Issue date: Tuesday, 14 March 2023

The Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce held its first meeting of 2023 on 7 March 2023.

The Taskforce welcomed the new independent Chair, Dr Vivienne Thom, who commenced in the role in February 2023.

Members discussed the progress towards establishing the new Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, noting legislation will be considered later in the year. Members discussed the imminent establishment of a new staff consultation group and agreed it will be consultative in nature and include MoP(S) Act, parliamentary department and Press Gallery representatives. Terms of reference and the final makeup of the staff consultation group will be agreed by the Taskforce ahead of its next meeting.

The Taskforce agreed on principles that should underpin any alcohol policy within a Commonwealth parliamentary workplace and discussed a draft baseline alcohol policy for parliamentarians and their staff. Members will continue to refine the draft policy ahead of consulting with parliamentarians and their staff.

Members noted the outcomes of work by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to help guide the new Parliamentary Workplace Support Service to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework and support data collection and reporting across Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. The outcomes of this work will be discussed with the new staff consultation group once established.

The next meeting will be held in early April 2023.

A progress report on recommendations can be found in a refreshed Implementation Tracker – 7 March 2023.