Vinnies Suspends NSW Board
12 July 2010 at 11:51 am
The Society of St Vincent de Paul has suspended its NSW State Council over ongoing allegations of bullying.
John Falzon, Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of the Society of St Vincent de Paul has released a statement on the Catholica website saying the national President Syd Tutton, has taken the step under the statutes of the Society to place the NSW State Council under the temporary administration of the National Council.
Tutton says this is a regrettable but necessary measure in light of a number of problems that were not being addressed by the State Administration.
He says the Society is a federation of State Councils and the National Council has a responsibility to ensure that all State Council administrations are fulfilling their commitments to the mission of the Society.
Tutton emphasised that the action taken was not about personalities but about a changing culture to ensure the Society could fulfil its mission of support for, and solidarity with, the most marginalised members of the community.
John Falzon says the move has received strong support from members of the NSW State Council and he has also received support of the international President General for the actions that have been taken.
The ABC is reporting that the move by its president is a last-ditch attempt to change a negative culture that has been developing in the state's senior administration for years.
The report quotes John Falzon as saying he believes the incidents of bullying are the result of the state wing taking a corporate approach to management and the culture shift has taken the board's focus off the disadvantaged people it was supposed to be helping.
He has told the ABC that the need for a change of culture in the senior administration was nominated as one of the chief reasons for the national council needing to intervene.
It is very regrettable indeed that ProBono republished this inaccurate story without making any attempt to get a balanced view from the victims of this “takeover”.
Sid Tutton and John Falzon have never let the facts get in the way of a determination of what is the decent way forward. Please consider the facts of this matter. The NSW State Council had already dealt with the so called bullying allegations to the satisfaction of the ASU and the Union spokesperson has gone on record affirming that there was not dispute. The eveidence that this issue was history is evident in the Minutes of the last several National Coulcil Meetings which clearly show that the matter was no longer of concern.
The bullying allegations were simply an emotive issue with which to justify the intervention. The real issue is the resistance from the old guard to the measures being taken by the NSW Board to bring the Conferences (Branches) in NSW under proper financial control. The traditionalists beleive that the Parish Conference and Diocesean Councils are the basic units of the Society and that they should not have to answer to the State Council (the Board of the legal entity) for the funds they collect and compliance with tax, WH&S, assets management, etc.
Essentially Syd Tutton and his paid publicist want to go back to the Sixties with some kind of Undemocrattic Labor Party which regards anybody who demands good governance and public accountability as a “corporatist”.
Bullying is rife in the not for profit sector. This is a real issue which needs to be addressed. Experience has indicated that those running the NFP organisations are ageing baby boomers who have had limited success in the for profit sector or are from a military background, and the NFP sector is their last safe haven. One hopes that with early identification and intervention, unacceptable bullying behaviour will no longer be tolerated.