Dorinda Cox’s staff have left the Greens senator’s office over workplace claims

The draft complaint states that Cox “would admit to me that she found it difficult to maintain decorum and would apologize for her overreactions to situations, promising to do better next time.

“But the behavior persisted, often becoming aggressive, persistently negative and sometimes cruel, which ultimately led to my mental health deteriorating to the point where I was experiencing daily panic attacks, suicidal thoughts and an almost complete loss of self-esteem in my professional skills. .

“I felt at the time that if I did not resign, my mental health would deteriorate to the point where medical intervention in a hospital would be necessary, something I expressed to the chief of staff in Adam Bandt’s office.”

“She asked me to come work for her and I had high expectations, but she is a bully.”

Aunt Esther Montgomery

A “cultural diagnostic assessment” of Cox’s office, conducted by corporate welfare firm FBG Group in April 2022 and leaked to this masthead, found that the senator’s office had undergone “significant changes” since he entered parliament, a reference to high staff turnover, and recommended “individual proactive psychological support/coaching for the Senator” and “proactive wellness coaching for all office staff, especially the leadership team.”

The review recommended providing trauma support through the employee assistance program and “embedding greater opportunities for self-care into the working day.”

At least four formal complaints have been filed with the PWSS and at least five have been referred to Bandt’s office. In December 2023, a second cultural diagnostic assessment was conducted by the internal department at Cox’s request, while staff continued to leave. The PWSS has declined to comment on the complaints.

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The high turnover of staff in Cox’s office has been an open secret within the Greens political party since she entered parliament through a temporary vacancy in September 2021, following the retirement of veteran Greens senator Rachel Siewert.

Aunt Esther Montgomery, a Mardathoonera elder from the Pilbara region, worked for Cox for about six weeks from February 2024 to Easter before quitting.

She said the senator “continually let me down” and confirmed she had filed formal complaints with Bandt’s office and support services.

“I was working as a community organizer, she asked me to come work for her and I had high expectations, but she is a bully,” Montgomery said.

‘She undermines you all the time, but she wouldn’t let me go out or meet people. She wouldn’t allow me to work with people at the grassroots. I said that was impossible. She would abandon me psychologically… She is not a shrinking violet.”

Sarah Quinton, media adviser to former WA Greens senator Scott Ludlam from 2014 to 2017, became Cox’s chief of staff when the senator entered parliament in September 2021.

The veteran political operative lasted only four months before resigning and filing a complaint with the support service and Bandt’s office.

“As long as parliament and political parties continue to adopt weak lines that impact members of parliament, staff will continue to be placed in dangerous working environments,” Quinton said.

“This would never happen in the business world or the nonprofit world. If a CEO or anyone in management had behaved this way, they would have been fired. Why doesn’t our democratic system apply the same standards?”

A third former employee, who is also Indigenous but did not want to be named, said that “as an Aboriginal woman she should be rounded up by our mob”.

A spokesperson for Cox said the number of staff leaving the senator’s office was not unusually high and said part of the reason for the attrition was her move to the First Nations portfolio during the Voice to Parliament referendum campaign.

He said Cox was respectful and collaborative with colleagues and her staff and that she “remains very grateful to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service for the work they do in helping offices across the country, including mine, despite the challenging circumstances, both politically and politics. and personal”.

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Spokespeople for Bandt and Cox did not respond to questions about the PWSS complaints, the bullying allegations or the reasons for the cultural diagnosis.

Bandt’s spokesperson said everyone deserved a safe working environment and that the PWSS played a vital role in maintaining a safe workplace “despite the challenging nature of political work”.

“The Leader’s office has no legal authority to resolve disputes between staff and an individual Senator’s office, and if a staff member makes a complaint, he or she is encouraged and supported to pursue it through the independent PWSS , and that happened here,” the spokesperson said. said spokesperson.