Allegations of a long-standing culture of misogyny and bullying at prisons near Ballarat by Corrections Victoria officers have been made by former staff, who have spoken exclusively to The Courier.
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The Department of Justice has been placed on notice by WorkSafe Victoria after the OHS body determined there was a risk to the safety and health of employees undergoing misconduct investigations in the workplace.
An 'Improvement Notice' was issued by WorkSafe Victoria investigators in March 2019 after they found there was a reasonable belief 'that the employer has failed to provide a system of work that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health...'
The revelation that the state's workplace investigator had put the department on notice comes concurrently with The Courier's inquiries into the behaviour of uniformed and non-uniformed staff within Corrections Victoria institutions and the testimonies of former staff members about the harrowing effects of bullying and harassment within at least two prisons in the Grampian region, and within the regional management of those prisons as well.
An improvement notice advises a workplace or body of remedies which must be made to breaches of the law, in order for the relevant workplace or body not to be found guilty of an offence.
The notice states it is the belief of WorkSafe that the department is in breach of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 by 'failing to provide a procedure or process to support the mental health of employees who are undergoing a misconduct investigation'.
One of the findings of the investigators was a lack of contact from management and workplaces to staff when they had been stood down.
Other findings made by the investigators were a lack of 'prescribed procedures for actions to be taken when an employee is undergoing a misconduct investigation'; allegations of a lack of swift access to Employee Assistance Programs; inconsistency across regions with regard to misconduct investigations not being addressed; and a failure to provide information about pay procedures while an individual was being investigated.
The notice also states previous meetings and reports had been made regarding the mental health issues in Department of Justice workplaces in the past, and that staff had been reporting impacts upon their mental health.
The Entry Report made in conjunction with the Improvement Notice identifies approximately 60 open misconduct investigations within the Department of Justice presently. These refer to both prison officers and youth justice workers across the state, and are not limited to the prisons which are the subject of The Courier's investigations.
The investigations were not identified, and WorkSafe requested the department provide a detailed list of all misconduct inquiries between January 1, 2018 and March 2019 to the body by April 2019.
In what can be read only as an indictment of the department, the investigator makes the following finding:
'...it has become evident that the workplace has inadequate processes for dealing with employee mental health during misconduct investigations.'
The findings support allegations made by former and serving Department of Justice staff to The Courier about the way they have been treated while investigations into harassment and bullying have been conducted, by both the department and WorkSafe itself, and confirm the need for a wide-ranging inquiry at a judicial or ministerial level into the culture of the Department of Justice.
The Courier has sent questions about the investigation to the Department of Justice and WorkSafe Victoria.
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