LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

Sunday 2 August

As we have said from the beginning, the mister men are here to bring information and empowerment to the bullied and oppressed workers of the northern territory department of health. We know that in the teams we currently work within, there already seems to be a greater sense of camaraderie. What was being whispered in the fire exits and corridors is now being discussed openly between staff of all grades. The recurring question however seems to be..


.. who are the mister men?


We are health professionals working in clinical positions across the northern territory. We got sick of the stories permeating around the organisation of nepotism, cronyism, bullying, double standards, false allegations, cover up culture, a do nothing human resources department, useless managers and abuse of the MERIT selection process. 

The final straw for us was the Brennan story at the end of 2014. It was an insult to every fair minded person working in the northern territory department of health. It galvanised us from being a loosely affiliated group of friends...

Brennan insulted every person who came to the territory with good intentions but left battered by the rampant bullying from within. It proved double standards exist. 

Brennan as many will be aware, now works for the northern territory department of health. He was transferred following his shocking bullying from the OCPE to the health department. 

After schoolteacher Stephen Ferguson took him to the Supreme Court, Brennan was forced to take out an advertisement in the NT News (see left) as part of the settlement.

For the time being we will retain our anonymity. You don't have to know who we are to have an opinion. Judging from the submitted comments, reading our stories confirms what people knew already. The emails we receive confirm the same.

We will as we have said before, in the future at some point, call a press conference in Darwin where we will reveal our identities. You will be the first to know. We will announce it on this blog.We have a plan. We'll stick to it. 

Unlike the management at what we believe to currently be the worst health department in the country, we think that information should be shared openly and transparently. Sneaky deals that appear to be taking advantage of MERIT and CLP links such as what has apparently occurred in Health House recently need to be exposed for what they are. It is cronyism and it destroys morale and adds to the already heightened mistrust of the management in the northern territory department of health. 

There is a code of conduct and we are all expected to abide by it.

This is what the OCPE say about the NTPS code of conduct;

"The General Principles and Code of Conduct are part of the terms and conditions of the employment relationship. As such they are binding on all Public Sector Employees and must be observed by all, including Chief Executive Officers and the Commissioner for Public Employment."

See that? "must be observed by all". Except it isn't applied evenly or fairly at all.

And section 7.1 of the code says;

"In order to maintain public confidence in the integrity of the Northern Territory Public Sector, a Public Sector Officer must exhibit, and be seen to exhibit the highest ethical standards in carrying out his or her duties, and must pursue, and be seen to pursue, the best interests of the people of the Northern Territory."

That would mean no jobs for your mates, in our view. And, in anyone's reading of the rules it would mean that too.

In June, Adam Giles said he'd had a 'gutful' of a failed commonwealth initiative in respect of aboriginal employment and development.  In announcing his new public service Aboriginal employment target Giles said 

"I want to give Indigenous people an opportunity to have a real job in government and a chance to contribute to breaking the cycle of welfare dependency that has crippled Aboriginal people for too long,” 

Giles doesn't get much right, but this was good policy. Aboriginal people make up 30% of the population in the territory but are represented in just 8% of positions in the health department. 

So here was a vacancy in a government department that would have been perfect for the new public service Aboriginal employment target. And what happened?  Notaras ensured it was given to the partner of a reporter who just so happens to be news anchor for Sky News in Darwin.

It may be he was the right person for the job. But none of us will ever know because nobody else was given the chance to apply for it. 

It may also be that there is a more sinister connection that has yet to be revealed.

What we do know is that birds of a feather stick together. 
  
 We understand that there are more revelations to come about this from CARDFIGHTBACK

The new Giles initiative, seen in this photograph, being signed off by Elferink and Notaras recently was apparently blatantly and cynically ignored. 

Nothing like a dose of double standards and hypocrisy from the Chief Executive and Health Minister, is there?  

In fact as research suggests, there is nothing so demotivating for staff than blatant cronyism.  

Look at that pair. They'd like you to think its all happy days in the department of health. And they want their sleaze covered up too judging from this latest warning/threat released last Friday;

NTPS Code of Conduct

The Chief Executive of the Department of the Chief Minister and the Commissioner for Public Employment ask that all NTPS employees acknowledge their responsibilities and obligations under the NTPS Code of Conduct and, where relevant, the agency specific Code of Conduct, in relation to information or documents they access or come across during the course of their employment. NTPS employees must not disclose information or documents other than what is required by law or proper authority. Disregarding the Code provisions or General Principles related to Public Sector (Part 1A of Public Sector Employment and Management Act - the Act) or acting in a manner inconsistent with those principles, is a breach of discipline under the Act.

This advice is also for those officers who are required to deal with Cabinet documents and Cabinet information as part of their duties. Cabinet is the highest decision-making body in government and the types of matters considered by Cabinet can have significant implications for the government and for the broader community.  Unauthorised disclosure of confidential Cabinet information constitutes a breach of the NTPS Code of Conduct and may be an offence under the NT Criminal Code.  The NT Criminal Code contains provisions relating to the misuse and communication of confidential information and other matters relating to a Public Sector Officer.  Penalties range from disciplinary measures including termination of employment and, for the most serious offences, potentially imprisonment.

All employees are asked to be mindful of the above requirements in their daily work activities.  The following links provide further information:

NTPS Code of Conduct

Cabinet information confidentiality 
 
The hypocrisy would apparently glow with this bunch wouldn't it? No living by the rules for them. They are by stealth creating an ideologically connected class of privileged people within the department of health in our view. They are building a wall around accountability so they and their mates can continue to reap the financial rewards of owning these positions and cover up genuine victims of the bullies inside the organisation. 

We think its deliberate, cynical, and corrupt.

The dictat issued last Friday is intimidatory and unnecessary. Unless of course, the truth is unpalatable and needs to be suppressed.

It's yet another example of the double standards that are endemic within the health department. 

The secretive approach creates an us and them scenario. Their lack of openness and cronyism on the sly creates mistrust. The management run it that way to avoid being accountable for their actions.

And of course last Friday's dictat conveniently 'forgets' to include anything on whistle blower legislation for some balance. After all, it is never about fairness with the northern territory department of health. So here's a link, you know, the one they forgot to include: 

http://www.nt.gov.au/justice/whistleblowers/FactSheet/fact_sheet_1_public_interest_disclosure.pdf

And here's a bit more from their other enemy; the media. Staff don't like it when the bosses hand out jobs on a whim to their political allies to puff up their mates' bank balances and  CV's like here and here and here.

It's offensive to fair minded people who expect a level playing field.  

And it's also why we think the partner of sky news man was given a job on the plate.

And sadly there is more. The mister men recently received a series of emails from a very concerned employee. She told us that there is another ostensibly impartial government department led by a CLP pick. NT Worksafe is currently led by a former CLP adviser Stephen Gelding. This means that decisions on improvement notices and investigations are open to an assumption of political bias getting in the way of integrity. 

It could mean for example, that an investigation into bullying might not ever get off the ground.

So let's take a look at what precisely we are talking about.

Complaint about bullying? Take it to Teflon Len. FORMER CLP PRESIDENT.

Complaint about the service? Take it to the HCSCC. Led by Stephen Dunham. FORMER ELFERINK CHIEF OF STAFF AND FORMER CLP HEALTH MINISTER.

Complaint about bullying or any health and safety related matter? Take it to NT Worksafe. Led by Stephen Gelding. FORMER CLP HEALTH ADVISER. 

Complaint about child protection? Take it to the Children's Commissioner. Led by Colleen Gwyne. CONFIRMED FORMER WORKMATE OF ELFERINK. 

Complaint about domestic violence? Take it to Jo Sangster. DEFEATED CLP NOMINEE IN LAST ELECTION. 

We don't think a single person mentioned went through any thing like a transparent, fair and vigorous selection process. They were all 'picks'. In which case, how can anyone ever know that they were the best people for those positions? 

Could you trust them to conduct an honest and impartial investigation, lets say, into a serious bullying matter? Given the track record, we wouldn't. 

They are all connected in some way, to the CLP. Funny that.

Want the government or its officers to be investigated? NT Ombudsman right?
Well read this and weep friends. 


This is supposedly the country of the 'fair go' but there is no fair go in the northern territory department of health, not when cronyism and cover up culture is so blatant and rife.

A lot of management effort and resources is put into maintaining the status quo. You can kiss that code of conduct goodbye because it doesn't apply to them. At the same time, watch them vigorously apply it to their targets. 

The hypocrisy stinks, doesn't it Raelene Burke? 

If she was not just another faceless servant of the bosses and was truly impartial, why won't she, as the health department's senior HR director, do something and put a stop to it? Or is she too busy signing off contracts for CLP picks to have time to even think about what she is doing?

They are all too busy lining their own pockets to care much about the out of control bullying going on in their departments. They could not care less. That is why it has gone on for years.

It's staggeringly arrogant, dishonest and corrupt in our view.

And we will reveal more about them in the future. We'll prove the contempt that senior people in the organisation hold toward clinicians. 

We need effective senior management who are not selected on the basis of their political views. That in itself is discrimination. 

Until change comes, we will continue to release and share information about them. 

Meanwhile on the other side of town:

We believe all current and potential staff have a right to know exactly what kind of organisation they are involving themselves with. A common theme in our communications with past staff is: 'Why did I ever go work for them?'. It's a source of bitter regret for many. Informed consent applies to clinicians as well as patients. We think the truth needs to be told and shared.

It's 'buyer beware' with the northern territory department of health. One clinic manager wrote and told us she resigned to protect her registration from the bullies above her. 

It's a place where the truth is in short supply and nothing is ever what it seems.

Meantime, maintaining proactive and strong links with our large readership is something we are anxious to ensure does not change.

We have been amazed at the response to our presence in the blogosphere. We urge you to keep sharing the link to our page with your colleagues and friends.

Be assured that when they come to shut us down - and they will try - we can be up and running within an hour. We have several ghost blogs set up and prepared with every story and readers response backed up every night. Make sure you have our email address so you can write and ask where to find us if we go down. It's bully@tuta.io

We are grateful for every email we receive, for all the comments and feedback shared with us. With us, unlike them, you can speak your mind.

There are several projects afoot which we will take pleasure in sharing with you at the appropriate time.

Our next story which will be out very soon, will be a report on the findings of our first online survey. The response to it has been staggering.

After that will be a 'special' on a management 'Fat Cat'. 

We will also have an announcement to make about an article in a national magazine very soon. Yes, it's going national, folks.

As always, the response from you has been incredible. Our last article was our most read yet. We are grateful and humbled. We rely on you, our colleagues to spread the word and keep sharing our blog address.

Preliminary findings of the online study are very worrying indeed. We guarantee the northern territory health department charlatan management will hate it. Remember - it is the only INDEPENDENT survey on these issues that cannot be contaminated.

If they weren't so bad at their jobs, we wouldn't have to do it.

Please don't forget to support HPARA. We do.  

And CARDFIGHTBACK.

And share us.

Thanks.

the mister men 

PS - We wondered why our tracking systems picked up so many hits last week end from the same place via an Indonesia server. Then we received an email advising that the senior 'managers' in top end remote had a week end in Bali. Hope you had a lovely time boys and girls. We did so chuckle at the honey trap email you sent us from your ipad whilst you were there. What clever people you are. 



PPS FIRST SURVEY RESULT REVEALED