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PWSS Factsheets

There are several reasons why someone may choose to disclose their experience anonymously. Some people may feel more comfortable disclosing their experience with the knowledge that their personally identifying information hasn’t been shared.
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Grief is a natural response to loss. Grieving the loss of someone, or something such as a job, an opportunity, a pet or a way of life, can have significant effects on every part of our life, including our cognitive capacity, our mood and motivation.
The PWSS is an independent, confidential service which offers timely support for people impacted by serious incidents or misconduct in the parliamentary workplace.
Stress is a normal response to pressure, such as moving home or a busy period at work.Anxiety is when feelings of stress or panic persist for some time after a challenging situation has ended, or arise for no clear reason.
Performance management describes a process of maximising the value that employees create. It aims to maintain and improve employees’ performance in line with an organisation’s objectives.
Racial discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably, or not given the same opportunities, as others in a similar situation because of their race, the country where they were born, their ethnic origin, cultural background or their skin colour
The Privacy Act includes 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), which apply to Australian Government agencies and some private sector organisations.
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The primary piece of legislation that governs the PWSS’s record keeping procedures is the Archives Act 1983 (Cth) (‘the Archives Act’). Records produced and held by the PWSS are Commonwealth records within the meaning of the Archives Act.
The Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (PWSS) is committed to transparent decision making and to providing a person who is directly affected by a PWSS decision with access to a fair process for internal review.
Employees will have the right to refuse contact outside their working hours unless that refusal is unreasonable. This means an employee can refuse to monitor, read, or respond to contact, or attempted contact, from an employer or third party.
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A support person provides emotional and moral support to an employee who is attending a difficult meeting or interview in relation to their employment.
Wellbeing is our sense of health, happiness and satisfaction in our life, not just the absence of illness. How we take care of ourselves can make a big difference to our wellbeing.
In considering whether a workplace review should be commissioned, the PWSS will keep in mind the purpose of a workplace review and whether it can be achieved in a particular case.
Workplace bullying is repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety.