By Jeremy Sollars
Allegations of a toxic workplace culture within local government workforces are not confined to the Southern Downs Regional Council, as documents tabled in State Parliament late last year reveal.
As reported in the Free Times on 19 January, a range of council employees, along with some of their family members, have accused Southern Downs Regional Council management of bullying and intimidating staff to such an extent that some have contemplated suicide.
But equally disturbing instances have also occurred in other Queensland councils – including the Cairns, Tablelands, Fraser Coast and Gympie Regional Councils – and in some tragic cases staff have ended up taking their own lives as a result.
In November 2016 the independent state member for Cairns Rob Pyne spoke in State Parliament in favour of proposed Palaszczuk Government amendments to Queensland’s industrial relations laws designed to address workplace bullying within local government by creating a specific “bullying jurisdiction” to address complaints against council managers.
In 2015 Mr Pyne called for an inquiry into local government in Queensland, saying “bullying, nepotism and toxic working environments are common”.
“For more than a year I have been tabling examples of these matters and it is most disappointing that it has taken this long to legislate for change,” Mr Pyne told Parliament last November.
“I can reliably inform this House that Queensland councils are in many cases toxic workplaces that have damaged, and will continue to damage, people.
“Suicide and attempted suicide resulting from systemic bullying are usually not brought to the public’s attention.
“As a result, those cases any of us know of personally are surely just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
“In relation to the Tablelands Regional Council, there were three suicides in just eight months.
“This sad reality was noticed by the deputy CEO who said ‘we are getting used to this now’.
“What a sad commentary that is.
“Even closer to home in my electorate the Cairns Regional Council has proved to be a toxic workplace.
“Just prior to Christmas a senior staff member attempted suicide following bullying, harassment and dismissal, despite an unblemished employment record spanning 30 years.
“In September this year an employee of Cairns Regional Council – a beautiful young woman – committed suicide following prolonged bullying at work.
“This is not easy for me to speak about in detail in this place at this time.
“My office regularly supports local government staff who are at their wits’ end.
“We hear it time and time again that bullying is systemic, akin to torture and emotional death by a thousand cuts.
“This silent killer destroys good people. It eats away at them daily, their families and relationships.”
Mr Pyne told Parliament that “without access to a bullying jurisdiction, councils in Queensland have become a place of institutional emotional abuse”.
“Council staff front up at work every day to be emotionally bullied by their superiors, managers, HR departments, CEOs and mayors who allow or encourage this or at the very least are bystanders,” Mr Pyne said.
“This is not some video game where you hit refresh and start again the next day.
“These sorts of things that happen should be rare, not routine.
“There are too many children in Queensland who have no mother or father tucking them into bed at night because they were employees of a council or they were councillors.
“When council staff say ‘game over’ they leave the workplace so damaged they are unemployable for an average of two years due to the mental health burden of betrayal and systemic abuse.
“In some communities, mental health service providers are snowed under with local government caseloads.
“It is great that people are seeking support.
“However, it still disgusts me that they have to.”
Complaint processes “broken”
Mr Pyne tabled documents in Parliament relating to his statements, including a letter from a social support provider in the Tablelands council region who said “staff who dare to make complaints are ‘dealt with’.
“This is done systematically and deliberately through bullying and intimidation or using HR tools including ‘Mercer’ to move whistle-blowers down the pay scale and performance manage them out of their job for no reason.”
The provider has called for an inquest into the death by suicide of three staff at Tablelands Regional Council, likening them to suicides of former residents of the Barrett Adolescent Centre in Brisbane which became the subject of a special inquiry.
“A senior manager at the council said this ’I am throwing up at work almost daily – my psychologist says you have to have an exit plan’.
“This senior officer had started to express homicidal ideologies and had the capacity (concealable weapons) to do something.
“This was reported to police however unless more direct threats are made police are powerless to remove the perturbed person’s licensed handguns.”
Calls for council intervention
The State Government is considering intervention into Fraser Coast Regional Council, with an October 2016 report from independent advisors – also tabled by Mr Pyne in Parliament in November – highlighting cultural problems within the workforce.
The report stated the advisors met with around 30 staff to “discuss their views on the operation of council”.
“Most staff wished to discuss broader organisation cultural issues,” the report noted.
“The common theme from these meetings was that there was a ‘culture of control, favouritism, a lack of trust, a fear of reprisal, low morale and a toxic working environment’.
“The advisors indicated that there are ‘severe tensions’ within council’s executive management team.”
