The harassment of parliamentarians and judicial officers: a South Australian perspective

Abstract

An anonymous electronic survey was distributed to the members of the South Australian parliament and judiciary. Data was analysed to determine whether there were meaningful differences between parliamentarians and judicial officers in their experiences as victims of harassment. Responses were received from 28% of all members surveyed with 96% of participants reporting at least one form of harassment. Parliamentarians reported a higher prevalence of more serious forms of harassment relative to judicial officers. Parliamentarians reported experiencing harassment in both private and professional contexts whereas judicial officers almost exclusively experienced harassment in a professional context. Harassment caused significant psychological harm and social disruption across both cohorts. There were minor differences in the sources of help utilised by both cohorts; however, judicial officers reported greater satisfaction with help received relative to parliamentarians. The majority of respondents were in favour of receiving advice from a specialised service to mitigate future harassment behaviour.