The Education and Employment Committee, the body charged with carrying out the Prime Minister’s demand for an inquiry into workplace bullying, has announced it will travel to Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart over the coming days to hear from the community.

 

The Committee has announced it will hear from representatives of law societies, unions, industry groups, organisational psychologist is, workplace consultants, academic experts, community groups and individuals who have firsthand experience of workplace bullying.

 

“The Committee has received a strong response to its call for written submissions and is now seeking to explore issues associated with workplace bullying in greater detail,” Committee Chair Amanda Rishworth said.

 

“The Minister has asked us to complement work currently under way to develop a Code of Practice: Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying and initiatives by state and territory governments.”

 

As well as the formal public program available on the inquiry website, the Committee has set time to hear from individuals about their experiences of bullying in the workplace. To encourage maximum participation by individuals, who may be reluctant to be publicly identified, the media will not be permitted to report these individual impact statements and none of the statements provided to the Committee will be published. Others wishing to make statements or observe proceedings will be allowed to be present in the room.

 

“Bullying has serious consequences for individuals and the wider community. Every Australian has a right to feel safe and respected at work. While it is not the role of the Committee to intervene in or consider individual cases, we welcome submissions from employers, employees and their representative organisations regarding proposals and suggestions for securing workplaces against bullying at a national level,” Ms Rishworth said.

 

The Committee has announced the following meeting times

 

Sydney

 

Date: Tuesday, 10 July, 2012

 

Venue: Macquarie Room, Parliament of New South Wales

 

Time:                              

 

9:30am

WorkCover NSW

10:00am

Australian Industry Group

10:45am

Australian Federal Employers and Industries 

11:15am

Unions NSW and National Tertiary Education Union

12L45pm

Law Society of New South Wales

1:15pm

Keryl Egan and Associates

2:00pm 

Impact Statements

 

Melbourne

 

Date: Wednesday, 11 July, 2012

 

Venue: Legislative Council Room, Victorian Parliament

 

Time:                              

 

8:30am 

ACCI

9:00am

Headspace

9:30am

Law Institute of Victoria

10:00am

Australian Council of Trade Unions

10:45am

Centre for Regulator Studies, Faculty of Law, Monash University

11:15am

DC Workplace Consulting

12:45am

Bully Blocking

1:15pm

National Centre Against Bullying

2:00pm

Business in Mind

2:30pm

Damian and Rae Panlock

3:00pm

Impact Statements

 

Hobart

 

Date: Thursday, 12 July, 2012

 

Venue: Tasmania Legislative Council

 

Time:   

11:30am

Unions Tasmania

12:00pm

Challenge Bullying

1:00pm

Workplace standards Tasmania

1:30pm

Impact Statements

 

The hearings are broadcasted live on Live on http://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/Watch_Parliament