want to hear positive or negative accounts.
"This doesn't just mean politicians and their staff, though we obviously encourage them to contribute," she said.
"We want to hear from anyone who works within the Parliament or electorate offices, in any role.
"On any given sitting day, more than 3500 people work in Parliament House, from Department of Parliamentary Services employees and press gallery journalists to security guards and COMCAR drivers."
Anyone who currently works, or has previously worked, in a Commonwealth parliamentary workplace is now invited to participate in @AusHumanRights's Independent Review via a written submission or confidential interview: https://t.co/kePetQdoEspic.twitter.com/FtBnpPNabz
— Kate Jenkins (@Kate_Jenkins_) May 20, 2021
The Human Rights Commission said it had been granted ethics approval for the review process from a national human research ethics committee.
This allows it to begin conducting confidential interviews and accepting written contributions from groups covered by the Review's Terms of Reference.
Since her ordeal has been made public, Ms Higgins has been calling for a change to workplace culture in parliamentary offices, saying it shouldn't take a public rape scandal for women to feel safe in their workplace.
The Prime Minister has apologised to Ms Higgins and agreed the system had let her down in a meeting that also discussed proposals to reform parliamentary workplaces.
The Kate Jenkins review will accept written submissions until the end of July and is due to deliver its findings in November.
