Mr Barber said his exit from politics had been planned for several years and had nothing to do with the complaint or the settlement. But the veteran Green also accepted that he and another male member of staff would undertake "sex discrimination and unconscious bias" training as another condition of the settlement. The alleged victim's partner sent an email to 22 senior Greens on September 26 last year that outlined the claims and said an earlier appeal for action to improve conditions for women in the party had been ignored. Two days after the email was sent, Mr Barber – who had already indicated he would not recontest his seat – quit politics. Mr Barber told The Age the claims made by the ex-staffer’s partner, who has had a long association with the former leader through Green politics, were not true.

"Someone has said a lot of untrue things about me, made worse that he admits he doesn’t have first-hand knowledge of them," Mr Barber said. "Despite that, he’s an old friend, and I just don’t have anger towards him. "I’ve made a commitment to confidentiality in relation to my former employee’s matter, and I’m intending to keep the promise I made." Senior Greens have been aware of the settlement for seven months but have kept the matter quiet from supporters and voters. In his email, the woman's partner also claimed that several other women in the party were aware of the alleged mistreatment but had tried to talk the woman out of making an official complaint against Mr Barber.

News of the confidential payout comes while the party is still riven by feuding after its disastrous Batman byelection campaign. Four Greens local councillors are facing calls for expulsion from fellow members of the bitterly divided Darebin branch, the largest Greens local branch in the country, who say those councillors were involved in destabilising the Batman campaign. The woman's partner told Greens MPs in early September that he wanted an investigation into what had occurred in the leader's office and to make changes to the broader culture within the party. When he received no response, he sent the email to senior party members and officials saying his concerns had been ignored by the Greens MPs and called for action to protect the party’s staff and volunteers from sexism and bullying. Responding to questions from The Age, the Victorian Greens said there was no excuse for discrimination of any kind.

“The Victorian Greens firmly believe there is no excuse for sexism or discrimination of any kind and take any allegations seriously,” a spokesman said. “This was an employment matter between Greg Barber and a staff member which went through the appropriate process involving Parliamentary Services, and was resolved with a confidential settlement. “In accordance with due process, the Victorian Greens and party room were not a party to the employment dispute or its settlement, and it would be inappropriate to comment further. “Representatives of the party and party room meet regularly to discuss continuous improvements to workplace culture and related policies to ensure all our workplaces are safe now and into the future. “The Victorian Greens have strong female leadership within the party and in our party room, and our full party room and party officials are committed to these values.”

Greens National Leader Richard Di Natale, who is also Mr Barber’s brother-in-law, did not answer questions about when he became aware of the allegations or whether he took any action when he did find out. But in a statement, Senator Di Natale said his party had “zero tolerance” for any sort of discrimination. “The Australian Greens have zero tolerance for discrimination on any grounds, and we are regularly updating our internal policies to reflect current best practice,” a spokesman said. “It is critical that women feel safe from discrimination and harassment at all levels of our party. “You only have to look at our Victorian party room, seven of our eight state MPs are women, to see the value we place on gender equality.”