Lidia Thorpe has claimed she was sexually assaulted four times by Labor and Liberal figures in her first six months after becoming a member of parliament.
The independent senator made the allegations on Friday when addressing reports she made formal bullying complaints with Greens leader Adam Bandt's office and the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service before she quit the party last month.
Senator Thorpe, who took her seat in September 2020, alleged the sexual assaults were perpetrated by people connected with both the Labor and Liberal parties, but not with the Greens.
She said she had reported the incidents to the same workplace support body.
Expanding on a "very hard time for me in this place", she labelled the Parliament House culture toxic.
"People wonder why I get a little bit frustrated, but I've had to endure so much in my time in this place," Senator Thorpe told ABC TV.
"That's why I say it is a toxic workplace ... I want people out there to know it's been the most traumatic two years in this place, due to bad behaviour of politicians."
Senator Thorpe also expanded on bullying allegations against her former Greens colleagues.
She said she was "undermined and bullied" and felt unsafe in the workplace, also alleging that had continued despite her shift to the crossbench.
"When the news came out about me resigning, everybody thought it was about just the (Indigenous) voice," Senator Thorpe said.
"I wanted to correct the record ... I was undermined, I was bullied and I felt unsafe, and I raised that a number of times, to no avail, so I've followed through with the parliamentary workplace support people."
The independent senator outlined one "demoralising" incident where a colleague patted her on the head, stating she'd kept the incident quiet to "go with the flow".
"I was patted on the head in the chamber by a Greens senator and I was completely demoralised," Senator Thorpe said.
"Even thinking about that still hurts me, I've never been patted on the head by anybody, and I'm nobody's little black girl."
A spokesperson for Greens leader Adam Bandt's office said the party was aware of the workplace complaints but did not believe they constituted bullying.
They added the party had arranged for PWSS mediation to address the complaints before Senator Thorpe's decision to quit the party.
