A woman who started a six-month job contract with the Australian Taxation Office was fired 4 hours into her first day through no fault of her own, and was then given three different reasons why.
Celeste Pridmore got a job with the ATO through the private employment agency Skilled Engineering. She was first told that she had filled out the wrong police background check and that her employment would start again in two weeks. Two days later she was told she did not meet the training requirements for the role and her contract would be terminated. When she asked what the requirements were, a representative of Skilled Engineering said he was "not at liberty to discuss that information". Later that afternoon, an ATO representative told her that her contract would be terminated because of 'budget restraints'. Ms Pridmore gave up two other jobs to take up the ATO position, and says that "now I'm left basically destitute, I don't have a job and I'm looking for work again". Skilled Engineering secretary Ken Bieg refused to discuss the case, but said that casual workers can legally be sacked with an hour's notice. (Source: Hobart Mercury) Approximately 34 members of Victoria Police are facing criminal charges, including rape, assaults, and attempting to pervert the course of justice, but will suffer no cuts to their superannuation if found guilty. At most, one third of the money will have been contributed by the officers themselves, with the remainder being public money paid from the police's budget. (Source: Herald Sun) A child is killed on a farm in Australia every 10 days on average, according to a new report. The report by Farmsafe Australia said that nore than 570 children were admitted to hospital in 2002 with injuries suffered on a farm. Tractor accidents, dam drownings, toxic poisoning and electrocutions were among the main hazards. Farming makes up about 4 per cent of the total work force, but accounts for 20 per cent of work-related injuries. (Source: Herald Sun) National Australia Bank head Frank Cicutto will receive a lump sum of approximately $7.3 million upon his resignation. Mr Cicutto also has $2 million in superannuation which he will be able to access next year. He also has share options, presently worth a further $4.5 million. Mr Cicutto resigned over the recent 'rogue trading' scandal. Bank chairman Charles Allen suggested that the final straw for Mr Cicutto departure was publication of photographs of his new home, which will be worth an estimated $8 million when it is complete. Mr Allen said that the photographs were "very upsetting" to Mr Cicutto. (Source: Herald Sun) A woman who exposed the US and British governments' email surveillance and tapping of home and office phones has lost her job and faces a jail sentence as a result. Katharine Gun was working in Britain's Government Communications Headquarters last year when she learned of a plan by the US government to spy on at least half a dozen UN delegations as part of the US's failed efforts to win Security Council support for the invasion of Iraq. Ms Gun leaked the memo from the US National Security Agency to the London Observer, in the mistaken belief that Britain and the US might not invade Iraq if they could not get United Nations approval. As well as losing her job, she faces up to two years jail for violating the Official Secrets Act. (Source: The Guardian [UK]) Successful business people have similar psychological problems to juvenile delinquents, according to a new report. Abraham Zaleznik is a psychoanalyst and professor at Harvard Business School. He says that entrepreneurs typically do not feel risk or weigh up consequences in the same way as normal people. He says that they lack 'signal anxiety' - the normal internal signal which tells people to not always act on their impulses, because of possible bad consequences. Professor Zaleznik also talks about "delinquent communities" forming in business circles, and causing scandals such as the false accounting in Enron. He says that "if individuals who are invited to become part of the delinquent community have a fully functioning conscience, they will not engage" - however people who lack signal anxiety can allow a leader to "take over the functions of conscience" and "in effect give people permission to join in the illicit activity". (Source: The Age) Labor leader Mark Latham has said in a speech that Australians should work harder. Mr Latham told the ALP national conference that "when I was young, Mum used to tell me there were two types of people in our street - the slackers and the hard workers". The original draft of Mr Latham's speech used the term "no-hopers". (Source: Herald Sun) Victorians with long-term illness are often forced to wait more than a year for a public hospital bed, according to a new report. The report by the Productivity Commission found that more than 40 percent of Victorians who needed hospital admissions within 90 days of falling ill, actually had to wait 12 months or more for a bed. The report also said that 18 percent of patients who needed emergency treatment also had to wait 'longer than acceptable' times. (Source: Herald Sun) Emergency relief agencies are struggling to cope with demand from parents who are unable to cope with rising public school costs. A new report, A Study in Back To School Costs, shows that Melbourne's relief and aid agencies are not coping with the increased demand. Gavin Dufty from St Vincent de Paul said that "this survey is identifying people who have had to come and beg to afford a below-basic education for their children". Mr Dufty said that key factors were 'voluntary fees' of up to $1000 a year that are increasingly becoming compulsory, and problems with the Education Maintenance Allowance. The Allowance is paid partly to schools rather than parents - a practice defended partly on the grounds that 'some parents' would not spend it responsibly. (Source: Melbourne Times) Victoria's public sector watchdog is investigating claims that the State Government doctored an annual report from the state's former surveyor-general and forged his signature on another document. Acting Ombudsman Robert Seamer has decided to investigate why former surveyor-general Keith Bell's final annual report was substantially altered before being tabled in State Parliament last November. Mr Seamer is also examining accusations that the Department of Sustainability and Environment used an electronic version of Mr Bell's signature to sign off on a section of another report that he said he had not written. The original version of the report featured criticisms of Land Victoria and raised concerns about administrative procedures that were having a negative effect on his role. Planning Minister Mary Delahunty was also criticised over a lack of consultation on an issue in his original report. More than a dozen paragraphs and sentences referring to Land Victoria or Ms Delahunty were edited out of the version tabled in Parliament. The Government has also been criticised for the unauthorised use of Mr Bell's signature in a report late last year. Premier Steve Bracks defended the changes, saying the department had to be satisfied with the report before submitting it to Parliament. 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