Independent Fiona Carrick shouted, slammed a table and swore at a staff member and threatened not to renew the staffer's contract in front of other workers in an incident found to have breached the code of conduct for MLAs.
Ms Carrick had acknowledged her behaviour fell short of her own standards, a committee report released on Thursday said, and the member for Murrumbidgee apologised in the chamber.
The Assembly's administration and procedure committee recommended Ms Carrick apologise to the Assembly.
Ms Carrick said she apologised to the people involved at the time and was now apologising to the Assembly.
"This experience has reinforced to me the importance of maintaining a workplace that is respectful, collegiate and safe. I remain committed to upholding those standards and to supporting the wellbeing of all my staff members," Ms Carrick told the Assembly.
"I am pleased that my current team is working collaboratively and effectively together, with its focus firmly on serving the people of Murrumbidgee and delivering outcomes for the community. In order to respect the privacy of my staff, I will not be commenting publicly on office matters."
The committee's report was prompted by the Legislative Assembly's commissioner for standards, Ken Crispin KC, finding Ms Carrick had breached a requirement that members' behaviour reflects a collegiate, inclusive and diverse workplace where health and safety risks are eliminated or minimised.
The complaint centred on a May staff meeting and "further information provided by staff threw a wider net over Ms Carrick's behaviour and allegations that she had failed to adequately address formal and informal complaints about bullying in the office".
"In the weekly team meeting specified in the complaint and attended by four staff of the office, it was reported that Ms Carrick had yelled, swore and slammed the table. In addition, she threatened to not renew an employment contract for one staffer," the report said.
Ms Carrick told The Canberra Times she swore in frustration and blurted out she was not renewing the contract in a meeting where multiple people's voices were raised and she had attempted to clarify a misunderstanding.
"I had already made the decision not to renew the contract and had been considering how and when to communicate that decision in a respectful and supportive way. While it was raised inappropriately during the meeting, it was not intended as a threat. It reflected a decision I had already made," Ms Carrick said.
"I apologised for my conduct that day.
"The commissioner also recognised that I had made genuine efforts to promote a collegiate and safe workplace and that the office had been dealing with complex workplace dynamics affecting multiple staff members. My focus throughout was on supporting the wellbeing of all members of my team."
Ms Carrick, a first-term MLA elected in 2024, told the standards commissioner the incident was a single and brief escalation during a moment of frustration during a circular and unresolved discussion.
"Voices were raised by more than one participant. There was no sustained course of conduct, no ongoing behaviour of the same kind, and not attempt to target, isolate or intimidate [redacted] in the sense contemplated by the code," she said.
Ms Carrick said the conduct did not involve repeated or prolonged behaviour, any misuse of authority, any ongoing intimidation or harassment or any decision that altered the staffer's employment.
Dr Crispin noted the investigation was only about a complaint against Ms Carrick but the allegations she had failed to address bullying complaints and that some staff had exhibited hostile and aggressive behaviour were also relevant.
The report said there had been tension in Ms Carrick's office before the incident on May 4 and a senior official in the Office of the Legislative Assembly had been aware of workplace issues since September 2025 and they had escalated from February 2026.
The official had advised the Assembly's standards commissioner that much of the tension arose from interpersonal difficulties between two staff members in Ms Carrick's office.
"Ms Carrick was advised to arrange an independent investigation into the allegations, however she instead implemented a workplace communication workshop for the team. That workshop, however, did not produce the desired outcome and raised other concerns," the report said.
The workshop facilitator suggested Ms Carrick had responded to the tensions in her office conscientiously and Dr Crispin was satisfied Ms Carrick genuinely sought to promote a collegiate, inclusive and diverse and safe workplace.
The Assembly's administration and procedure committee said it was also disturbed its confidential documents had been shared, which was discovered when a law firm representing one of Ms Carrick's staff members wrote to Speaker Jeremy Hanson in August.
Ms Carrick and the staffer both told the committee the staffer was "entitled" in their view to see and use the report to seek legal representation, a conclusion the committee did not disagree with.
The committee did not find the release of the material to be in contempt but recommended Assembly members be reminded committee material could not be distributed without the authorisation of the committee.
