Australia's prime minister apologised for widespread sexual harassment, abuse and bullying of political staff yesterday, a year after a high-profile rape allegation rocked the country's parliament.

Addressing MPs, Scott Morrison apologised directly to former staffer who said she was raped by a male colleague in a minister's office in 2019.

"I'm sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here," Morrison said describing a decades-long culture of abuse in the corridors of power.

"But I am sorry for far more than that, for all of those who came before Higgins, endured the same."