Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass finds nepotism continues in government schools
A warning has been issued to principals in state schools across Victoria after a new report found they continue to hire family and friends without declaring their relationship, with one principal hiring their partner for $80,000 of maintenance.
Education
Don't miss out on the headlines from Education. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Principals in government schools across Victoria are still hiring friends and family for work without declaring a conflict of interest, the state’s watchdog has warned.
In a new report, Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass found nepotism in schools continues to be a major source of complaints despite efforts to educate staff about the problem.
She found three recent separate cases where principals had done the wrong by becoming involved in the hiring of people they were close to.
One principal hired their partner for $80,000 worth of maintenance while two others were involved in the employment of their children without declaring their relationship.
“Over the past decade, the Department of Education has built a comprehensive policy framework including detailed advice about conflicts of interest,” Ms Glass said.
“Despite this, complaints about nepotism in schools continue unabated.
“Troublingly, many investigations continue to find that jobs and contracts are given to family members, associates or related businesses of principals or other senior staff without their conflicts of interest being declared or managed.”
Australian Principals Federation national president Julie Podbury said schools had been under scrutiny following the Education Department scandal of bigwig Nino Napoli.
The former director of school resources pleaded guilty yesterday to crimes linked to the ‘banker schools’ funding rort, where millions of dollars were siphoned from public campuses.
“Every school in Victoria has suffered because of those people’s actions,” she said.
Ms Podbury said an “extraordinary” amount of money had been spent investigating school-based nepotism, with the Ombudsman conducting on average three probes a year into 1500 schools since 2013.
But, Ms Podbury said conflict of interest was still not being fully understood by some principals — particularly in small towns where there was often no-one but family or friends to employ.
Of principals hiring those they were close to, she said “if you can avoid it, do avoid it”.
Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals president Sue Bell said with so many new or acting principals coming into schools, it was integral they had adequate training.
Ms Glass said it was important principals avoiding hiring friends and family where possible.
“Mostly, the subjects of these allegations were well-intentioned, busy people trying to solve problems, who got it wrong,” she said.
“The cost to these individuals was high.
“Their actions led people to question their integrity.
The suitability of their family members for the roles to which they were appointed was questioned.”
A DET spokesman said it accepted all the Victorian Ombudsman’s recommendations, while all employees investigated had been counselled.
“The Department takes matters relating to conflicts of interest very seriously and when the Department is made aware of issues, it ensures they are properly addressed,” he said.
“The Department has undertaken significant work over recent years to improve policy and guidance, and increase awareness of conflict of interest obligations, including with training for principals.”
MORE NEWS:
POPULAR MELBOURNE RESTAURANTS OF YESTERYEAR