Ballarat City Council says abuse of its staff will longer be tolerated

Following the launch of the UNITED awareness campaign against threatening behaviour and violence last week, Ms Linley told The Courier incidents involving staff across the city’s libraries being verbally and physically abused had led to the library recently being closed for a half-day education session about safety.

In a concerted and joint approach to dealing with what’s been described as a surge in aggressive behaviour towards public servants, Ms Linley and other senior council directors spoke to The Courier about the efforts that are being made to protect council staff and the public from undesirable behaviour while maintaining access to public utilities and preserving a culture of diversity and acceptance.

“I honestly think we really need to take off the rose-coloured glasses,” said Ms Linley.

“Because we have in the past tolerated a certain level of abuse; because we think, ‘ah well, we’re public servants, so that person’s having a hard day, we don't know their personal circumstances and so we take that on rather than push back; we definitely don’t report it, and we were under-reporting.”

There have been three assaults within library premises referred to the police since 2015. A man was charged with making threats earlier this year.

Anecdotal evidence of other undesirable behaviour occurring within Ballarat’s libraries was also corroborated by council managers, who were at pains to emphasise that they regard the libraries as safe and inclusive places.

Neville Ivey, City of Ballarat director of community development, says there’s a fine line between understanding the difficulties some members of the communities face and coping with the way they express those in a public space.

“In my discussions with (a staff member recently involved in an incident) he said ‘Look, we work in a public place, so there’s always going to be... there’s something that might occur.’

“And I said as an organisation we have zero tolerance, so if something does occur, it’s what we do next. We provide a welcoming environment, and there’s a great cross-section of our community represented here, including a concentration of those who may be somewhat disadvantaged. So we’re trying to empower the staff.”

Executive manager of learning and community hubs for the city Jenny Fink says the library needs to remain a haven for all.

“We’re such an important institution for the community. We believe we make a real difference to people’s lives when they come in in here.”