There’s the old adage, be positive and everything will turn out okay. Those who are victims of abuse, of any kind, at work would tend to disagree with this stance. As someone who has faced relentless online and in person harassment can attest to a strong sensitive on the toxic positivity movement. We can find like-minded people and support each other out of toxic workplaces, but that is not possible when in the company of a serial liar and his comrades. That’s right, my role was working for a trade union, advocating on behalf of Australia’s most vulnerable workers:
- The aged care sector (both private and public but equally disrespected by their employers.
- Health staff, at all levels, in a cracked and crumbling system, underfunded and disrespected).
- Small sites where people are sick, injured, unhappy and in pain, most blood collection centres.
The difference is, as of December 2022, Australia now has a positive duty to respond to sex related harassment, misconduct, sex-based discrimination and, most importantly, toxic cultures where people, based on their gender, is not allowed to thrive, let alone survive.
To find out more, you can read about it via the Australian Human Rights Commission webpage. Organisations, such as my, the Health Services Union (NSW/ACT/QLD) aware I’m out and public about it but also know it was never a good way to operate given my status as a writer, my own blog and various websites attached. Now, the only difference is that I write under a pen name but, anyone who knows, already knows and now, the truth is truly public. Remember, workers’ rights are human rights too.
*press “publish*
It is my intention that the boss, Gerard Hayes, will be held to account, will be required to provide compensation for any worker affected but his failure to provide safe systems of work, free from sexual predators, and those who protected. That looks the top top, the second from the top, and five other people who facilitated rampant harassment and ego trips that led to some of the victims becoming tripped up in the blood bath that was one of Australia’s biggest coverups. I will ensure that a portion of any payout goes to victims in need and, part of that will be writing about my experience so others can learn from my mistakes. The answer, I refused to change in order to fit in and, now that it has come out, I will make more mistakes of this nature and refuse even further to not accept the status quo.