By Kat Wong in Canberra

An independent senator has alleged a parliamentary colleague made sexually suggestive and racially insensitive comments towards her.

Fatima Payman, who is Muslim and does not drink alcohol, was attending a social event as part of official parliamentary business when she says an older, male colleague made comments like “let’s get some wine into you and see you dance on the table”.

“I don’t drink and I don’t need to be made … to feel left out because you do,” she told ABC’s Triple J radio station.

“I told this colleague, ‘Hey, I’m drawing a line, mate’, and moved on to making a formal complaint.”

The issue has been escalated to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, a body established after staffer Brittany Higgins made public allegations about being raped in Parliament House by a colleague.

Senator Payman said the support service had taken care of her and she was happy with the swift handling of her complaint.

The service managed 339 cases between 2023 and 2024, according to its most recent annual report.

Just under one in ten cases related to rape and sexual assault, harassment, assault, sexual harassment, stalking or intimidation, a similar proportion were about bullying, about one in five related to family and domestic violence, alcohol and drugs or mental health, roughly one in four were over workplace conflict and the rest were not defined.

The vast majority were related to those hired to help politicians to carry out duties but not for party political purposes but 17 involved parliamentarians.

Calling out inappropriate behaviour could help others, the senator said.

“Being clear is being kind,” she said.

“You actually are helping somebody understand what your boundaries are by speaking up.”

AAP has reached out to the senator and the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service for further comment.