Politician apologises for yelling, swearing in staff meeting

Independent Fiona Carrick has apologised in the ACT Legislative Assembly after she "yelled, swore and slammed the table" during a staff meeting.

A staff member made a formal complaint, alleging Ms Carrick had breached the MLA code of conduct during a meeting in May.

The assembly's commissioner for standards found Ms Carrick had breached the code through "shouting at a staff member despite repeated requests for her to stop, swearing, slamming the table and threatening not to renew an employment contract in front of other staff".

Commissioner Ken Crispin referred the matter to the assembly's standing committee on administration and procedure, which recommended Ms Carrick apologise to the assembly, which she did.

"I acknowledge that my conduct on that occasion fell below the standard I expect of myself, and the standard rightly expected of members of this assembly," Ms Carrick told the assembly this afternoon.

"I apologised to those involved at the time, and today I apologise to the assembly."

She said her current team of staff was working "collaboratively and effectively" together.

"This experience has reinforced to me the importance of maintaining a workplace that is respectful, collegiate and safe," she said.

"I remain committed to upholding those standards and to supporting the wellbeing of all my staff members."

'Isolated outburst', committee says

The complaint centred around obligations upon MLAs in the code "to promote a workplace that is collegiate, inclusive and diverse and in which health and safety risks are eliminated or minimised; and by their conduct reflect such a workplace".

The commissioner found Ms Carrick failed in her requirement to, in her own conduct, reflect a collegiate, inclusive, diverse and safe workplace.

The committee's report detailed how four staff were present at the weekly team meeting.

"She agreed that she raised her voice, used inappropriate language and referred to a staff member's employment in a group setting,"

the committee's report said.

According to the committee, the commissioner said it was "an isolated outburst of frustration" and that Ms Carrick had acknowledged that she had not handled the situation professionally.

Incident points to earlier alleged issues

The report said 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".

The committee said the evidence provided to the commissioner "clearly demonstrated" tension existed in Ms Carrick's office before the May incident, and arose from "interpersonal difficulties between two staff members".

"Ms Carrick was advised to arrange an independent investigation into the allegations; however, she instead implemented a workplace communication workshop for the team," the report said.

"That workshop, however, did not produce the desired outcome and raised other concerns."

Ms Carrick told the commissioner that she had then adopted a "structured intervention", which included engaging an independent workplace therapist.

The commissioner noted Ms Carrick had "made well-meaning attempts to address the tension and conflicts that had arisen."

Ms Carrick was elected as a member for Murrumbidgee at the 2024 election.