If there’s one thing that’s been made clear from the recent Royal Commission, it’s that the protection of children and the reporting procedures around child abuse need to be improved. In August 2016, largely in response to the commission, the ACT Government passed legislation designed to cast a ‘wider net’ when it comes to the […]
The matter of Matthew v Winslow Constructions Pty Ltd brings to light the importance of duty of care in a sexual harassment matter. The Supreme Court of Victoria has awarded an employee over $1.3 million in damages after finding that her employer was negligent in failing to provide a safe working environment and allowing her to […]
For those vulnerable people across Australia living with disability, the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been heralded as a much-needed security net. And for those caring for disabled individuals, the NDIS provides a framework for sustainable care arrangements. In many ways, the introduction of the NDIS is the ultimate ‘good news’ […]
Sometimes when we investigate issues of misconduct and/or corruption in workplaces, we find ourselves asking – why didn’t anybody notice this earlier? Yet more often than not the answer to this question will be that people at least partially knew, but for a number of reasons they felt unable to act. Those reasons tend to […]
By Andrew Hedges Can workplace corruption be halted? Is there a way to stop workplace corruption from mushrooming or thriving? It obviously has to trickle from the top down, so managers and supervisors need to be made aware of their role in changing the culture. If there is a real desire to tackle workplace […]
There has been a deluge of reports coming out of Victoria in the last few months focusing on bullying and harassment. The hair-raising antics of former Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons are detailed in the parliamentary inquiry report released last week. Lyons is reported to have threatened, bullied and displayed other unacceptable behaviours towards staff. He […]
It’s a delicate balance; how do you encourage employees to speak up about bullying and harassment in the workplace if they fear doing so will harm their career? This is a central issue stemming from the release of a draft report into harassment, bullying and discrimination in the practice of surgery. The report, released earlier […]
In April 2015, at the launch of her new book, senior surgeon Dr Gabrielle McMullin sent shockwaves through the medical community. She declared that junior female surgeons and surgical students would be better off acquiescing to requests for sexual favours by their senior male colleagues, as refusing requests or taking action against them would be […]
Four Steps to a Great Investigation Report By the time a workplace investigator has reached the stage of compiling the investigation report, many hours, documents and interview outcomes have no doubt accumulated. How to bring all of this together effectively into a quality report might seem quite challenging. Yet, by dividing the task of reporting into […]
Confronting Misconduct: Insights from the Public Service The recent release of the 2013-14 Australian Public Service (APS) State of the Service report provides some interesting kernels of data around workplace misconduct, including corruption and bullying. In particular, the report paints quite a discomforting picture of misconduct being on the increase – despite everything that the […]