Page 5869 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 7 December 2011
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My sister is a nurse at the hospital and on a regular basis she tells me stories of situations that she has put up with in the performance of her duties as a nurse. Some of the situations are simply shocking and you would not believe that it happens in modern workplaces today. This does not take away from her commitment as a nurse, but it adds another stress to what is already a very stressful job.
Better understanding some of the reasons behind the violence that public servants are subjected to gives us better ways of managing particularly directorate-level responses to the stresses that are experienced in individual workplaces. With the amendment that I have moved, we will be happy to support the motion.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (5.38): I will speak briefly to the motion. I too speak in support of Mr Rattenbury’s motion about preventing assaults on workers. The statistics Mr Rattenbury has referred to are very concerning. The figure of 1,600 incidents of ACT public sector workers being attacked, bullied or harassed over a 20-month period—a rate of almost five assaults per 100 workers—is very high. Mr Rattenbury’s motion is focused on workplace assaults, also known as occupational violence.
This morning I tabled legislation that is focused on workplace bullying in the ACT. While the two issues are related, they can be distinguished, as has been noted today. Bullying and harassment involves repeated or systemic behaviour over a period of time and is typically conducted by work colleagues. Occupational violence includes one-off instances and can be conducted by work colleagues or by others, including members of the public.
Occupational violence or assaults can be thought of as the physical issue but, in fact, they are closely linked with mental health issues. Occupational violence results in stress and anxiety and is a primary reason for claims of mental stress. A number of recent studies showed that work factors such as occupational violence can lead to the onset of major depression. As I pointed out this morning, SafeWork Australia reports that the median payment for a worker’s mental stress claim due to occupational violence is $10,100 and the median time off work is 7.4 weeks. There are significant economic and health arguments for reducing the incidents of occupational violence in the workplace. I believe it will be instructive to calculate the overall cost to the ACT due to the incidents of occupational violence, and I imagine that figure would be quite high.
The legislation I tabled today would have an impact on addressing the impacts caused to all workplaces from bullying and harassment. The specialised inspectors and advisory committee that my legislation would establish are tasked with dealing with broader psychosocial issues, of which workplace violence is key. Clause 4 of the bill notes that workplace aggression is listed as one of the specific examples the bill covers.
One of the key asks in Mr Rattenbury’s motion is to request the release of data about which industries are experiencing assaults, where those assaults are occurring and what are the triggers. This is a critical ask as a lack of data or a lack of attention on the
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