“But local government is different, we don’t have all the protections of state and federal politicians.”
Piffaretti said she also dealt with frequent comments about her appearance, age and that she doesn’t “look like a mayor”.
Cambridge councillor Alaine Haddon-Casey said the behaviour in local government was worse than what she experienced as a teenager working for a large real estate agent in the city in the 1970s.
“I’ve seen name-calling such as slut and bitch, ass-slapping, physical grabbing, standing over women when they are sitting down, invading personal space to intimidate and even stalking,” she said.
“What other workplace would this be acceptable in? And yet for years, meetings have been audio-taped and livestreamed, evidencing these behaviours, and not one male local government minister gave a damn about what was publicly available evidence of harassment.
“Professional career women are constantly harangued, demeaned or essentially verbally abused and yet complaints from these women have either been minimised or ignored.”
Haddon-Casey said the recent desk-thumping video of Bradley should have prompted action from Local Government Minister John Carey.
“It may have given the minister a laugh, but what did he actually do? Nothing,” she said.
Speaking generally, City of Melville councillor Karen Wheatland, also the national vice president of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association, said the antics in local government were like nothing she had ever encountered.
“That is saying something coming from a blue-collar, male-dominated industry working as a seafarer,” she said.
“I have witnessed the disgraceful treatment of a senior, well-respected woman on council who had previously served as mayor get put down, silenced, and laughed at.
“Her resilience kept her at the table, but I saw the long-term effects it had on her.”
Wheatland said women made up 40 per cent of elected members in WA and said the low retention rate spoke for itself.
She said the current complaints process through the standards panel allowed for vexatious complainants to harass and intimidate elected members.
“We need more penalties and consequences, and more focus on what the line in the sand is,” she said.
ALGWA president Chontelle Stone said councils were well behind corporate Australia in dealing with workplace bullying and harassment.
City of Cockburn councillor Chontelle Stone said she had witnessed behaviour that would result in immediate dismissal in other workplaces.
“Female councillors deliberately excluded from meetings, discussions or events; editing councillors they don’t like out of group photos; not acknowledging the presence of other councillors in the room; acting aggressively towards each other and making personal attacks instead of debating issues,” she said.
Stone, also president of the WA branch of the national association, said until recently the code of conduct for elected members was voluntary.
“We have seen women elected to local government who were bullied and quit because it became too much, costing ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars for by-elections,” she said.
“One of our members has been harassed by a member of public so much that they went to court to take out a misconduct order against the perpetrator to try to stop it.”
Stone said there was no mandatory training for elected members, and the penalties for poor behaviour such as training, apology or public censure were not harsh enough to act as a deterrent.
“What even is a public censure to anyone anymore?” she said.
“Some elected members accumulate complaints and wear them as a badge of honour.”
Bradley, the self-proclaimed cranky councillor who repeatedly thumped his desk with his iPad and flicked a lamp on and off in protest after mayor Keri Shannon told him he was behaving like a child, is one who wears his list of complaints as a badge of honour, as he told WAtoday.
In 2019, Bradley was found by the Local Government Standards Panel to have breached the Local Government Act when he called sitting councillor Josephine McAllister a “liar” and a “stupid bitch” during a council meeting.
Another meeting ground to a halt last month after Bradley and fellow councillor Gary Mack called for an amendment be made to the minutes to explain their absence from a meeting called at short notice by the mayor.
Shannon demanded the councillors stop talking over her while she argued against the motion before abruptly ending the meeting.
“I am so sick and tired of the misogynists in this room — it’s going to be over now,” said Shannon.
Marianne Saliba, the Australian Local Government Women’s Association’s national president, said all states should follow Victoria’s lead and audit the sector for bullying, harassment and intimidation.
She said regional areas were worse, with “male, pale and stale men” over-represented and women disrespected.
Local Government Minister John Carey said sexist and misogynist behaviour was unacceptable and had no place in local government but conceded powers to act under the current legislation were limited.
He said state would introduce the most significant reforms to the sector in 25 years in the “near future” as a “priority”.
Among the measures are suspension of councillors for up to three months for breaching the Act more than once, disqualifying repeat offenders from office and for serious offences, prosecution.
The Australian Local Government Women’s Association’s WA branch issued a statement reporting that over the past few months, they had seen a rise in member accounts of workplace bullying and harassment, especially at a council level.
They want mandatory workplace bullying and harassment training for all elected members and for those who don’t comply to receive a $5000 fine.
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Local councils ‘hotbeds of bullying, sexism, harassment’: Women lift the lid - WAtoday
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