Early in September 2020, I called the Fair Work Ombudsman to find out what to do about the continued stalking and harassment from the perpetrator under workers compensation regulations. They told me to report it to the police. I did this once I discovered the perpetrator had intercepted my emails from my private email account, to my union rep. Such workplace surveillance is prohibited. This individual employed to manage the safety of a publicly funded university on a national level, was relentless.
On 12 September 2020, I went to my local police station to report the harassment and stalking by R. Christmann, as advised by the Fair Work Ombudsman’s office.
The NSW police apparently don’t deal with “work related matters”, as said by a junior police officer I was constantly fobbed off to, at St. George police station, Kogarah. His body language displayed he was not listening, eyes glazed over. Is this how police treat all women reporting abuse? I was distressed and frightened. They didn’t care. They advised an Apprehended Personal Violence Order (APVO) application. Another fob off.
By now, I felt weak from fear. A family member called Law Access NSW for advice on how to apply for an APVO against this senior executive perpetrator. I was on workers compensation because of Rena Christmann, and she was continuing to harass me. Here were the instructions:
1. Christmann had contacted my nominated treating professional without my signed consent, but saying to my nominated treating professional that I gave consent;
2. Christmann contacted me through the HR notifications email so that I didn’t know that it was from her, until I opened the email;
3. Christmann had intercepted my Gmail account to my union representative (who informed me of this).
My APVO application form detailed the three incidents as instructed by Law Access NSW. Apparently the staff member at Law Access NSW was stunned. If only those agencies and law enforcers who should have taken this seriously, were stunned too. They not only weren’t stunned, they didn’t believe me and turned on me instead.
While waiting for a response from the local court, on 15 September 2020, I email the NTEU branch organiser, informing him that I’ve applied for an APVO. The NTEU staff were also deliberately ignoring me.
Another reason I emailed the NTEU branch organiser was because of yet another distressing incident from Rena Christmann and her friends from Clayton Utz. This time she targeted my family. They made a formal complaint to the university, for senior executive staff invading their privacy in my very unrelated safe work matter. It wasn’t enough for the national manager of employment relations and SAFETY to continue reckless and wilful misconduct with intent to cause harm and injury to me, she placed the safety, health and wellbeing of my family at risk too! And everyone did NOTHING to stop her!
My email to the NTEU branch organiser included:
“The expectations of the workplace in the insurer’s return to work plan is to cooperate, collaborate & communicate. [The university] have failed on all three and the very person who caused me traumatic injuries is stalking me and threatening my family… I predicted this when she violated their privacy and implicated them in what was always meant to be a simple [but serious] workplace issue to be resolved.
I need you to know that I’ve applied for an APVO directly toward this individual, so I am doing what I can to keep me and my family safe. I don’t know her, I don’t ever want to know her, I want her to stay away from us… I’m frightened, I’m deliberately forced to be alone and all this is worse trauma than my dad’s suicide. I’ve become a target of evil I will never understand.
…even WorkCover laws aren’t followed by this organisation. But I need this all to turn around very soon before it does destroy me. I’m confident you’re working on it, and so am I.”
I still thought the self-insurer, Catholic Church Insurance, were going to “cooperate, collaborate and communicate” with their own injury management plan agreement and to create an aligned return to work plan. I hadn’t sent the second email yet, asking for an update, after the case manager was removed and not replaced. (See http://mystory-myvoice.blogspot.com/2025/07/cci-cruel-con-insurance-september-2020.html).
The “confidence” and trust I had, that the NTEU would inform me, as a member, of my rights and entitlements, is destroyed. They betrayed me and withheld information about workers compensation entitlements I SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOLD ABOUT. The NTEU is one of multiple organisations that should have stopped this from happening. The NTEU deliberately remained SILENT. The NTEU did NOTHING.
The only thing that I’ve been doing for these last several years is battle something bigger than I ever expected, to save my life and everything I worked for. I fought back severe organisational misconduct, all alone. Where is such conduct written in the Identity and Mission, in social justice teachings, in the code of conduct, policies, values, ethos and community engagement? Where is this psychological terrorism towards staff and families formally written on the organisational website? WHERE?
The local court registrar chose to dismiss the application and fob me off too. The shocking thing was who I was fobbed off to.
On 22 September 2020, I got a letter from registrar of the local court. The response was, “Your application appears to be towards a work colleague. In a work environment, there would be avenues to address bullying and harassment. If those avenues are not assisting you, you may wish to make contact with the Fair Work Ombudsman.”
I was in tears from frustration and fear, being fobbed off and sent in cruel circles by every organisation I was referred to, along with the dismissive words “it appears”. I was alone, unsupported, deliberately ostracised, failed by three employment lawyers, the NTEU, and now, the beginning of systemic abuse.
The information online, about who is covered by an APVO application, includes that it can be taken out against a “work colleague”. However, the Sutherland local court registrar must be ignorant to their own information. And this was not a “colleague”. IT WAS THE NATIONAL MANAGER OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS AND SAFETY.
I annotated the document that includes the completed APVO application and the response from the local court registrar, writing, “…A decision to end this injustice and organisational abuse will give this entire family peace. They are to be left alone for their safety and wellbeing and so am I. She still hasn’t respected my demand to stop harassing me. Only then can I work on a legitimate return to work plan under workers compensation… I am entirely alone trying to navigate a confusing “system” to get assistance. It’s overwhelming and I mostly don’t get a response or conflicting information that causes more frustration and feeling like giving up. I have kept going because I don’t want my employer to destroy my life’s work, my career, my job security and my life. My loyalty has been there since 2001. This is all proof of adverse action... It was the only time I explicitly asked for support… I’ve tried to do this the “right” way for everyone, but it has become a matter of urgency…”
I’d say it’s all a cruel joke, but really, it’s beyond cruel.
So far, I was neglected by NSW Police, the registrar of the local court who did not list my APVO, the NTEU who agreed to collude in wage theft via the crime of fraud by withholding information regarding my workers compensation benefits, and Catholic Church Insurance, who agreed to collude in the continuation of diabolical adverse action by withholding my legally owed weekly payments and refusing to cooperate with implementing the injury management plan agreement - their legal agreement they were meant to uphold! The self-insurer committed workers compensation fraud!
SafeWork NSW is about to enter my story in a few posts' time. Other than SIRA NSW, as a regulator, they were the most grossly negligent of all, with a harmful attitude included. There is no excuse for ignorance and incompetence when they've had costly campaigns before, making us feel we could trust the safe work regulator, and then their actions were the very opposite of their campaigns.
I quote from para. 207 of the Factual Investigation Report for Catholic Church Insurance:
"...I therefore demand Rena [Christmann] and [the HR associate director] leave me alone... I do not want communication from either of them again so I can feel safe and to heal."
Here is the link to the current SafeWork NSW campaign - Irreplaceable.
https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/advice-and-resources/campaigns/irreplaceable
This post is based on documents 97-98. It displays adverse action for requesting generally protected workplace rights, being a member of an industrial association, prohibited workplace surveillance, privacy violations, discrimination, deception, malicious and vexatious conduct that condones engaging in WHS breaches and creating psychosocial hazards, not managing the risks as the PCBU is reasonably expected to do so, BY LAW.
A explanation of an APVO on LawAccess NSW - local court registrars should read
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