When Every Door Closes at Once - April 2021

After months of escalating harm, silence, and withheld information, I took my concerns about the handling of my workers’ compensation claim to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). I didn’t do this lightly, but I also didn’t know what else to do. I was distressed, distrusting, frightened and confused about why (now) two regulators would do this - SafeWork NSW and now SIRA NSW.

SIRA NSW based their decision on a SafeWork NSW inspector’s negligent and reckless report that I never even knew about or was provided access to. I was rightfully suspicious. 

SafeWork NSW harmed me when they could have protected me, and now SafeWork NSW continued to harm me in partnership with SIRA NSW. 

I submitted around 30 documents detailing what I believed was systemic failure by a NSW regulator — SIRA — to act transparently, lawfully, or protectively in the face of serious allegations of misconduct, harm and non-compliance with statutory obligations by both the employer and its specialised insurer.

On 20 April 2021, ICAC summarised my concerns accurately enough: lack of transparency, no clear investigator, no updates, unexplained delays, and a belief that the regulator had effectively shielded my employer while I was left exposed to ongoing bullying, intimidation, and health deterioration. My family had been drawn in. Colleagues silenced. Protection measures I explicitly requested were not put in place.

The response was brief and procedural.

ICAC declined to investigate. The university was deemed outside jurisdiction. SIRA’s conduct, while acknowledged as unsatisfactory from my perspective, was not considered to show a “reasonable likelihood” of dishonesty or deliberate wrongdoing — the threshold required for corruption under the Act.

What this letter captures — and what it doesn’t — is important.

It shows how neatly responsibility can be compartmentalised. How harm can fall through jurisdictional gaps. How a person can be told, in effect, that what happened to them is serious, distressing, and documented — but still not actionable by anyone with power.

By April 2021, I had already learned this lesson the hard way: when systems focus more on thresholds, definitions, and boundaries than on human safety and continuity of care, the person at the centre becomes invisible.

This document is not just a refusal. It is a snapshot of how institutional processes can close ranks, each one pointing elsewhere, while the harm continues — unchecked, unresolved, and borne by the individual.

And that, too, is part of the public record.

Source: contemporaneous record of events - Document 168. 

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Further reading 

Adams, J. (2025, 3 July). “Process Corruption”. No brown paper bags, but just as sketchy. Michael West Media Independent Journalists. [Online]: https://michaelwest.com.au/process-corruption-no-brown-paper-bags-but-just-as-bad/

Below is a link to an informative publication by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). It provides insightful case studies, clarity and guidance for those in public service. 

ICAC NSW (2025, June). Coerced, Compromised or Groomed – how people get drawn into corrupt conduct". [Online]: 

https://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/prevention/corruption-prevention-publications/latest-corruption-prevention-publications/coerced-compromised-or-groomed-how-people-get-drawn-into-corrupt-conduct-june-2025