Toxic culture exposed at Victorian Building Authority, sweeping changes recommended

An internal revolt at the Victorian Building Authority has seen union members call for the removal of their chief over a bombshell report.

The Victorian Building Authority received the independent report on Thursday.

Victoria’s public sector union has given an ultimatum to the state’s building authority to sack their chief executive following a bombshell report.

The Community and Public Sector Union called a crisis meeting on Friday after the release of a review into the Victorian Building Authority’s workplace practices.

An independent probe was commissioned following the death of a staff member, with allegations staff were overworked and of a toxic culture internally.

WorkSafe also issued a notice to the VBA calling for them to address a raft of issues regarding employee welfare.

The VBA regulates the building industry, including the work of building surveyors who have warned they are increasingly overworked while tasked with finding building defects and identifying issues like combustible cladding.

During the Friday meeting, CPSU members at the VBA passed a no-confidence motion in chief executive Sue Eddy.

State secretary Karen Batt said members had no confidence in senior staff to fix cultural problems or to address issues identified by WorkSafe.

“The people that are responsible for the problems at VBA are not the right people to resolve the problems,” she said.

“This meeting of CPSU members calls on the VBA board and the minister to appoint a new CEO to ensure the integrity of Victoria’s building regulation and address the mental health and wellbeing of VBA staff.

“A meeting of CPSU members at VBA will be convened on Friday 14th October to review the response of the VBA Board and the Minister and if necessary decide on further action.”

VBA chief commissioner Michelle McLean said she had confidence in Ms Eddy to implement the recommendations.

“In the interests of our people, the CPSU need to accept the findings and recommendations of the independent inquiry and work with us to implement them as soon as possible,” she said.

Toxic culture exposed at Victorian Building Authority

An investigation into allegations of a toxic culture at the state’s building authority has called for sweeping changes following the death of one of its employees.

Integrity concerns were also raised by staff but could not be acted on, with the union to meet discuss a no-confidence vote.

The Victorian Building Authority on Thursday received its first independent report into ongoing conflict and internal issues between workers and senior management.

The industry regulator has been under a cloud over the past five months, with ongoing issues with building surveyors workloads and a peak agency declaring they had lost faith in the VBA.

The independent report reviewed the ongoing conflict between the VBA’s workers and senior management.

An investigator was first called in May after a member of staff who took their own life and the Herald Sun revealed claims of a toxic culture.

In July, WorkSafe also issued an improvement notice to the authority which required a major review of staffing levels and requirements.

Insiders have previously warned the industry, in particular building surveyors, are being overworked in their efforts to safety check houses and reports of flammable cladding.

The report, written by Greg Smith AM, recommended a more personal approach to dealing with employees and a reset of the VBA’s relationship with the union and other groups.

The report has called for sweeping changes at the VBA.

He said the WorkSafe notice had meant he did not need to call for urgent action but that issues remained.

“This does not mean general workplace harm has been eliminated because it has not,” Mr Smith said.

“Similarly the culture in the area of review is one of conflict rather than one of collaboration.

“It would appear from the reviews … that CBA relies more on processes and rules rather than examining the needs of its employees.”

Mr Smith said staff complained about being micromanaged and that the evidence appeared to support this.

He also said there were “troubling” reports of employees and managers being rude to each other.

“The circularity of this disrespect in communication needs to be examined and people put on notice that such conduct is unacceptable,” Mr Smith said.

“Employees feel there will be retribution if they report either other employees or supervisors.”

Mr Smith said there were a number of people who wanted to provide more evidence but were unable to because of gag orders.

The report recommends that staff who allege bad behaviour will not be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Staff also raised multiple allegations about the public servants working at the taxpayer-funded authority, but Mr Smith was not in a position to investigate this.

“Awareness of the need to maintain integrity in dealings with stakeholders is critical and in the area of inspections as a regulator it can be undermined by seemingly casual relationships,” he said.

“The integrity framework cannot be simply a piece of paper but be understood as living in the day-to-day interactions.

“Perceptions themselves can be damaging.”

VBA Chief Commissioner Michelle McLean said the authority accepted all recommendations from the inquiry.

“We will continue to work hard every day to ensure we have a safe work environment for all our people,” she said.

“An action plan outlining a timetable for implementation of specific actions to address the recommendations is being developed and a dedicated Board Committee, that I will chair, will be established to oversee the delivery of the recommendations.”

CPSU state secretary Karen Batt questioned the process.

“Those who have overseen the deterioration in workplace culture at VBA should have no role in implementing the changes required or recommended,” she said.