National Disability Insurance Agency is dealing with a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) before Commissioner McKenna in Hearing Room 12 – 2 – Level 12 in Sydney (Sutch).
September 26, 2016
Lane Cove Retirement Units Association Ltd is still defending a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) lodged by an ex-staff member (Allan).
September 26, 2016
Runaway Bay Sports Medicine Pty Ltd is now facing a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) lodged by a staff member (Dwyer).
September 26, 2016
Eric Abetz has criticised former Fair Work Commission vice-president Michael Lawler, urging him to drop legal action against Employment Minister Michaelia Cash. Senator Abetz, a former employment minister, said taxpayers would be unimpressed by the legal action given Mr Lawler’s long periods of sick leave while on a $435,000 salary. Mr Lawler’s application for judicial review was lodged in the Federal Court as his partner, Kathy Jackson, prepared to face court on fraud and theft charges stemming from her time as a Health Services Union branch secretary. Mr Lawler, who has previously helped Ms Jackson during court proceedings, resigned the day before a report by Peter Heerey QC into his activities was due to be handed to Senator Cash. “I am sure the long-suffering Australian taxpayer will not be impressed by this court action, which will tie up public money for the court process, but also the attempt to get even more money in circumstances where the Australian taxpayer has been extremely forbearing given the circumstances,’’ Senator Abetz said. “I think the Australian taxpayer would welcome Mr Lawler not proceeding with this case. “Speaking on behalf of the Australian taxpayer, if I can be so presumptuous, they would be pleased if he were not to pursue a case of this nature given that, for the last two years of his life on the bench, the productivity levels were relatively low.’’ Senator Abetz said for Mr Lawler “to be on that salary and then pursue court action, most people would say ‘what on earth is going on?’.” A spokesman for Senator Cash said Mr Lawler’s legal action was “misconceived’’ and would be contested by the commonwealth. The government has refused to respond to opposition calls to disclose the benefits payable to Mr Lawler on his retirement, including whether he had applied for a pension payment. Mr Heerey’s report found misbehaviour by Mr Lawler constituted grounds for his dismissal, pointing to his failure to disclose his relationship with Ms Jackson while presiding over two industrial conferences in which she was appearing for the HSU. The exact nature of Mr Lawler’s bid for judicial review is still to be revealed.
September 23, 2016
A NSW aged care nurse accused of killing two elderly residents and attempting to murder a third told police they died from food poisoning during a police interview, a court has heard. The trial of Garry Davis, 29, was played segments of a police interview in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Newcastle today. Mr Davis is accused of injecting insulin into three otherwise healthy residents over a two day period in October 2013 at the Summit Aged care facility in the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend. “It must play on your mind that three people two were killed and one narrowly survived…what do you think happened?,” a police officer asked Mr Davis. “I can’t explain it, I don’t know what’s happened to them,” Mr Davis replied. “I just thought it was like a food poisoning because it just said poisoning.
September 23, 2016
A female carer is alleged to have stolen $1.2 million from an unsuspecting Victorian man who believed they were in a relationship, in a “devastating” case of financial elder abuse. The man, who will be referred to as William for legal reasons, was in his early 80s when he met the woman at a casino around six years ago. The pair quickly became inseparable. “Everywhere he went, she went,” William’s friend John recalled. William was a lonely man, according to John, and he relied on his carer for company. As a consequence, he developed strong feelings for her, despite an age gap of around 30 years. “It got to the stage he thought she was his girlfriend,” John said, “So if you said anything about her, he would jump down your throat.” William had long ago appointed John as his decision-maker using an enduring power of attorney document. As he grew closer to his carer, however, he added her name to the document, ensuring she would have joint access to his bank accounts if and when he lost capacity. John did not worry about this at the time. “I got to know the woman and she assured me she was looking after him,” he said. William, who was blind, later suffered a fall and was moved into a nursing home when it was decided he could no longer support himself. A phone call from William’s nursing home was the first sign of any trouble with his finances. A staff member informed John that his friend had not paid his fees for many months. Knowing these payments had been the responsibility of William’s carer, John was suspicious and contacted the law firm Slater & Gordon. “Then we checked his bank accounts and we found out that a fair bit of money had come out over the preceding couple of years,” he said. In fact, more than $1.2 million had gone missing. Lawyer Jessica Latimer, who has handled numerous cases involving financial elder abuse, said it was “a huge amount”. According to Ms Latimer, the carer had a cheque book and would regularly ask William for his signature. “(William) was blind and he trusted her so he was signing blank cheques and she would fill in an amount.” The carer would also visit the bank in person to make withdrawals, citing William’s power of attorney document. The disappearing funds left William without enough money to pay for his own room at his nursing home and he was forced to share with another resident. It was, recalls Ms Latimer, “a devastating situation for our client to find himself in”. When John called the carer to put these allegations to her, she denied everything, he said, and insisted she was acting on William’s instructions — a claim William denied. Ms Latimer believed William would have a better chance of recovering the stolen money if he pursued the bank, rather than the carer. She was able to establish that the bank had in its possession the power of attorney document, which clearly stated her client had two decision-makers. That means none of the transactions should have been allowed without the permission of both William’s carer and his friend John. Additionally, under anti-money laundering legislation, any withdrawals greater than $10,000 must be reported to federal authorities. “We discovered that hadn’t occurred,” Ms Latimer said. “Certainly the transactions ought to have raised eyebrows.’ Presumably to avoid a public courtroom battle, the bank reached a settlement with William. The details are confidential, however, which is why the bank cannot be identified. The exact amount of money that was repaid to William also remains a mystery, but Ms Latimer said more than $500,000 was recovered. Although he was unable to recoup all his losses, William was advised by his friend John to move on with his life.
September 23, 2016
A carer failed to visit a wheelchair-bound man to assist him with his usual nightly routine due to a “mix up” with the rosters and he was found dead the next day, a Perth inquest has heard. Leslie Troy Ovens, 32, was living independently in a purpose-built house with his care provided by Cam Can and Associates when he died in July 2013. The West Australian Coroner’s Court heard on Wednesday carers routinely visited Mr Ovens twice a day – in the morning and night. At 5pm on July 24, carer Tony McCabe visited the house and made Mr Ovens dinner, even though he wasn’t on shift. Mr McCabe testified Mr Ovens told him he was unsure who was coming to assist him that night. “I said ‘somebody will be coming, don’t worry’,” he told the court. But no one did.
September 23, 2016
The Australian Medical Association (Act) Limited is dealing with a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) instigated by an ex-staff member (Ozolinis).
