Figures show nearly two thirds of staff at Office of Racing Integrity have left in past two years
About two thirds of staff at Tasmania’s racing watchdog have left the agency in the past two-and-a-half years – with Labor pinning the blame on a poor workplace culture. Details >
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About two thirds of staff at the state’s racing watchdog have left the organisation in the past two years, prompting Labor to suggest the agency has a poor workplace culture.
It comes as Tasmania’s racing industry is in the grips of a crisis, with an independent racing review launched in March to probe allegations of team driving, race fixing, and animal cruelty.
The review’s terms of reference also encompass the Office of Racing Integrity’s (ORI) management of issues associated with the industry.
ORI has been accused of not acting on certain complaints from whistleblowers.
Figures released in budget estimates earlier this month show that between January 1, 2021 and June 8, 2023, 22 of ORI’s 37 staff left the agency for various reasons.
One permanent staff member resigned, 11 fixed-term and temporary staff quit, two were transferred to another agency, one was dismissed, one retired, and six left after their fixed-term contracts ended.
Labor racing spokesman Dean Winter said the level of turnover indicated that “something is seriously wrong with the workplace culture” at ORI, which he said was also having “significant flow-on impacts throughout the racing industry”.
He said Racing Minister Madeleine Ogilvie had “a lot of questions to answer about what’s going on at [ORI] on her watch”.
“I don’t know what more Madeleine Ogilvie can do to get sacked. It has been a disastrous year for her in the portfolio where things have just gone from bad to worse,” he said.
An ORI spokeswoman said the organisation had a large proportion of fixed-term and casual staff, with all employees appointed under the Racing Regulation Act being fixed-term and casuals providing “surge capacity in periods of high demand”.
“This can lead to a higher number of exits from the organisation, as casual and fixed-term contracts come to an end,” she said.
“Staffing turnover within the ORI is consistent with previous periods and is managed through effective utilisation of allocated resources.
“Sourcing and securing staff with the right skills, particularly in the racing industry, is a priority.”
In announcing the racing review in March, Ms Ogilvie said the government “do not compromise on integrity and animal welfare”.
“I won’t be canvassing specific claims raised in the media recently but I can assure you that probity, integrity and animal welfare will always come first,” she said at the time.
The fresh probe was launched just nine months after the Monteith review into the industry was released.
The review recommended sweeping changes to the way the industry was governed under legislation.
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