Sexism, bullying sparks reforms at Productivity Commission

The news: A major overhaul of the Productivity Commission will get under way after sexism, harassment and bullying were exposed in an independent investigation. The inquiry was triggered after a complaint about workplace culture at the economic advisory body.

The numbers: The review made 23 recommendations focused on improving leadership, workplace culture and staff supports, better identifying risks and improving the handling of complaints. The commission has agreed to implement all recommendations and provide a progress report after 12 months.

The context: A lack of diversity, power imbalances and poor accountability were identified as driving factors behind inappropriate behaviour at the organisation.

One participant reported being subjected to repeated sexism, belittling, humiliation, and verbal abuse. The review identified a small group of men "set and dominated the culture within the Canberra office", where inappropriate behaviour was most prevalent. It heard women from the Melbourne office were warned to watch out for predatory behaviour by certain individuals at the Canberra office when travelling there for work. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said all of the individuals involved in the behaviour before 2022 had left the agency but more needed to be done.