CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses alleged sexual harassment.
Independent Senator Fatima Payman says she’s lodged a formal complaint against a senior male parliamentary colleague after he allegedly taunted her with sexually suggestive and racially insensitive comments during a work social event.
Speaking to Triple j’s program, Hack, the former Labor politician, revealed that she had made a formal complaint through the Parliamentary Workplace Support System (PWSS) after a senior male co-worker allegedly made a plethora of problematic comments towards her.
Senator Payman, who is Muslim and therefore doesn’t drink alcohol, claimed that she was at a work social event when an older, male parliamentary co-worker — who she alleged “had too many drinks” — made comments like, “Let’s get some wine into you and see you dance on the table.”
“I don’t drink and I don’t need to be made … to feel left out because you do,” Payman shared on Triple j.
“It definitely wasn’t appropriate,” she continued.
“I told this colleague, ‘Hey, I’m drawing a line, mate’, and moved on to making a formal complaint.”
Further in her interview with the program, Payman encouraged young Australians to call out behaviour that makes them “uncomfortable”.
“If that something makes you feel uncomfortable, call it out and say ‘yeah that wasn’t cool’,” the senator continued.
Speaking to The Guardian, the Senator admitted that she questioned if she was “overthinking” or was being “overly sensitive” before making the complaint. However, another colleague encouraged her to go forward.
“I was thinking, am I overthinking this or being overly sensitive? Is this normal? But it was inappropriate – if another colleague had told me that had happened to them, I would recommend them to make a complaint,” she said, before adding that the colleague didn’t apologise for the alleged incident.
“I’ve got no problem with people drinking, but you don’t get to tell me how you’d like me to drink wine or what that would do to me,” Payman told the publication.
“All women, no matter their workplace, at unions or childcare centres or schools or Parliament House, they should feel safe and comfortable in their own skin, unafraid and without experiencing that prejudice.
“The whole environment in Parliament House is very much like a boys’ club, that needs to be called out and change.”
Payman’s complaint was escalated to the Parliamentary Workplace Support System, which was established after Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped in Parliament House by a colleague.
The Senator added that she was happy with how “swift” her complaint was handled by the PWSS.
“I know my complaints were dealt with, I was reassured. It didn’t take place ever again … You’ve got to celebrate the wins and learn from the shortcomings. Although PWSS isn’t perfect, they’re doing their best and there is a shift in the culture of parliament,” Payman told The Guardian.
According to its most recent annual report, published in October 2024, the PWSS managed 339 cases from 2023 to 2024. 30 of the cases were in relation to rape and sexual assault, assault, sexual harassment, harassment, stalking or intimidation. 33 were related to bullying.
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Image source: AAP Photos / Mick Tsikas
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