Former Public Advocate John Brayley has been tasked with an overhaul of South Australia’s mental health services, returning to the state as SA’s new Chief Psychiatrist.
May 4, 2018
A s.185 (Enterprise agreement) application from Northern Territory Council of Social Service Inc T/A NTCOSS for the Northern Territory Council of Social Service Inc (NTCOSS) Enterprise Agreement 2017 has been granted by Deputy President Masson in Melbourne on 2 May 2018.
May 4, 2018
An Australian Federal Police (AFP) employee has been refused bail over the alleged manslaughter of his mother, who prosecutors say suffered an “undignified and agonising death”. Phillip Joseph Thompson, who is also a former New South Wales Police officer, and his brother David Thompson were charged with the manslaughter of their mother in September last year. Court documents allege their 73-year-old mother Shirley Thompson was bedridden and “lying in a state of filth” when paramedics attended the family home last year. The trio allegedly lived together in Greystanes in Sydney’s west. On Thursday, a hearing at Fairfield Local Court was told Ms Thompson had developed serious bed sores that had in turn caused blood poisoning. She presented to Blacktown Hospital severely dehydrated and malnourished and, despite efforts by hospital staff, died a week later in the Palliative Care Unit. Police prosecutor Sergeant Lachlan Kirby told the court the woman suffered “a very undignified and agonising death”. “The victim was suffering from bruising to the hips and legs, laying naked in bed on a urine-soaked towel,” court documents say. “The victim had faeces covering her bottom and several large ulcerated pressure sores.”
May 3, 2018
A s.394 (Unfair dismissal) application by Timothy Dugan against Fair Work Deputy President Dean in Sydney on 2 May 2018 handed down a four page ruling which said in part “Based on the evidence and submissions made in this matter, I am satisfied and find that the Respondent had fewer than 15 employees and was therefore a small business employer. As a result, I find that Mr Dugan had not completed the minimum employment period and is not a person protected from unfair dismissal.”
May 3, 2018
A s.185 (Enterprise agreement) application from Burnside War Memorial Hospital Inc for the Burnside War Memorial Hospital Health Professionals and Support Services Employees Enterprise Agreement 2017 has been approved by Fair Work Commissioner McKinnon sitting in Melbourne on 2 May 2018.
May 3, 2018
A violent thug who stabbed and bit a manager of a Ballarat retirement village while on bail has been sentenced to jail. The actions of Timothy Cakebread were on Tuesday slammed by County Court Judge Mark Gamble as “selfish” as he was sentenced to one year and three months behind bars. The court was told the 26-year-old had been abusing benzodiazepines when he attempted to unlock cars on a Delacombe street in the early hours of July 7 last year. He wandered into Meadow Gardens Retirement Village and woke up a woman resident as he broke into a car about 4.15am. She called the manager who ran to the scene before a series of scuffles broke out, with Cakebread stabbing him in the arm with a screwdriver and biting him before fleeing down the street.
May 3, 2018
Hynes Legal has appointed Anne Marie Cassaniti as its clinical consultant to the aged care and retirement living team.
May 3, 2018
A carer has been jailed after attempting to rape a severely disabled woman at a Townsville care facility. David Jack Peter Cottam abused a position of trust he held as a carer with support service Cootharinga North Queensland when he attempted to have sex with a female client who could not walk, talk or defend herself. Cottam was sentenced in Townsville District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to one count of abuse or attempted abuse of a person with impairment of the mind as a guardian or carer. The court heard the offence took place on December 26, 2016, while Cottam was supposed to be looking after his victim. Crown Prosecutor Dane Marley said Cottam had a meeting with Cootharinga management after the incident where he admitted he had committed the act for his own sexual satisfaction. The victim suffers from cerebral palsy and a range of other conditions. Cottam’s defence barrister Anthony Collins claimed his client was “obviously suffering some kind on underlying condition” but psychologist reports presented to the court suggested there was no diagnosable issue with the 24-year-old.
