The ‘Victorian Public Service Code of Conduct’ for public service employees has since time immemorial been a tool to protect public service management from having their questionable reactive rather than proactive management exposed.

The Department of Human Services recently stated to The Age, following exposure of abuse and intimidation of vulnerable people by direct care staff:-

“The department has statutory and legal obligations to ensure quality of care for disabled clients. If there are allegations this is not taking place, the department needs to understand why important information relating to client care is not getting through to senior management. Senior management needs to speak to the person involved, as the department takes breaches of the Victorian Public Service code of conduct and client privacy seriously”.

This is a standard statement used by public service management for public consumption… It means this is how it should be, not how it really is.

Standard practice in the public service is that management punishes any public servant reporting questionable occurrences to them, by intimidating them in various ways, including exposing them to those against whom they are reporting.

This ensures the employee will never, ever, again give management work, by expecting management to take action against another employee – leaving management to enjoy their public service leisure at work.

A member of the LISA team has personal experience, as a public servant, of being seriously intimidated by public service management for reporting the questionable actions of other public service staff.

The LISA team has wall to wall material showing how public service management will manoeuvre every which way to avoid taking meaningful and business like action in relation to questionable occurrences and practices.

As no one controls the public service (the department), the above mentioned material will not be considered, despite the department’s ‘Quality Framework’, 2.2.2 says, “Principles that underpin the quality framework are, ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Quality Management’

We suggest the ‘Victorian Whistleblowers Protection Act’, is no protection for public servants under the ‘Victorian Public Service Code of Conduct’.

Whistleblower Protection Act - LINK

Victorian Public Service Code of Conduct - LINK

LISA Comment: DHS Victoria should have nothing to hide in their role to provide care and support for vulnerable people in our society.

If they were doing their job properly, they would welcome transparency throughout all aspects of the organisation.

The Age, 27 September 2012, reports the US Military as having designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the US - the same legal category as the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban insurgency. Communicating with the enemy can carry a sentence of death!

It would seem that DHS Victoria classify their consumers, vulnerable people and their families, as the enemy, and their employees as military personnel