Australia Catches Up, and What Hope for the Future?

While slow to begin, Australia has undertaken systematic standards reform since 2021. The Australian parliament is putting in place a set of interlocking new rules and institutions which aim to establish, for the first time, independent regulation and accountability in the parliamentary workplace. An authoritative cross-party body leads the reform process, providing a high level of accountability and driving consensus. The reform agenda draws on a more comprehensive review of parliamentary workplaces than seen elsewhere. The Jenkins Review framed parliament as a workplace in which rights to safety existed and it named gender inequality as a key driver of toxicity. Australian reformers drew on experiences in other Westminster parliaments, especially the UK. One of Australia’s distinctive innovations is an independent centralised Human Resources (HR) body, able to make policies and mandate professional employment practices for parliament. While formal institutions have changed across the Westminster world, informal norms such as adversarialism are resilient. There is conscious policy borrowing amongst Westminster reformers, but improving toxic parliaments will be an ongoing project, requiring sustained and committed leadership.