NEWS-HR

The Victoria State Emergency Services Authority T/A Victoria State Emergency Service has got its Victoria State Emergency Service Agreement 2016 application past Commissioner Lee in Melbourne on the 20 December 2016.

Warrina Innisfail has succeeded in its application for its Warrina Innsfall, Australia Workers Union and Support Staff Enterprise Agreement 2016.

A Brisbane nurse accused of killing her 10-year-old nephew has been refused bail in the Supreme Court. Curtis Powell was found dead at a home in Mackenzie on Brisbane’s southside on July 19, 2015. Jodie Maree Powell, 43, and her partner, James Colin Burnham, 35, were charged earlier this month after an 18-month investigation into the death of the boy. The Department of Child Safety placed Curtis in the couple’s care in 2009. He was found dead at their Mackenzie home.

A pregnant woman who attacked a rest home worker and an animal control officer has been warned she will end up in prison if she reoffends. Kiriwaitutu​ Hawkins, 23, was sentenced on Tuesday at the Manukau District Court and placed on a two year supervision order. The Hamilton mother-of-two lashed out on two separate occasions in February this year, earning charges of threatening to kill, intentional damage of a motor vehicle and threatening behaviour. In the first incident on February 18, Hawkins was visiting her mother at a rest home and became angry when she was not allowed to leave her children in her mother’s care. Hawkins swore and threatened the rest home manager before physically attacking her. “You lunged at her, punched and abused her and spat at other staff members,” Judge Jane Lovell-Smith said. “You were screaming at the victim and police were called.”

A couple has been ordered to repay almost $1.46 million after it was found that the pair had swindled money from a rest home and their appeal was dismissed. Duncan and Sara Napier were the administration manager and nurse manager of Torbay Rest Home on Auckland’s North Shore which was owned by companies, Torbay Holdings Limited and Torbay Rest Home Limited. The Napiers effectively ran the rest home business and were given control of it on the basis of trust, says the appeal summary. Duncan was the administration manager from 2001 until the end of April 2012. During that time, he was responsible for the financial management of the rest home and supplied the companies’ accountant with information to do the accounts. The appeal summary says the accountant relied on the information supplied by Duncan and did not audit the accounts. “An audit was not possible because Mr Napier had not kept adequate records,” the judgment says. An investigation into the rest home’s finances was launched in April 2012 after the accountant was contacted by the Inland Revenue Department. After a three-week trial, Justice Mark Woolford decided the money they had taken out of rest home funds over 10 years “well exceeded” the gross combined income of the Napiers and their family trust and that they were liable to repay $2,235,397. The Torbay companies were able to recover just under $1.46 million. The Napiers appealed the decision at a hearing on October 17, but it was upheld in a decision released in mid-December. During the trial, the Napiers didn’t dispute the sum of money, but rather argued the payments were legitimate, the appeal summary says. Duncan says the payments were all in line with either the pair’s entitlements or reimbursements of expenses. The Napier’s argued the accounts from which the money was taken and deposited into were in overdraft, so the money wasn’t the property of the Torbay companies. However, this appeal point was dismissed in the judgment. Woolford also confirmed that the crime was proven beyond reasonable doubt. Further, he said the claim was within the High Court’s jurisdictions, rather than that of the Employment Relations Authority. The appeal was dismissed and the appellant was ordered to pay the cost of appeal. The judge held Duncan Napier as liable for his breach of duties. In the summary, the Torbay companies’ accountant said that since the Napiers left, there had been a “substantial turnaround in business” with profits made in 2013 and 2014 despite an increase in overhead costs. The rest home website says it is a 49-bed care facility.

Ms Deborah Davie has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission that her claim for unfair dismissal against North Queensland Primary Health Network is so compelling that she is deserving of more time to pursue it.

South West Radiology Pty Ltd is dealing with a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) before Deputy President Lawrence in his Sydney Chambers (Ramrakha-Sharma).

The Fair Work Commission has granted a s.185 (Enterprise Agreement) application from The Society of Saint Hilarion Inc Aged Care for its Society of Saint Hilarion Ince Nursing Employees (Aged Care) & ANMF Enterprise Agreement 2016. Commissioner Gregory in Melbourne stamped the approval on 19 December 2016.