21 March 2022 — “Honesty Is the Best Policy”
By March 2022, the pattern had become relentless.
Email after email.
Request after request.
Notice after notice.
I was still trying to survive the consequences of prolonged non-compliance, withheld entitlements, and institutional silence.
On 21 March 2022, I sent two more emails. One to the Kogarah electorate office. One to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Ethics). Both reflected the same reality:
I was still waiting.
Still unsupported.
Still trying to secure my future while those with power delayed (or ignored) accountability.
This documented correspondence forms part of that continuing chronology.
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Email One — To the Kogarah Electorate Office
“I can only speculate”
The first email was sent to Cheryl Han at the office of my local member, who is now Premier of New South Wales.
The subject line alone captured the uncertainty I had been left to live in:
“Return of my work and entitlements: I think there’s progress but I can only speculate.”
That sentence says everything.
No transparency.
No meaningful updates.
No certainty regarding my stable employment, my income, or my legal entitlements.
At that point, I was trying to secure a home loan while still dealing with the financial fallout of withheld workers compensation entitlements. I wrote:
“In exactly a month, I have to pay the stamp duty - $21,500. Am I going to need to steal more funds from my superannuation…?”
That was the reality created by prolonged non-payment and regulatory failure to enforce statutory compliance.
I also explained:
“I need proof of my employment to submit my documents to the mortgage broker to secure the loan. This delay is causing more harm and anxiety for me.”
This is what often gets lost in discussions about workers compensation disputes.
The harm caused by institutional failure affects:
- housing security,
- financial stability,
- superannuation,
- family relationships,
- mental wellbeing,
- and a person’s ability to recover and thrive once more in their life.
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Email Two — To the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Ethics)
Later the same day, I wrote to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Ethics), Prof. Hayden Ramsay.
The trigger was a short leadership video about honesty, ethics, and transparent communication.
I listened to a senior executive speak publicly about integrity while privately I remained trapped in silence, delay, and unresolved harm.
So I responded directly.
“I liked your bite sized video about honesty and communication in the work environment.”
But I also made something else clear:
“My first document in this nightmare aligns to what you said.”
That is the contradiction at the centre of this story.
The issue was never that I failed to communicate.
I communicated repeatedly.
Documented concerns repeatedly.
Escalated respectfully.
Requested help appropriately.
Followed process after process after process.
The problem was what happened after notice was received.
Or more accurately:
What did not happen.
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“Honesty Is the Best Policy”
One line from the earlier email stood out to me when revisiting these documents:
“If a worker, small business, health professional or other related entity, committed worker’s compensation fraud, they would’ve been prosecuted immediately…”
That frustration came from witnessing what appeared to be a completely unequal system of accountability.
Workers are scrutinised intensely.
But when institutions allegedly fail to comply with statutory obligations, the response too often becomes:
- delay,
- deflection,
- procedural exhaustion,
- and silence.
At the time, I still believed that if enough evidence was provided, someone in leadership would eventually intervene appropriately.
That belief kept me writing these emails.
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The Human Cost of Institutional Delay
These emails also show something else clearly:
I was not disengaged from my workplace.
I was desperately trying to preserve my connection to it.
I repeatedly asked for:
- restoration of employment,
- return of entitlements,
- implementation of injury management obligations,
- communication,
- and safe return-to-work processes.
Instead, I was left in limbo while trying to hold together every other part of my life, including my family, my housing security and my future.
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Public Accountability Means More Than Public Messaging
Universities speak often about:
- ethics,
- dignity,
- mission,
- integrity,
- and community.
But public accountability is not measured by leadership videos or strategic language.
It is measured by conduct when a worker becomes vulnerable, especially after repeated notice.
And by March 2022, notice had already been given many times.
But the institutionalised wage theft continued…
Source: contemporaneous record of events - Document 295
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Further Reading: Is Your Workplace Psychologically and Ethically Healthy?
Years before my own experience unfolded, an article titled “Is Your Workplace Psychologically and Ethically Healthy?” explored the connection between workplace ethics, psychological wellbeing, leadership behaviour, trust, communication, and organisational culture.
The article argues that ethical workplaces are not defined by mission statements, policies, or leadership slogans. They are defined by everyday actions. By whether people are treated fairly. By whether concerns can be raised safely. By whether leaders respond honestly when problems are identified. And by whether workers who are struggling are supported rather than ignored.
Reading that article now, I am struck by how closely it aligns with the themes running throughout this Notice After Notice series.
On 21 March 2022, I found myself responding to a leadership video about honesty and communication while simultaneously sending yet another email asking for help, information, and action.
The issue was never a lack of policies.
The issue was what happened after concerns were raised.
A psychologically and ethically healthy workplace requires more than statements about integrity. It requires leaders to listen when workers report harm. It requires transparency when mistakes are made. It requires accountability when systems fail. And it requires action when repeated notices are given.
By the time these emails were sent, I had already spent years documenting concerns, escalating issues, providing evidence, and seeking assistance from those with responsibility to act. Yet I remained trapped in uncertainty, still waiting for communication, support, and the implementation of obligations that should never have required years of advocacy.
That is why this series on my lived experience is called Notice After Notice.
Each email represents another moment where information was provided, concerns were documented, and opportunities existed to prevent further harm.
The tragedy is not that notice was absent.
The tragedy is how many notices were given.
Further Reading:
Yamada, D. (2010, 5 July). ‘Is Your Workplace Psychologically and Ethically Healthy?’ Minding the Workplace blog. [Online]: https://newworkplace.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/is-your-workplace-psychologically-and-ethically-healthy/
