What Was Taken for Granted: A Record of Professional Contribution

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” Aldous Huxley. 

The acceptance and reliance on an untested assertion, in the face of readily available contrary evidence, constitutes a failure to exercise statutory functions according to law and may amount to jurisdictional error.

For many years, I contributed to my university community with professionalism, initiative, and a deep commitment to supporting others.

I worked across teams, faculties, and disciplines — often in ways that were not formally recognised, but were consistently relied upon.

What follows is a record of contribution.

What was later said about me — and accepted without scrutiny — cannot be understood without first understanding what I actually did.

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Representing the Institution — Locally, Nationally, and Internationally

I contributed to the university’s external profile through active engagement in the sector.

This included:

• Delivering a joint workshop and presentation at an international conference on information literacy in Istanbul (2013)

• Presenting at a national professional conference, leading to an invitation to deliver a workshop at a major Australian university for librarians across universities and TAFE institutions

• Mentoring a colleague to co-present with an academic at a Learning and Teaching conference (2017) on open educational materials

• Supporting conference proposal development with multiple successful acceptances

• Assisting in workshop planning and presentation delivery

These contributions required subject expertise, preparation, and professional credibility.

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Scholarly Contribution and Academic Mentorship

My work extended into research, publishing, and enabling others to succeed:

• Publishing a peer-reviewed journal article in an international journal

• Co-authoring a book chapter

• Mentoring a colleague through academic publication to a successful outcome

• Progressing a substantial scoping review project

This work contributed directly to the university’s academic and research profile.

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Strengthening Academic Programs and Institutional Capability

I identified and created opportunities that strengthened academic programs:

• Initiating collaboration during a course review process that contributed to the development of a doctoral-level training program in Education

• Building strong working relationships with academic staff to integrate professional expertise into curriculum and program design

• Expanding understanding of professional roles as genuine academic partners

These outcomes required initiative, trust, and sustained effort.

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Representation at Senior Academic Levels

I contributed at senior levels within the institution:

• Participating in meetings with faculty leadership, including at Dean level

• Supporting course reviews with insights grounded in direct engagement with students, researchers, and academic staff

• Providing service data and professional expertise to inform decision-making

Alongside this, I supervised a team and managed operational responsibilities.

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Recognition in Academic and Professional Work

My contribution was acknowledged in formal and informal ways:

• Acknowledgement in a doctoral thesis and published work on governance

• Recognition by senior educational leaders for professional support provided during doctoral studies

• Ongoing acknowledgment from colleagues and academics

These acknowledgements remain part of the academic record.

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Leadership, Team Development, and Collaboration

I worked to strengthen teams and improve collaboration:

• Developing a vision to bring together teams across campuses to share workload and enhance contribution

• Leading through relationship-based management, grounded in trust and inclusion

• Supporting staff development through mentorship and professional guidance

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The Reality Behind the Work

This contribution occurred alongside:

• High workload demands

• Expanding and often unclear expectations

• A formal role that did not reflect the full scope of what was being delivered

Despite this, I continued to cooperate and contribute in good faith.

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The Record That Followed

Despite this documented history of contribution, a statement was later recorded within the workers’ compensation process by Catholic Church Insurance to the effect that I was “always unfit” for my role.

This was a serious assertion placed on record within a statutory system.

It directly contradicts:

• documented professional achievements

• academic contributions

• leadership responsibilities

• and sustained recognition over time

More concerningly, this assertion was not meaningfully interrogated or tested by Independent Review Office (IRO), despite its role in supporting injured workers and ensuring fairness.

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A Failure of Alignment: Conduct, Code, and Catholic Principles

Beyond the contradiction in the record, there is a deeper issue — one of alignment.

Universities grounded in faith-based traditions articulate clear expectations through:

• staff codes of conduct (integrity, fairness, respect, accountability)

• leadership obligations (ethical decision-making, procedural fairness, duty of care)

• Catholic social justice principles (human dignity, care for the vulnerable, justice, truth, and stewardship)

The conduct that followed — including:

• the minimisation of documented contribution

• the acceptance of untested and damaging assertions

• the absence of procedural fairness

• and the failure to safeguard a vulnerable worker

raises serious questions about whether those principles were upheld in practice.

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The Contradiction That Cannot Be Ignored

There is an irreconcilable contradiction between:

On one hand:

• international presentations

• national recognition and invited workshops

• peer-reviewed publications and academic contribution

• mentorship and demonstrated impact

• leadership and institutional engagement

And on the other:

• a recorded assertion that I was “always unfit” for my role

Both cannot be true.

Yet one was documented and accepted.

The other, supported by evidence, was not given equal weight.

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When Contribution Becomes Invisible

This is how professional contribution is erased:

Not by absence of evidence —

but by the acceptance of untested narratives.

Not by lack of work —

but by failures in systems meant to ensure fairness and accountability.

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Why This Record Matters

This is about:

• accuracy

• accountability

• and system integrity

When unsupported assertions are recorded and left unexamined, the consequences extend beyond one individual.

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Final Reflection

My contribution did not disappear.

It was documented.

It was recognised.

It had impact.

The issue is not whether the work existed.

The issue is how easily it was set aside —

and how readily a conflicting narrative was allowed to take its place.

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Call to Action

I respectfully call on the NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority and relevant Members of Parliament to examine how such assertions are accepted without scrutiny, and to ensure that statutory systems operate with the fairness, evidence-based assessment, and accountability they are designed to uphold.

Source: contemporaneous record of events - Document 60

See also:

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8597-3113

https://acu-au.academia.edu/VickiBourbous 

https://vickiposts.tumblr.com/

I Demanded Answers in Writing: IRO Relayed CCI’s ‘Always Unfit’ Claim About My 20-Year Career - October 2021

The Day I Demanded Answers

 

When oversight becomes procedural, the worker is left alone inside the system.

On 18 October 2021, I did something that should never be controversial in a system governed by law.

I asked for answers.

Not vague assurances.

Not verbal explanations.

Not process for the sake of process.

I required that Catholic Church Insurance provide clear, written responses to specific questions grounded in evidence, timelines, and statutory obligations.

This was not an unreasonable request.

It was the minimum standard of accountability.

What followed is captured in my contemporaneous records as Document 206.

It represents a serious failure of oversight. It marked a turning point.

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The Role of Independent Review Office — and What Happened Instead

IRO is not designed to be a passive intermediary.

It exists:

• To provide independent review.
• To scrutinise insurer conduct.
• To ensure that complaints are not simply answered—but properly examined.

In this case, that function was not meaningfully performed.

IRO forwarded my questions to the insurer.

The insurer provided responses.

Those responses were accepted.

No apparent testing of credibility.

No reconciliation with the evidence already provided.

No meaningful engagement with the substance of the issues raised.

The complaint was then closed.

This is not oversight.

It is administrative handling without protective function.

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The Statement That Should Have Triggered Scrutiny

Within the insurer’s response—accepted and relayed without challenge—was a statement that should never have passed unexamined:

that I had “always been unfit” for work  

This was not a minor discrepancy.

It was a sweeping assertion that:

• contradicted a 20-year employment history

• carried serious reputational implications

• and directly impacted my entitlements and future

It was presented without supporting evidence in the material provided.

And it was not questioned.

Not tested.

Not interrogated.

Not contextualised.

It was allowed to stand.

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Twenty Years, Dismissed Without Examination

I’ve been working at the university since 2001.

Two decades of consistent, professional contribution.

That history was not speculative.

It was documented.

It was verifiable.

My family supporting me expressed this plainly:

I had provided “20 YEARS of excellent and distinguished service” and that the assertion made about my capacity was unfounded  

My family immediately identified the disconnect between:

• objective history

• and untested narrative

What the system failed to do was address that disconnect.

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A Vulnerable Worker, A Heightened Responsibility

At the time, I had clearly advised that I was experiencing trauma-related symptoms and required a family member to act as my support person and point of communication.  

This was not incidental.

It required care.

It required sensitivity.

It required a process that reduced harm.

Instead, what followed was procedural containment.

A vulnerable worker was not safeguarded.

She was processed.

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No Verification. No Accountability.

The most serious issue is not simply what was said.

It is what was not done.

Serious assertions were not tested.

Conflicting evidence was not examined.

Credibility was not assessed.

Instead, the complaint was deemed “resolved” because a response had been provided.

This is where responsibility arises.

When an oversight body accepts and closes a matter without scrutiny, it does more than fail to intervene.

It allows harm to continue.

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At the Same Time: A Boundary Was Crossed

While this process was unfolding, the insurer attempted to obtain my full medical file from my GP.

Not targeted information.

Not limited to the scope of the work-related injury.

The attempted to obtain the entire file, without signed consent. An attempt at a serious privacy breach. It was the only known contact from CCI to my GP. 

That request was refused.

Consent, scope, and legal boundaries matter.

But the timing is critical, because it occurred alongside:

• untested assertions about my capacity

• a lack of scrutiny of insurer responses

• and a complaint process that was closing rather than investigating

Taken together, this reflects a pattern that extended beyond ordinary claims handling.

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This Was Not Administrative. It Was Harmful.

What occurred here was not a technical failure.

It had real, human consequences.

To have:

• your professional identity reduced to an untested assertion

• your evidence effectively disregarded

• your circumstances insufficiently examined

• and your complaint closed without meaningful scrutiny

is not neutral.

It is harmful.

This was extremely distressing and humiliating.

And what was worse, I was abandoned by an agency that should have protected me—leaving me frightened, helpless and despondent. I did not know what to do to stop the serious harm both employer and insurer were causing.

That sense of abandonment did not arise in isolation.

It arose from a process where protection was expected—but not delivered.

The impact extended beyond me

It affected my family.

My dignity.

My sense of safety within a system I was required to rely on.

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A Pattern of Obstruction and Procedural Failure

This incident does not stand alone.

It forms part of a broader pattern of events that raise serious concerns about obstruction, lack of procedural fairness, and the consistent undermining of my ability to participate meaningfully in processes that directly affected my rights and entitlements.

Prior to this, I was subjected to legal correspondence from Clayton Utz asserting that I was not an injured worker—before any proper determination process, and without the procedural fairness that such a position requires.

That communication did not resolve anything.

It narrowed the pathway available to me.

It created pressure at a critical stage.

What followed compounded that effect.

I was directed into a Whole Person Impairment (WPI) assessment process without a clear understanding of its implications.

During that process:

• the IME practitioner—engaged within the Personal Injury Commission framework—refused my support person, who was also intended to act as a witness and safeguard

• I was required to demonstrate that no one else was present

• and when I raised concerns, I was told that “sometimes workers’ compensation solicitors get it wrong”

These “procedural decisions” had consequences.

The refusal of a support person removed a basic safeguard.

The requirement to verify isolation increased vulnerability.

The dismissal of legal advice created confusion at a critical point.

Taken together, these actions had the effect of:

• limiting transparency

• reducing oversight

• and placing me in a position of procedural disadvantage

I consider this conduct to have materially affected procedural fairness.

Not because of any single act in isolation—but because of their cumulative effect.

When viewed alongside Document 206, a consistent pattern emerges:

• barriers to participation

• constraints on support

• and processes that did not adequately safeguard the individual at their centre

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Legal Framing

From a legal and administrative perspective, this matter raises serious questions about whether the complaint-handling process met basic standards of procedural fairness and lawful decision-making. 

Within the NSW workers compensation framework—particularly under the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW)—there is an expectation that processes operate to ensure proper injury management, fair dealing, and accountability in the handling of claims. 

An oversight body performing a statutory or quasi-statutory function is required to do more than relay information; it must engage with it. That includes assessing the credibility of contested assertions, considering relevant evidence, and avoiding conclusions that are unsupported or unreasonable in light of the material before it—principles consistent with established administrative law standards and the supervisory framework reflected in the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW). 

Closing a complaint on the basis that a response has been provided—without apparent verification or reconciliation with contrary evidence—risks a failure to properly exercise that function. 

In circumstances where relevant evidence is not meaningfully considered, or conclusions are reached that lack an evident and rational foundation, such a process may give rise to questions of legal unreasonableness or jurisdictional error in the administrative law sense. 

Where this results in foreseeable harm to a vulnerable complainant, the issue is not merely procedural. It goes to whether the system is operating consistently with its legislative purpose, including the protection of worker welfare and the integrity of the scheme.

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When Oversight Becomes Complicity

Complicity does not require intent.

It can arise through inaction.

Through failure to question.

Failure to verify.

Failure to intervene.

When an oversight body accepts untested assertions and closes a complaint without scrutiny, it becomes part of the outcome, not just a bystander to it.

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Call to Accountability

This incident demands accountability.

• Why were serious assertions about my capacity accepted without evidence?
• What steps, if any, were taken to verify the insurer’s claims against the documented record?
• Why was the complaint considered “resolved” in the absence of independent assessment?
• What safeguards exist within IRO to prevent harm to vulnerable workers in similar circumstances?

And more fundamentally:

• Who is responsible when oversight fails and harm results?

Because this is about consequences.

Oversight exists to protect.

When it does not, the harm does not stop.

It continues.

It is lived. 

I am still living it.

And until these questions are answered, this is not a resolved complaint.

It is an unresolved failure.

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This was not just a failure to act—it was a failure to protect at the very point protection was most needed.

Source: contemporaneous record of events - Document 206

See also:

https://mystory-myvoice.blogspot.com/2026/01/clayton-utz-isolation-intimidation.html?m=1

https://mystory-myvoice.blogspot.com/2026/03/legal-power-professional-boundaries-and.html?m=1

https://mystory-myvoice.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-examination-i-was-not-prepared-for.html?m=1