Page 652 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 22 February 2012
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motion. It was something like 1,600 reported cases at that point. I believe that reporting point was between January 2010 and October 2011.
We can see that there has been research in this area that has found that there were not in most jurisdictions, apart from the ones I have just mentioned, those specific trained personnel in psychosocial risk factors and that that was a limit in the training. It was a limiting factor in the training for workplace inspectors. That is what this legislation was about—ensuring we do have that expertise, that we can manage the challenge.
I believe that everybody in this place does not accept that we should have a certain level of workplace bullying and we should just all put up with it. I do not believe that is the case. That is why it is so disappointing that there could not have been, and there has not been, support for this bill today.
Mrs Dunne has come out and said that this is a Clayton’s bill. She asks: “What have the Greens been doing? We have been there, we have been highlighting the problems and the instances in the ACT public service. We are the only ones that have been doing anything.” I am sorry; what you have been doing is highlighting the instances, making a lot of mileage out of the misery that those people have been through and you have not put forward the solutions.
What the Greens have done is recognise that misery, recognise the economic cost in lost productivity. We have gone forward and we have put a solution on the table. It is not the magic solution to everything but it is a step forward. As I have said, this is not new. This is being done in other jurisdictions; namely, in Victoria and in Queensland. So we do not just sit here and join in the sort of loud shouting, abuse and the carry-on. We recognise that there is an issue in the ACT, like there is right across Australia, of workplace bullying. We have then moved to the solution and that is what we have put on the table.
I think that is why I find it very disappointing that we have not been able to get support, particularly from the government. As I have said, the Chief Minister has stated quite publicly that we do need to be tackling this issue and that she has a commitment to tackling this issue. I do not understand what the issue from the minister is in blocking this legislation to have these three specialised positions. Sure, there could have been negotiation about whether it was three or whether it was two. But it should have been moved forward and we should have been able to come to a resolution there.
I find it incredibly disappointing. For a government that prides itself on standing up for the worker, I think that they have made a mistake in this matter. I find it most unfortunate that they are not supporting this important legislation today—supporting it fully—particularly on this point of having WorkSafe being able to take onto its staff people who have particular expertise and experience. Minister Bourke talked about early intervention and prevention, that that is where we are going. This is part of the puzzle—this is part of the plan, if you like—of how we can sort out that early intervention and prevention.
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