Australia to end harassment exemption for judges and politicians | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
June 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025
Australia to end harassment exemption for judges and politicians

World+Biz

Reuters
08 April, 2021, 10:00 am
Last modified: 08 April, 2021, 10:02 am

Related News

  • Oman returnees allege harassment at Dhaka airport over cancelled connecting flight: What we know
  • UK to expand submarine fleet as defence review calls for 'warfighting readiness'
  • Australia's defence minister urges greater military openness from China
  • Weak Chinese demand leaves Australia with too much wheat
  • Australia floods recovery could take several months: Albanese

Australia to end harassment exemption for judges and politicians

“Sexual harassment is unacceptable,” Morrison told reporters in the capital, Canberra

Reuters
08 April, 2021, 10:00 am
Last modified: 08 April, 2021, 10:02 am
FILE PHOTO: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan, November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato
FILE PHOTO: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan, November 17, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Australia will remove exemptions for judges and politicians from sexual harassment laws, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, as his government struggles to contain a backlash over allegations of mistreatment of female lawmakers and staff.

Under broad changes designed to empower complainants in workplace gender-related disputes, employers will be required to take a proactive approach to stopping gender discrimination, while complainants get a longer period of time to lodge their complaint, Morrison said.

Early last year, a report by Australia's sex discrimination commissioner called for broad changes to workplace laws including removing exemptions for public sector employers and people who hire volunteers.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Morrison said on Thursday he will adopt all 55 of the commissioner's recommendations which include a blanket ban on workplace gender discrimination, mandatory training of company directors and reporting by listed companies, as well as improved coordination between complaint-handling agencies.

"Sexual harassment is unacceptable," Morrison told reporters in the capital, Canberra.

"It's not only immoral and despicable and even criminal, but ... it denies Australians, especially women, not just their personal security but their economic security by not being safe at work."

Public servants like judges and politicians are currently exempt from complaints about workplace gender discrimination, as are some employers of volunteers, because of a legal loophole which means they are technically not the complainant's employer.

The government has been battling allegations it has mishandled alleged instances of sexual harassment and assault after a female former staffer of Morrison's government went public in February with an allegation that she was raped in a ministerial office in 2019.

In March the country's then attorney general said he was the subject of an unrelated historical rape allegation in 1988, which he has strongly denied.

Morrison's handling of the sexual harassment issue has been widely criticised and polls show his personal approval at its lowest level since before the pandemic. A protest outside parliament about gender discrimination and violence drew tens of thousands of people.

Zali Steggall, an independent member of parliament who has advocated for reforms to sexual harassment laws, said the move was "a win for everyone who has been calling on the government to act on sexual harassment, particularly the tens of thousands of people who marched for justice last month".

Until this year, most polls had suggested that Morrison's conservative coalition would be returned to office at the next general election, due within a year, after its hardline Covid-19 response all but eradicated the virus in the country.

Top News

Scott Morrison / Australian PM Scott Morrison / harassment / australia

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks at the Chatham House in London on 11 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    No desire to be part of next elected govt: CA Yunus
  • File photo of BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    Khasru flies to London to join Yunus-Tarique meeting
  • File Photo: TBS
    DGHS issues 11-point directive to prevent spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh

MOST VIEWED

  • Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS
    Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon
  • A file photo of Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur. Photo: Collected
    'I have no relation with this': Ahsan Mansur debunks Joy’s allegations over daughter’s Dubai flat
  • Faiz Ahmad Tayeb. Photo: BSS
    Import duty on raw materials for e-bikes, lithium batteries reduced from 80% to 1% in some cases: Faiz Taiyeb
  • Screengrab from video shows a group of local youths forcing tourists to leave a tourist spot in Utmachhra area of Sylhet's Companiganj on Sunday, 8 June 2025, citing allegations of obscene activities and environmental damage
    Locals declare tourist spot in Sylhet 'closed', force visitors to leave
  • Shakil Ahmed. Photo: Collected
    DU student allegedly hangs himself following threats over old derogatory comment about Prophet on Facebook
  • Photo shows the Land Cruiser Prado car belonging to former member of parliament (MP) Anwarul Azim Anar found in Kushtia. Photo: TBS
    Luxury car of ex-AL MP Anar, who was killed in Kolkata, found in Kushtia

Related News

  • Oman returnees allege harassment at Dhaka airport over cancelled connecting flight: What we know
  • UK to expand submarine fleet as defence review calls for 'warfighting readiness'
  • Australia's defence minister urges greater military openness from China
  • Weak Chinese demand leaves Australia with too much wheat
  • Australia floods recovery could take several months: Albanese

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

1h | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

23h | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

2d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

4d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

WB predicts worst decade for global growth since 60s

WB predicts worst decade for global growth since 60s

1h | TBS Stories
Foreign firm to draft merger plan for investment promotion agencies

Foreign firm to draft merger plan for investment promotion agencies

2h | TBS Insight
US-China London meeting ends as planned

US-China London meeting ends as planned

3h | TBS World
When will the heat wave subside?

When will the heat wave subside?

3h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net