BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE – AUSTRALIA

Nine must address ‘issues of the past’, Sneesby tells his staff

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 18-Jun-24

Nine Entertainment CEO Mike Sneesby told staff in an email on Monday that the company is working to improve its culture, but that this can only be done by "acknowledging the issues of the past". His comments come amid allegations involving two senior male managers that involve "predatory behaviour", and as Kerri-Anne Kennerley, one of Nine’s most admired on-air personalities, stated that there was an entrenched culture of bullying at the television network. Sneesby’s email was sent a week after Peter Costello quit as Nine chairman after an incident with a journalist at Canberra Airport.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

‘Uncharted territory’: 60pc of public servants now working from home

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 30-Nov-23

New data shows that 57 per cent of federal public servants now have access to working from home arrangements, compared with 46 per cent in 2021. Australian Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer says the growing number of public servants who are working from home has implications for resources, property management and workplace design. Meanwhile, de Brouwer says the latest ‘state of the service’ report shows amongst other things that bullying and harassment rates in the public service are still too high, while the gender pay gap has narrowed to 5.2 per cent.

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AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

Morrison apologises to House abuse victims

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 9-Feb-22

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has publicly apologised to victims of bullying, harassment and sexual assault in Parliament House. Morrison specifically apologised to former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, who was allegedly raped by a colleague in a ministerial office in 2019. Morrison, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Labor leader Anthony Albanese also committed to overhauling the culture of Parliament House and making it a safer place to work.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Unions weigh in on Rio’s woes

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Original article by Peter Ker, David Marin-Guzman, Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Feb-22

Mining & Energy Union president Tony Maher says the deunionisation of Rio Tinto’s workforce in the 1990s contributed to the toxic culture that has been exposed by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick. Her review of Rio Tinto’s culture found that conduct such as bullying, sexual harassment and racism are rife within the resources giant. Brad Gandy from the Australian Workers’ Union says it has been warning Rio Tinto of problems with its culture for many years; he adds that bullying occurs at Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations on a daily basis.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINING AND ENERGY UNION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES

Report damns Rio’s culture of bullying

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 2-Feb-22

A review of Rio Tinto’s internal culture by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has revealed that inappropriate conduct is rife within the resources giant. More than 48 per cent of employees who participated in the review said they had experienced bullying at work, with workers in the company’s Pilbara iron ore division reporting the highest levels of bullying. In addition, about 28 per cent of female employees said that they had been subjected to sexual harassment, while nearly 40 per cent of indigenous Australian employees said they had been subject to racism within the last five years. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm has committed to implementing all of Broderick’s recommendations.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Sex discrimination commissioner finds gender inequality key driver of toxic culture in federal parliament

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Original article by Katharine Murphy
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Dec-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described the findings of a report into federal parliament’s workplace culture as "appalling and disturbing". The inquiry by sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins has revealed the extent of inappropriate conduct in commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. A survey undertaken as part of the review found that 33 per cent of respondents had personally experienced sexual harassment and 37 per cent had been bullied. Roy Morgan Research undertook the online survey on behalf of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Jenkins has made a number of recommendations, including a new code of conduct for parliamentarians and their staff. The inquiry was commissioned in response to the alleged rape of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office in March 2019.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION COMMISSION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Oil Search sued for bullying CFO from job

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Original article by Jemima Whyte,Michael Roddan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 17-Nov-21

Oil Search has advised that it will fully defend itself against allegations that its incoming CFO had been forced to resign due to bullying and harassment. Ayten Saridas joined Oil Search in August 2020 and was to succeed incumbent CFO Stephen Gardiner in 2021. However, she resigned after just four months and the oil and gas group, claiming that she had been subjected to bullying and harassment by both Gardiner and former CEO Keiran Wulff. The latter subsequently resigned in July; Oil Search attributed this to health reasons but said there had been several complaints about his conduct.

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OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH

Why journalists are giving up on Twitter

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Original article by Karl Quinn
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 17-Sep-21

A growing number of Australian journalists are opting to voluntarily stop using social media site Twitter. They include Lisa Millar, the co-host of the ABC’s ‘News Breakfast’ program. Millar argues that Twitter is still the best platform for breaking news, but she got fed up with the frequent abusive comments from the platform’s users, including allegations of political bias and gender-related criticism. Millar’s ABC colleague and ‘7.30’ presenter Leigh Sales has also highlighted the "non-stop" bullying and harassment on Twitter. Dr Alex Wake of RMIT University contends that abuse of journalists on Twitter is a workplace health and safety issue, and argues that media companies have a duty of care to protect their staff.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, TWITTER INCORPORATED, RMIT UNIVERSITY

Deloitte reveals extent of workplace complaints

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Original article by Edmund Tadros, Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 22-Apr-21

Professional services firm Deloitte has disclosed that it has investigated about 15 workplace complaints annually over the last three years. The firm’s voluntary disclosure follows recent media reports which revealed that rival firm KPMG received nearly 100 workplace complaints between 2014 and March 2019, an average of about 17 per year. The majority of these complaints were allegations of bullying or sexual harassment. Workplace experts agree that the number of complaints lodged at KPMG does not reflect the true extent of the problem.

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DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

AMP culture rife with bullying: staff

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 27-Jul-20

AMP has the worst rating of any major financial services company in terms of being a place to work, according to workplace rating website Glassdoor. AMP has been in the headlines as a result of staff uproar over the promotion of Boe Pahari to the role of AMP Capital CEO despite having received a $500,000 penalty after the firm settled a sexual harassment claim against him by a female subordinate in 2017. Comments made on Glassdoor by current and former AMP employees suggest its workforce culture is ‘rife’ with bullying and intimidation by senior managers.

CORPORATES
AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, GLASSDOOR INCORPORATED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED – ASX BOQ