WorkSafe Victoria will probe allegations by Liberal members that the party’s secretariat failed to protect its volunteers and employees,who say the blog subjected them to a sustained campaign of “bullying and serious misconduct”.
The agency has appointed a “psychosocial inspector” to visit the party’s headquarters at 257 Collins Street to probe the systems and processes the party has in place to prevent and manage “unreasonable workplace behaviours”.
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The blog,which has been widely discussed within the party,has published false allegations against some of Victoria’s most senior Liberals on the eve of the election campaign,fuelling scurrilous rumours at a time when the party needs unity.
Volunteers said their complaints about the website,which MPs and officials believe is run by operatives from within the Liberals’ conservative faction,fell on deaf ears.The Age has chosen not to name the website to avoid publicising it.
Under Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety laws,organisations must ensure “persons other than employees … are not exposed to risks to their health or safety arising from the conduct of the undertaking of the employer”.
Steve,a Liberal Party member for more than a decade,has been the subject of vile commentary on the website and has spoken to WorkSafe about its investigation into the Liberal Party.The Age has withheld his last name because online search results link to the website.