NZ public sector will have to ‘consider’ paying for lawyers for sexual harassment complainants

Public Service Minister Judith Collins has announced that public sector agencies will now have to “consider” paying the legal fees for any staffer who makes complaints of serious misconduct, such as sexual harassment. Photo/ Mark Mitchell

New Zealand public sector agencies will now have to “consider” paying the legal fees for any staffer who makes complaints of serious misconduct, such as sexual harassment, as part of a series of changes the Government will make for public servants who raise wrongdoing.

Public Service Minister Judith Collins and Commissioner Sir Brian Roche announced improvements to their complaints model this morning.

The changes are designed to reinforce the expectations on public sector agencies in dealing with bullying and harassment, after several historical cases were not well handled.

Roche said a new document for complainants, “Your Complaint, Your Rights”, was informed by the 2025 Public Service Census which revealed that 12.1% of respondents had experienced bullying or harassment in the past 12 months in their current workplace. Of those, 37% decided not to report it.

“We asked the commissioner to look at how we can better support people who come forward with complaints of sexual harassment, and this new resource and the strengthened Speaking Up model standards are the result of that work,” Collins said.

“The improvements will ensure that anyone who raises a complaint is treated with the dignity, respect and fairness that they deserve.”

The Speaking Up document outlines the rights of public servants when they make a complaint of possible misconduct or wrongdoing.

The most significant improvement the Public Service Commissioner, Brian Roche, will set is an expectation that agencies “consider providing legal support” to complainants of serious misconduct, such as sexual harassment.

In particular, paying for a complainant’s lawyer should be considered in “specific circumstances” when there is a significant imbalance in seniority or power, or the complaint is especially serious.

Complainants can also now expect to be updated on the status of their complaint at more regular intervals: “at least monthly, even if there is no substantive update”.

The ability of a complainant to escalate a concern outside of their agency will be also stated more explicitly, and information on external bodies where staff can do this will be supplied to them.

“The changes reflect best practice and reinforce the public service’s zero tolerance for bullying, harassment and discrimination,” Collins said.

“Everyone has a right to feel safe and supported when they speak up.”

In November 2024, former Public Service Minister Nicola Willis expressed an expectation that the public service improve the handling of sexual harassment cases after a complaint process at the Ministry of Education.

And in September 2024, the Labour Party made a complaint to the Public Service Commission about the high number of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) being used at Health NZ.

Today, Roche said in a statement that he wanted “to assure any public servant that they can speak up about wrongdoing without fear of punishment or reprisal. This is really important to me and I expect agencies to uphold these standards, take all allegations of wrongdoing seriously, and keep you safe.”

One public servant the Herald spoke to, who is currently in a workplace dispute, said while they remain on leave without pay, there would be no chance they could personally afford legal assistance as the dispute process plays out. A confidentiality condition for the dispute had also been enforced, they said.

“I am tempted to take one of those ‘no win, no fee’ ... but in terms of the emotional stress that this has impacted me, I don’t think there is an amount of money that can pay that,” they said.

The public servant said the process, which was dragged on for many months, has left her with “no where left to turn”.

“I’m at a loss, I feel so isolated, I’m not allowed to speak with anyone.”

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