The public sector union has criticised as a “gross breach of privacy” revelations the former cities minister, Jamie Briggs, circulated a photograph of a female public servant who had lodged a complaint about his “inappropriate” behaviour towards her.

Briggs, who resigned last week over his alleged conduct towards the woman at a Hong Kong bar in November, confirmed on Sunday he had taken and sent to others a picture of her published in pixelated form by the Australian newspaper at the weekend.

The former minister told the Sunday Telegraph he sent the image, showing the woman and Briggs’s chief of staff at the bar, to “a few ­people prior to the complaint and following”.

Both Briggs and the Australian have denied he also passed the image to the newspaper.

The assistant national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, Michael Tull, said circulating the picture after a complaint had been lodged was a violation of the public servant’s privacy.

“If this kind of gross breach of privacy had come from a senior departmental official, or any other public sector worker for that matter, that person would be facing serious repercussions,” he said.

“People should feel safe to raise their concerns without this kind of blowback.



“It’s never easy for a person who works in the public sector to raise inappropriate behaviour, especially when a politician is involved. All Australian workers should feel they are safe from this sort of unreasonable treatment,” he said.

The chief executive of Domestic Violence Victoria, Fiona McCormack, also hit back at suggestions, aired by unnamed government ministers in the Australian’s story, that Briggs’s resignation had set the bar for ministerial conduct “impossibly high”.



“[Politicians] set a bar for the rest of the community. We’re talking about sexual harassment,” she said.



“It’s not a minor thing, its part of a continuum of discrimination and abuse that women can experience, from so-called minor things up to the more significant.”

As well as publishing her picture, the Australian’s story also revealed the woman’s title, details of her career and text message she had sent following the night out in Hong Kong’s Lan Kwai Fong entertainment district on 27 November.

Briggs did not reveal what “error of professional judgment” had prompted his resignation on Tuesday but said he had done nothing illegal.

“We interacted between the three of us and with others in what I believed at the time was an informal manner,” he said.

“However, in the days following the evening, the public servant ... raised concerns about the appropriateness of my behaviour towards her at the venue.

“I’ve apologised directly to her but after careful reflection about the concerns she raised and the fact that I was at a bar late at night while on an overseas visit I have concluded this behaviour has not met the particularly high standards for ministers.”

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said on Wednesday the incident had been investigated in consultation with senior ministers and was a “serious matter”.

“Ministerial standards were breached. His conduct did not live up to the standard required of ministers and as a consequence, he reflected on that and made a decision to offer his resignation which I accepted and it was the appropriate course of action,” he said.



Briggs will stay on as the member for Mayo and has expressed a desire to one day return to the frontbench.

His office has been contacted for comment.