Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins says there has been a turning point in changing the toxic workplace culture in federal parliament.
On Thursday, a code of conduct for parliamentarians and their staff came into force, a recommendation of the landmark Set the Standard report by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins.
The report was initiated after Ms Higgins went public with allegations she had been sexually assaulted inside a ministerial office by a then-colleague which sparked a national conversation about parliamentary culture.
Ms Jenkins' 2021 review lifted the lid on misconduct, finding one in three people surveyed in federal parliament reported being sexually harassed on the job.
Ms Higgins thanked the commissioner and Kerri Hartland, chair of the Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce that wrote the codes, for their work.
"This is a huge turning point in changing the toxic workplace culture in our nation's parliament," Ms Higgins wrote in a statement.
"It's incredible how quickly things can be changed when you have the concerted effort of so many people at once.
"Reminder: the standard you walk past is the standard you accept."
Parliament has so far implemented six of the 28 recommendations from the Set the Standard report.
Four other recommendations have been partly implemented and 17 are in progress.
Ms Jenkins said while there had been positive changes that have improved parliamentary workplaces, the job was not done.
"The next step is to set up the (enforcement) mechanism," she told ABC Radio National.
"That will be a place where people can take complaints and ... if there is a reason that they need to do a full investigation, it can do that and make recommendations for consequences."
The new mechanisms will include a parliamentary workplace support service and an independent parliamentary standards commission which will be the investigative body.
Ms Jenkins said she expected both to be set up within the next 12 months.
"These are all historic steps ... the parliament has really committed to say 'we want to be a leading workplace'," she said.
"Many parliamentarians are very keen for each other to be held to account."
