Southern Cross University has been accused of denying the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Tertiary Education Union’s legal right to investigate serious work health and safety issues.
An NTEU official gave notice he would enter the University’s Lismore campus to access WHS documents after a staff survey revealed 82 per cent of staff regularly experienced psychosocial hazards at work.
When he arrived, University management disputed his legal right to attend the campus and retrieve documents.
They also alleged that the Union official had no right to consult the elected Health and Safety Representatives among the University’s workforce.
A SafeWork NSW inspector attended at the Union’s request, and confirmed that the NTEU official had issued notices of right of entry as required by the Act.
But University management still sought to refuse access and flagged it would dispute the NTEU in the Industrial Relations Commission.
“What has Southern Cross University got to hide?” NTEU NSW Assistant Secretary Vince Caughley said.
“SCU is showing utter contempt for staff by refusing access to documents that could shed light on breaches of workplace safety laws.
“Now they’ve proposed an agreement without union endorsement that entrenches a significant real-wage cut, removes long-standing entitlements, and does nothing to address the serious work health and safety issues.
“We’re urging the University to start showing respect for staff.”
In August, the NTEU released “The final straw: Insights into workplace culture and staff well-being at Southern Cross University”.
It found 44% of staff were likely to seek medical advice for work-related stress, 63% rated SCU workplace culture as negative or extremely negative, and 36% said they were likely or very likely to resign from the university.
The University took the extreme step of blocking staff access to the survey via university email systems and their network, which the NTEU alleges is one of the University’s breaches of the Act.
