Page 5925 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 2010

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

disclosure. What Mr Hanson is proposing threatens to undermine the whole public interest disclosure process.

I would note that we should be considering all staff in the unit, not just the doctors that have come forward, and this includes the midwives and nurses that work there. And while some of the doctors may have said they were fine about having these details made public, I am sure there are other staff who would not have wanted this to happen, which is why they have come forward through public interest disclosure in the first place. I imagine if these details were made public and they were under the understanding this would not have happened, they would not be particularly happy about this process. I am quite concerned about the damage it could cause to staff in the unit.

I have gone to the text of the motion. I would like to address the points Mr Hanson raised and outline my amendment. I move:

Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:

“(1) notes that:

(a) in early February 2010, the Minister for Health denied that she had received any serious complaints from current and former staff of the Women and Children’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit at The Canberra Hospital (TCH) about the workplace culture of the unit;

(b) the Minister for Health then described the complaints as ‘doctor politics’ and ‘mud-slinging’;

(d) in late February 2010, current and former staff of the Unit provided further information to the Minister about their complaints;

(e) the Canberra Liberals called for a board of inquiry pursuant to the Inquiries Act 1991, that would have required victims of bullying to be forcefully subpoenaed to testify against their will, which is a grossly inappropriate manner of dealing with bullying and workplace conflict;

(f) the Review of Service Delivery and Clinical Outcomes at Public Maternity Units in the ACT stated: ‘The review panel identified an apparent systematic and long-standing reticence by management to address disruptive and inappropriate behaviour by certain medical staff’;

(g) respecting the confidentiality and wishes of bullying victims to have proceedings conducted in private is the most important factor to be considered when responding to allegations of bullying in the workplace; and

(h) the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1994, as instigated by Mrs Kate Carnell MLA, then Leader of the Liberals, provides the appropriate process for public servants in the ACT Government to have their concerns about workplace conflict and allegations of bullying investigated;

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video