These are the words of federal Labor MP Catherine King, who is marking 20 years in Parliament this year.

There has been a wave of allegations surrounding Parliament House since Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins spoke out about allegedly being raped by a former colleague in a minister's office in 2019.

These include allegations of historical rape against Attorney-General Christian Porter, which he denies, to reports of misconduct and sexual harassment from both sides of Parliament.

Sparking community anger and scrutiny about the culture in the nation's Parliament, the Morrison government has been under increasing pressure to take action.

The mounting allegations have prompted women across the country to share their own experiences of harassment and sexual assault and a national protest movement calling for action.

The prime minister has admitted repeatedly failing with his response to the national movement and conceded he failed to grasp the depth of anger about violence against women.

Ms King said each allegation was "shocking".

In the two decades she has walked the halls of Parliament, she said she had heard "rumours" about particular issues or "behaviour of male employees and staff" but they were "rumours".

Noting her experience had "generally pretty good", she said the recently reported alleged incidents highlighted a lack of respect for women and that it had "not been a safe place for women to work in".

"The fact that we've now had evidence come forward of these sorts of incidents is pretty shocking. It would shock anyone in the workplace.

"None of it is acceptable behaviour within any workplace let alone the nation's Parliament."

In recent weeks Labor has asked Mr Morrison multiple times about whether his office backgrounded reporters about Brittany Higgins and her family and friends after she went public with her allegations, and whether he had inquired about it.

Ms Higgins made a formal complaint to the Prime Minister's office this week, with an inquiry now underway.

Ms King described the current mood in Parliament as "very uncomfortable".

"It's very uncomfortable when you have to walk down the corridors with male staff members from the Liberal Party after the allegations that were made [on Monday].

"It's not a pleasant place to be at the moment but I think we also feel very saddened because it's an incredible privilege to work in this building, in any capacity, and if it can happen in this workplace, it clearly can happen in other workplaces as well and has been for some time."

Ms King told The Courier the allegations emerging from Parliament House as a workplace were reflective of "lots of workplaces across the country".

"I think it is incredibly important that every person is safe in their workplace, including in this place."

Ms King added there was "quite a lot of work to do".

"Not only to put procedures and processes in place that protect and support women but also really significant work to do to change the culture. I think all workplaces need to be continuously looking at that."

Ms King said the announcement about the independent inquiry into the culture at Parliament House, by Kate Jenkins, was an important step but more needed to be done to change attitudes and the culture there.

Adding that each generation made more progress than the last, she said the issues had continued to be raised for generations and were brought to light again with the rallies.

"I think the fact this generation now is looking to us to once again step up and actually make meaningful change and to work with them is a really important moment in time and it can't go to waste."

Noting the Centres Against Sexual Assault "desperately needed more funding", she said the government had commissioned a report into sexual harassment at work, that was handed down last year, but the 55 recommendations had not yet been responded to.

"You can't keep having inquiries and reports without actually changing," Ms King said.

"I think there is a problem within the leadership of this country at the moment in terms of how they view these issues and I hope that changes too."

While #metoo rocked the world several years ago, Ms King said turning anger and outrage into real change "was hard".

She added governments could put policies and procedures in place but changing attitudes was more difficult.

"Changing attitudes, changing the way people think and deal with women is a lot harder. It's a really strong cultural change and it can't just be women who are responsible for doing that."

Ms King said while she had a "responsibility to make sure my voice is heard in the process", it shouldn't be solely up to opposition women MPs to be providing all the support.

"It's pretty evident there's a lot of things that have been normalised in this place, whether it's things that occurred during election campaigns or as the robust nature of the debates we are all in. There are lots of things that have been normalised that perhaps we all need to reflect on but it can't just be down to women.

"What I do hope is that there is a cultural shift and that it is made very clear to people who have engaged in this sort of behaviour, who've engaged in harassment of women, who have treated women with an incredible lack of respect, that they're not going to get away with that and that this is not a workplace that will tolerate that sort of behaviour."

Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson was contacted to be part of this story.

Affected by this story? There is help available. You can phone the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, in Sebastopol, on 5320 3933, or free-call the crisis care line 24 hours on 1800 806 292. Hep is also available by phoning 1800 RESPECT.