Quality staff and university leaders that destroy the common good

“The common good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority”.

Catholic Church. (2012). The Common Good. In 2nd ed., Catechism of the Catholic Church (1906). Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 

https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_one/chapter_two/article_2/ii_the_common_good.html

In December of 2019, I emailed the National Head of School of Education. A humble, respectful and brilliant academic. 

I wrote… “ I hope you're well. Can I ask you to pray for me and ask those who know me in the School of Education to do so too. If there are some who still believe in the mission and values…, then please do this.

Can you wish all in the School a good Christmas and pray I too have a brighter year next year. I have worked too hard in the face of much adversity in my life, for all my hard work to amount to nothing in the end. I have to have faith that God is on my side.”

True to the kind person he is, as one of the many quality staff that senior executives would have done well to value and respect, he replied with kindness and compassion, 

“It is such a pleasure to hear from you …Vicki, you are in my thoughts and I pray to God to be with you and protect you.

Life is not always easy. We are always confronted with issues. I know you will draw strength from your faith.

You have achieved quite a lot in your life. I am one of those who benefited from your professionalism and kindness. You should be always proud of your achievement.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

I hope you will find 2020 a much better year. God bless you my friend.”

I’m emotional reading it. It’s one of the few words of heartfelt kindness I’ve had for years. 

Sadly, things became so much worse for me. The abuse became so much worse. I think it was at the end of 2020 that my respected colleague and friend, retired. I only know this because I saw the role advertised on LinkedIn. I was not there for his farewell, nor has anyone had the humanity and courtesy to provide me with a forwarding contact.  

I’m still persecuted with ostracism by the current VC as I wait for SafeWork NSW to do their job as WorkSafe Victoria did, after the incident at a graduation ceremony that made headlines, at the end of 2024. Will he cooperate the same way he cooperated with WorkSafe Victoria, in the event of an investigation into this wilful and reckless conduct? There’s an injury management plan agreement I expect to be implemented, and cooperation, including written steps to be taken by university governance, in providing a safe work environment as part of a return to work plan.

This email correspondence is more proof of what my clients, colleagues (and dear friends), truly think of me, to disprove corporate psychopaths employed in HR, and more disturbingly, as a national manager of employment relations and SAFETY, spreading malicious and vexatious lies. They engaged in everything but compliance for a safe work environment. 

Why would a vice-chancellor and executives of a university choose to cause such harm and destruction? A university where the staff were truly living the mission, code of conduct and values. I was denied my right to attend this wonderful academic colleague’s retirement farewell. I’m still being ostracised and mobbed in a culture of fear, where no one is replying with a forwarding contact for my retired colleague and friend. It’s disgusting, especially the negligence of SafeWork NSW to come. 

Document 25 will be the last I will write about, to end 2019, on this blog. I will repeat the conclusion I wrote to end this part of the chronology. We have no “right” to grieve or be human at the university. It’s encouraged to prey on staff at their most vulnerable moments. The volume of records prove how serious, severe and immoral the organisational misconduct is, behind a facade of brand, image, policies, mission, values, and staff code of conduct. If you do apply these in your work, be prepared to be persecuted, even unto death, if that’s what it takes these corporate perpetrators. Somehow I survived. No one should be forced to prove their resilience like this. This, however, was not my Achilles heel. That weakness lay elsewhere. 

But regarding this issue, the government regulators have “allowed” it to happen, while presenting the public with their own sham dealing in mentally healthy workplace strategies, codes of practice for managing psychosocial hazards and many glossy publications from both SafeWork NSW and SIRA NSW. They are misleading the public. It’s false advertising. SIRA NSW’s obvious dodginess coming up later, under the now former CEO, displayed sham dealings and suspected hidden agendas. We are stakeholders, NSW Government. We demand answers. I hope the report recently submitted into SIRA NSW complaints handling, will be a start to answering the public stakeholder questions.