Marles' exiled chief of staff names colleague who allegedly bullied her
One of the government’s most senior female staffers is suing Defence Minister Richard Marles and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Tim Gartrell, for allegedly ousting her after she complained of bullying by a media adviser in the office.
Marles’ exiled chief of staff, Jo Tarnawsky, alleges in Federal Court documents filed on Monday that the deputy prime minister’s media adviser Kate Hanns routinely ignored her, belittled her and excluded her from crucial information until she complained in April this year.
Jo Tarnawsky has launched legal proceedings against Richard Marles and Tim Gartrell.Credit: Matthew Absalom-Wong
Tarnawsky, who technically remains the chief of staff on a $270,000 salary, alleges that Marles initially supported her but then worked with Gartrell to effectively oust her from her role. In an April 30 call described in the court documents, Tarnawsky alleges that Marles told her “Ms Hanns… meant so much more” to him than “just an important staff member”.
At a press conference in Parliament House on Monday, a visibly shaking Tarnawsky said she had been forced to wait 200 days without a resolution since she last worked in the role.
“Taking legal action has come at the end of a very long and traumatic road,” Tarnawsky said. “The government has been afforded multiple opportunities to rectify the wrongs done to me, but it has done nothing except duck and cover, collude and delay.”
Tarnawsky is suing for hurt, distress, humiliation and damage to her health and reputation.
The legal action will test Labor’s pledge to fix parliamentary workplace behaviour, while pulling focus from the government’s push to pass up to 20 pieces of legislation in the last sitting week of the year.
Tarnawsky’s lawyers – solicitor Michael Bradley and barrister Rebecca Davern – claim under the Fair Work Act that Marles, Gartrell and the Commonwealth engaged in adverse action against the staffer by effectively pushing her out of her role.
The statement of claim, seen by this masthead, names Marles’ director of media Kate Hanns as the member of staff who allegedly bullied and harassed Tarnawsky from May 2023.
Tarnawsky alleges Hanns routinely did not respond to her messages, belittled and criticised her in front of colleagues and withheld crucial information.
In early 2024, more staff allegedly bullied Tarnawsky by gossiping about her within the hearing of Marles and herself, refusing to engage with her about a trip to Ukraine and excluding her from team outings.
Tarnawsky claims she informed Marles of bullying in April. He responded that he valued her and would discuss the issue that day, but the pair agreed to postpone the discussion, Tarnawsky alleges. Then in another call, he backed Hanns and, Tarnawsky claims, said the situation was not “fixable” and she would have to leave “with dignity”.
Hanns, the deputy prime minister’s office and the prime minister’s office were contacted for comment, with a government spokesman from Special Minister of State Don Farrell’s office responding. “This matter is subject to legal proceedings, and it would not be appropriate to comment further,” the spokesman said.
After returning from leave in May 2024, Tarnawsky alleges she was informed by another government employee that Gartrell and Marles had decided she should take an inferior job outside the deputy prime minister’s office. She was restricted from entering her old office without 24 hours’ notice, Tarnawsky alleges.
But Tarnawsky was allowed back to Parliament for the week of the 2024 Budget, which was held on May 14, where she was to network in the hopes of finding a new job that would give her what Gartrell allegedly described as “agency” in her “story about leaving”.
Tarnawsky met with Marles and Gartrell in Parliament House on May 16 where she claims the minister allegedly told her to take half a year of leave “off the books”. Tarnawsky did not agree to the proposal that would have cost the taxpayer $135,000 for no work.
By August, Tarnawsky claimed she was effectively removed from her role after another person began acting as chief of staff, moved into her old office, and her office group chats became inactive.
Marles himself is not accused of bullying Tarnawsky – who is a former diplomat and one of the most senior women in government – and she claims he had never raised issues with her performance before her ouster.
Tarnawsky previously said the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service was briefing lawyers to deal with her after she engaged her own lawyers to access more counselling services.
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Marles has previously praised Tarnawsky and said he had worked to support her wellbeing and that of his other staff as he managed the situation. “She has given me great service, and I remain deeply grateful for that,” Marles said.
His spokeswoman has also disputed unspecified parts of Tarnawsky’s “assertions and recollections” in a statement.
Earlier this month, this masthead revealed the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service handled 339 cases in its first nine months, including some categorised as relating to serious issues such as sexual assault, with fewer than 10 formal complaints.
Her lawyer Michael Bradley, a senior partner in Marque Lawyers, said the workplace support service had been “set up to fail”.
“[It] ends up being a support service for the member of parliament, including providing the member of parliament with free legal support, and the staffer is left on their own,” he said.
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