Page 3623 - Week 08 - Friday, 24 August 2012
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diversify its revenue base. CIT said in estimates that they expected to expand their revenue by competitively targeting funding from the workforce development agency and chasing additional contracts with the commonwealth government. I note the estimates committee report highlights that they are concerned that such efforts will not be enough and has made a recommendation reflecting that.
It is important that CIT operate with efficiency and effectiveness. They need to seriously consider how they can expand and enhance their role in delivering training. Of course, one of the key elements in delivering on their strategy is a well-credentialed, well-supported and totally engaged staff. Over several years ranging over several departments, operating under two chief executives and around three education ministers, there has been a very serious culture of workplace harassment, bullying, inertia and cover-ups. It took the brave persistence and determination of a couple of staff and former staff to bring the extent and seriousness of the allegations to light. It took the intervention of the ACT Work Safety Commissioner to get the government to take the issues seriously.
To CIT’s disgrace and shame, it has taken far more than a damning WorkSafe report and an education ministerial direction to start the road to reform. We now have the ACT Commissioner for Public Administration working through the many cases that have come to light. We are not just talking about one or two staff who felt aggrieved, whose careers were compromised and whose health, both mental and physical, was put into jeopardy; they now number in the dozens, and the list at one time was growing daily.
But even when the Work Safety Commissioner was finalising his report, he said that CIT still did not get it, that they were still not prepared to recognise the mistakes they had made. I have a lot of respect for the current CIT chief executive, Mr Marron, but I am disappointed that it took so long to see just how serious these matters were. Denial is never a strong or sensible strategy, especially for someone in such a responsible position.
There was what could be called almost wilful blindness by the previous minister, who responded to questions about reports of harassment with a diffidence that did not become him. In this place last September, when pressed on this issue, he said:
... there are processes available to staff members of the Canberra Institute of Technology who may feel aggrieved by a variety of particular issues.
The word “bullying” seemed to come very hard to Mr Barr’s lips, but the fact that so many people were talking about it and the fact that so many people wanted to talk directly to him about it did not seem to cut much ice. They were not exactly words of comfort for the staff and ex-staff who had hoped that government would support them.
The Work Safety Commissioner says in his report that he expects CIT to have in place robust mechanisms to eliminate or reduce the risk of workplace bullying and harassment. I have made no secret of the fact that I am sceptical of the ability of CIT to deliver on that expectation, and I have stated publicly and often that, whether in government or opposition after the election, I intend to follow the progress of the CIT
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