The online module was available from April 2014, under the current Coalition government, and was removed at the end of January this year. The Department of Finance indicated it was removed because the department had "changed providers" and the policy was being reviewed.

"Any update coming out of the review would obviously be incorporated in the work health and safety portal as part of its redevelopment of online work health and safety training," department secretary Rosemary Huxtable said in February. "We've just been through a renewal process with the online provider."

The Department of Finance undertook a review of workplace bullying and harassment policies for political staffers at the end of last year, and will be looking at updating the policies, but no deadline has been set on when the new policies will be in place.



The questions about sexual harassment came as former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was facing allegations of sexual harassment, with a complaint lodged to the Nationals Party. Finance minister Mathias Cormann said that there were no complaints lodged with the department about Joyce.

Greens senator Janet Rice said at the estimates hearing that she didn't recall being informed of the workplace bullying and sexual harassment policy during her Senate induction. Cormann said at the time that members of parliament were ultimately responsible for their own actions.

"In the end, every member of parliament is responsible and accountable for his or her conduct," he said. "The department has a role in relation to employees.

"Executive government can provide advice and guidance, but in the end every individual member of parliament who is not an employee of the government – members and senators are obviously encouraged to consider relevant guidance and advice that is provided in the public domain – is ultimately responsible for their own conduct."

The prime minister updated the ministerial code of conduct to ban sex between staffers and ministers earlier this year.

Ashby is now the chief of staff for One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

