The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and Pioneer House Living Ltd will debate the merits of a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) before Fair Work Commissioner Johns in his NSW chambers at 4pm.
March 12, 2019
A nurse who worked for Stephen Hawking for 15 years has been suspended in a secret tribunal over allegations of ‘serious’ misconduct concerning his care. The scientist’s immediate family had lodged a complaint which prompted a long investigation into 61-year-old Patricia Dowdy. But details of the case, and the nature of the disciplinary charges against Mrs Dowdy, have been suppressed by the body which regulates nursing. The public and the media have been banned from the hearing in a move that will prompt renewed concerns about a shift towards ‘secret justice’. Because of the severity of the allegations against her, which have never been made public, Mrs Dowdy was suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) when the claims came to light. The ‘substantive’ hearing that will ultimately decide her fate is now ongoing – but is being held behind closed doors. And it is likely that the charges will never be publicly disclosed. It is understood that the nurse, from Ipswich, Suffolk, stopped working for Hawking at least two years before he succumbed to motor neurone disease in March last year, aged 76. When a reporter turned up at the NMC in Stratford, East London, he was denied entry and told that Mrs Dowdy’s ‘fitness-to-practise’ hearing, due to end later this month, was private. Later, the NMC said a secrecy order was granted because of Mrs Dowdy’s ‘health’, but declined to elaborate further. Asked about the allegations at her home yesterday, Mrs Dowdy said: ‘This is all very upsetting. Can I just say “no comment” at the moment? I’m not supposed to talk to anyone.’ A source with knowledge of the case said the charges against the nurse were ‘pretty serious’ but declined to discuss the matter further. In 2004, ten nurses who had cared for Hawking accused his second wife, Elaine Mason, of abusing him. It is not known if Mrs Dowdy was among those who made statements to police or if that case is connected to the ongoing hearing. At the time it emerged that the author of A Brief History Of Time was repeatedly taken to hospital with unexplained injuries, such as a broken wrist, gashes to the face and a cut lip, that left his family concerned for his safety. Both he and Mrs Mason denied the allegations and police took no action. Last night, MPs and campaigners reacted with dismay to the decision to hold disciplinary hearings in secret. Independent MP John Woodcock, who helped his constituents fight for NMC hearings into midwives implicated in the needless deaths of babies at Furness General Hospital in Cumbria, warned the secrecy could increase the risk of a further tragedy. He said: ‘It is deeply concerning that the NMC is seeking to reduce transparency.’ And open justice campaigner John Hemming added: ‘Justice in the dark is never proper justice. If you want people to have confidence in the regulator, then justice needs to be done – and seen to be done.’ Prof Hawking had been confined to a wheelchair since the age of 30 and was attended to by a rota of private nurses and carers paid for by Cambridge University, where he was a mathematics professor.
March 8, 2019
Mater Misericordiae Ltd is arguing the merits of a s.526 (Application to deal with a dispute involving stand down) before Commissioner Booth in chambers in Brisbane (Mavronicholas).
March 8, 2019
Safe Places Community Services Limited has a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) with which it must deal with Fair Work Commissioner Booth in chambers in Brisbane (Watson).
March 8, 2019
Medibank Health Solutions Telehealth Pty Ltd is facing a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) in front of Fair Work Deputy President Sams in his NSW chambers (Perry).
March 8, 2019
An application for approval of the Department of Health Enterprise Agreement 2019-2022 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be heard by Fair Work Deputy President Beaumont in his WA chambers today.
March 8, 2019
An Adelaide driving instructor who accepted cash bribes in exchange for licences used the funds on “hedonistic extra-curricular activities”, a court has heard. Jawad Joe Dimachki, 38, has pleaded guilty in the District Court to multiple corruption offences relating to abuse of his position to secure benefits. The court heard on Thursday the scheme made Dimachki $15,750 over three months in 2017. Prosecutor Leah O’Donnell said Dimachki’s reasoning that he used the money to fund care for his special needs son was a “poorly justified excuse”. Ms O’Donnell said during Dimachki’s offending he was spending an average of $173 per week on his son but an average of $250 on “personal greed-related activities”. “The fact is he had an expensive extra-curricular habit that, for obvious reasons, he needed to fund independently,” she said. “The very nature of the hedonistic activities he was engaged in, in my submission, shows his family was not at the forefront of his mind.” Ms O’Donnell said Dimachki’s scheme came unstuck after authorities noticed an unusually high pass rate among his licence test candidates. The court has previously heard he issued licences to people without ever making them take tests, including to one driver he had never met. That driver, Abdul Kajani, and the friend who paid the bribe, Ethan Quadros, last year received suspended sentences for their involvement in the scam. Ms O’Donnell said on Thursday young people make up a disproportionately high percentage of the road toll and a person on a provisional licence had a far greater chance of being involved in a crash. “Mr Dimachki, by issuing those provisional licences in the way that he did, has put people who are already at an elevated risk of death or serious injury at heightened risk,” she said. Ms O’Donnell said an immediate prison term was the only appropriate sentence but Noah Redmond, for Dimachki, said his lack of prior convictions, his remorse, family situation and early plea made him a good candidate for a suspended or home detention sentence. Mr Redmond said there was a legitimate significant shortfall between NDIS funding and the cost of caring for his son over a number of years. Judge Michael Boylan did not order a home detention suitability report and continued Dimachki’s bail to reappear before the court later this month.
March 8, 2019
A s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) from Houman Bassari naming Sonic Health Plus has been rejected by Fair Work Deputy President Binet in Perth on 7 March 2019.
