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Canberra Today 18°/22° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Burch urged to apologise

COMMUNITY Services Minister Joy Burch was caught out during today’s question time when she made the claim that all accusations of bullying at Bimberi Youth Justice Centre were investigated.

Community Service Minister Joy Burch said: “Every complaint and allegation that has been put forward has been reviewed and investigated, either through the department, the HRC or other independent oversight.”

However, the Bimberi Review, released last month, had in fact reported: “As staff involved did not wish to have their identities disclosed, the Commission was not able to investigate or verify the accuracy of these allegations, but it is apparent that a number of current and former staff have the perception that they have been bullied, and that they were not aware of appropriate channels to address these concerns.” (Bimberi review, p127).

“In response to a question from the Canberra Liberals about bullying at the centre, Joy Burch today told the Legislative Assembly that all accusations of this behaviour have been investigated,” Leader of the Opposition, Zed Seselja said.

“Bizarrely, the Minister then referred to page 137 of the Bimberi report to back this up, which directly contradicts her statement.

“This page of the report also states that the number of accusations made by staff does not correlate with the number of actual complaints received by the Community Services Directorate.

“The Minister has been caught out hiding the truth about this review, and referred to a page of the report which reinforces that all accusations are not investigated.

“I call on her to apologise to the Assembly, correct the record, and investigate these claims immediately.”

 

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