Sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins is also interested in the idea of an independent body to handle complaints.

Ms Jenkins has been asked to lead an independent review of Parliament as a workplace, with the aim of identifying mechanisms to prevent and address bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault.

The government is under pressure to address a parliamentary workplace culture that encourages young staffers to work late, drink often and show absolute loyalty, including staying silent.

Ms Jenkins describes the review as a historic turning point following former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins going public with sexual assault allegations against a former colleague.

The commissioner said there were several unique aspects of Parliament that go beyond her earlier inquiry into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces.

"One of them is that layer of employment arrangements, because it is so unusual who has the power to hire and fire," Ms Jenkins told Insiders on Sunday.

"Right now I'm not 100 per cent certain what the change will be. I guess that will be finding a practical solution."

The commissioner has been hearing there is a real fear among parliamentary employees to use existing processes, which ultimately lead back to the MP in whose office they work.

A complaints mechanism might need to be more independent, and more trusted, so people can come forward without fear, she said.

"There could be a confidential mechanism that won't bring down a government, but people are safe to come forward," she said.

Ms Jenkins noted that the federal government had not progressed any of the legislative reforms recommended in her Respect@Work report released 12 months ago, but says she's hearing that many in Parliament are taking another look at its recommendations in 2021.

Ms Jenkins acknowledged it is difficult for people to come forward with their experiences, and also urged people to share their experiences with the review - good, bad or indifferent - confidentially if they wish.

"Frankly we also want to hear from people who have experienced good experiences, so we can learn what works well," she said.

Pru Goward, a former Liberal minister in NSW and a former federal sex discrimination commissioner, speculated that the review will at a minimum recommend induction training and skilling MPs in how to be managers.

"Ministers don't get told about how to manage staff," Ms Goward says. "Chiefs of staff, the most important day-to-day manager of staff in Parliament House, do not get any training either."

Like any workplace, Ms Goward says Parliament needs good grievance procedures, protocols, leadership and education.

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Staff in Parliament also need an alternative means for the victim to be able to tell what has happened to them and seek retribution in some form, she says, which was a lesson from sexual harassment inquiries in other parliaments.

"I can tell you, 90 per cent of victims do not want to go to court," Ms Goward said. "They don't want to end up having to tell all this in front of ... a jury, or even a commission. They don't want that."

Victims may just seek an apology, or have someone in a position of responsibility mandate that the conduct stop, she said.

Federal Labor will support an independent authority for complaints that is separate to the power structures within Parliament, frontbencher Kristina Keneally told reporters on Sunday.

The Jenkins review is the only independent inquiry of four launched since Ms Higgins went public with her allegation, and the only one expected to be made public once complete.

The other inquiries include a culture review by currently serving Liberal MP Celia Hammond, a review of complaints procedures by senior public servant Stephanie Foster, and a review of what the Prime Minister's office knew prior to the Ms Higgins allegations becoming public, to be conducted by the Prime Minister's former chief of staff Phil Gaetjens.

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