By Eryk Bagshaw and Angus Thomson
One of the state’s key taxpayer-funded medical councils is in chaos amid allegations of staff being digitally tracked, a rugby league sponsorship backflip, nepotism and critical delivery failures in some of Australia’s most disadvantaged communities.
The Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW (AHMRC) has gone through four chief executives in less than two years and now faces allegations that it fostered a toxic workplace and delivered contracts to friends and family far above their market rate.
The peak body, which represents Aboriginal community-controlled health services in NSW, receives $11 million a year in taxpayer funding from the state and federal government.
NSW Premier Chris Minns at the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council training centre in Sydney’s Little Bay in June 2023.Credit: Edwina Pickles
In announcing $1.5 million in fresh funding at its new Sydney training centre last year, Premier Chris Minns said health workers trained at the AHMRC would go on to treat tens of thousands of patients across NSW.
“Aboriginal-controlled health services are helping people across our state,” he said.
But six current and former staff members say the AHMRC is failing in its mission to improve the lives of thousands of Indigenous people living in NSW.
Nicole Turner, the peak body’s fourth chief executive in two years, has called in a third set of auditors after two recent inquiries by Catalina Consultants and Workwize investigated potential conflicts of interest and allegations of staff tracking. Workwize concluded further investigations were necessary. Investigators from PwC are now looking into the culture, governance and finances of the council.
Staff have raised concerns about a number of transactions, including a mystery $22,000 fee paid to rent a room in Dubbo, the collapse of a proposed $27,000 rugby league sponsorship that did not have board approval and a catering contract below market rate.
“Everything that we spend has to be linked to some program, whether it’s mental or sexual health, but we’re not able to justify it,” said one former staff member.
“The ripple effect will be happening down to the community. We’re not able to deliver because we are too stuck within our office trying to sort out the mess.”
AHMRC chair Jamie Newman said the board had appointed Turner as interim chief executive “to review and action any necessary changes following recent instability”.
Charlie Coyle, an accountant working remotely from Palm Beach in Queensland, has been stood down on paid leave from his role as the AHMRC’s head of finance while the investigation into the organisation unfolds.
Charlie Coyle, the director of finance at the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council.Credit: Nathan Perri
Six current and former staff members who requested anonymity to discuss internal issues say the day-to-day operations of the NSW council were effectively taken over by Coyle.
Coyle denied wrongdoing but declined to answer questions about how he managed conflicts of interest, handled invoices and implemented a staff tracking system. He said he was “just an employee”.
In April, lawyers from Williamson Barwick recommended further investigation into Coyle’s “compliance with AHMRC’s Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest policies” – particularly in relation to his involvement in signing contracts and handling the invoices of both the council’s original auditor and a catering company.
Documents show Coyle’s signature on a deal giving Urban Cooking Collective access to the council’s taxpayer-funded commercial cooking facilities in Little Bay, NSW, for $500 a month. Other cooking facilities in Sydney are rented for at least $750 per week.
Three staff members said Coyle was open about his personal connection to the owner of the catering company.
“Why would we be paying all of the utilities, water, electricity and cleaning?” said one current staff member who asked not to be identified to protect their employment.
The company was allegedly also given preferential tendering for catering AHMRC events, charging the council $49 per student per day.
“If we were having a meeting for six head count we’d get an invoice for $600 for sandwiches,” said one former staff member.
In another instance, the AHMRC paid a mystery invoice containing sparse details about an office room that was rented at the Bila Muuji Aboriginal Medical Centre in Dubbo for $22,000. Coyle also ran the finance for Bila Muuji centre, though it is not suggested he profited from the deal. It is run by a family member of former AHMRC chair Phil Naden.
Naden said he was not affiliated with Bila Muuji and all declarations of conflicts of interest were made at the time. Bila Muuji also used the same auditor as AHMRC.
Documents show AHMRC’s auditor was paid by Coyle within minutes of submitting a $27,500 invoice in August 2023, while staff say there were often delays paying teachers and other essential service providers.
A third investigator is now reviewing the conflict management procedures that were followed to identify any governance issues and is yet to make any findings.
In March 2024, the Arthur Beetson Foundation claimed Naden told them in person that the AHMRC NSW would spend $27,500 in taxpayer funding sponsoring a rugby league game at Redcliffe Dolphins in Queensland. The foundation, which promotes Indigenous football, said the offer was verbally confirmed four days later.
After the event went ahead, the AHMRC claimed Naden did not have board approval, leaving the foundation chasing thousands of dollars.
“We now find ourselves in a financial hole as the event was cash neutral event given we spent all funds we had committed on the event,” the foundation wrote to the AHMRC.
Naden denied committing the funding to the charity and said he had no contact with them during his tenure as chairman.
The expenses inflamed tensions within the peak body as staff struggled with what some called a toxic work environment that has seen at least eight staff resign or go on WorkCover since 2022.
“It’s a very colourful office,” one former staff member said of the council’s headquarters on Pitt Street in Sydney’s CBD.
In 2022 staff were asked to log into an app that would track their location by GPS raising questions about “whether these actions complied with the Workplace Surveillance Act” according to an internal review of an auditors report.
“[Coyle] pretty much controlled everything,” said one current staff member. “He is a non-Aboriginal male. He just didn’t really understand the impacts of that.”
In a letter to Coyle on the outcome of its investigation in December 2023, Catalina Consultants said it had determined the AHMRC should remove “geo-location tracking” from its systems and that Coyle “displayed behaviours that go against workplace standards under Safe Work NSW’s Code of Practice for Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work”.
Coyle also clashed with then-chief executive Boe Rambaldini, who was appointed to the job in July last year but lasted less than two months.
Rambaldini filed an unfair dismissal case against his former employer, which was settled in the Federal Court earlier this month.
In documents filed to the court, Rambaldini alleged he was dismissed after raising concerns about a number of financial management issues, including that some employees were not being paid their correct wages. He said others who had left the organisation still had access to its Westpac bank accounts.
Rambaldini sent Naden a report detailing his concerns on the morning of September 15, according to the statement of claim. An hour later, he said he received an email from Naden terminating his employment for “serious misconduct”.
In a letter sent to members earlier this year, Rambaldini said he was “not alone in having suffered as a result of the poor governance and decision-making”.
“Our communities have an undeniable right to have a say in how to address this chaos,” he said.
In its defence, the council said Rambaldini was dismissed after management became aware he had approved two loans to his executive assistant without authority from the board. It denied his dismissal was related to the concerns he had raised with Naden.
Following the settlement, the peak body’s board said it “regrets the circumstances which led to Boe’s employment coming to an end” and acknowledged Rambaldini’s “commitment and service over many decades to Aboriginal people”.
Rambaldini was replaced by 26-year-old Shana Quayle, who had a series of convictions for stalking, assaults on workers, and damaging property between 2019 and 2023. Her tenure as acting chief executive lasted six months.
“She just didn’t have this skill set to be a CEO of a multimillion-dollar organisation and that showed,” said one former board member. Quayle declined to comment.
Naden denied the leadership turmoil had affected the council’s ability to deliver services to regional communities.
“There’s been no instability around the CEO, because all it is is someone acting in the capacity until we fill the position,” he said.
Quayle was replaced by current interim chief executive Nicole Turner, who reported to a board that had a turnover of 24 directors in four years.
Turner said she was committed to ensuring the organisation was “best placed to support our member services and the broader sector, with the strength that our long history and legacy demands”.
In a statement, the AHMRC board said it was in “the process of understanding historical challenges within our organisation, and in partnership, are addressing them appropriately to ensure our organisation’s stability into the future”.
As a member of the coalition of Aboriginal peak bodies, the council has shared accountability with state and federal governments for meeting the targets of the 2020 Closing the Gap agreement.
In figures released earlier this month, the Productivity Commission revealed the country will fall short of its goal of closing the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by 2031.
Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation chief executive, Richard Weston.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Richard Weston, chief executive of Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation in Broken Hill, said it was frustrating to see his peak body mired in court battles and financial mismanagement instead of advocating for more resources and better support for services on the ground.
“They [Indigenous health workers] come with this love for what they’re doing, and our leadership doesn’t honour it,” he said.
“I don’t think our leaders know how to be leaders.”
‘A huge impact on the community’
Brendon Adams, a Ku-ku Yalangii and Woppaburra man living in Wilcannia in western NSW, said his type 2 diabetes would be impossible to manage without Maari Ma. The closest dialysis centre is a four-hour round trip away in Broken Hill.
“Wilcannia suffered from a lot of people coming into this community with promises … and they leave and then they never come back,” Adams said.
Wilcannia community leader Brendon Adams. Credit: Rhett Wyman
AHMRC member services and staff at the peak body say its purpose is crucial, but those running it have lost sight of their mission – to improve the health of Indigenous people across NSW.
“If it completely shuts down, it will have a huge impact on the community, and it will be a disaster,” said one former staff member.
Another staff member, who regularly visits member services across NSW, said many had lost faith in their peak body.
“People ask, ‘what is going on at the AHMRC?’ There is absolutely no confidence in those of us that are visiting these services,” the staff member said. “They don’t even take us seriously.”
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