The ACT's former fire chief alleged he was the victim of ongoing bullying by the emergency services commissioner over a period of five months, new documents show.
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Emergency Services Agency commissioner Dominic Lane was completely cleared of any wrongdoing following an independent investigation and a WorkSafe review of claims of bullying and harassment last year.
But the allegations, made by former ACT Fire and Rescue chief officer Paul Swain, showed signs of serious friction between two individuals who play a crucial role in protecting the Canberra community.
Mr Swain has since left the service.
New documents, obtained under freedom of information laws, show that Mr Swain had alleged the bullying had been ongoing between 23 January and 23 June last year.
The ACT government has chosen to keep the substance of Mr Swain's allegations secret in the documents.
It has taken the government almost five months to respond to the freedom of information request submitted by Fairfax Media, and the documents were released at 5pm on Tuesday.
"I hereby raise the issue of bullying by commissioner Dominic Lane towards myself, behaviour that has been on-going since 23rd January 2014," he wrote.
The documents suggest that Mr Swain and Mr Lane agreed to keep the bullying complaint and subsequent investigation confidential.
"As discussed at our meeting last week, an investigator who has an association with the directorate is unsuitable to me," he said.
He was also critical of the amount of time – at that stage three months – it had taken to look into his allegations.
Mr Swain wrote to Ms Playford:
"I wish to raise my concerns regarding the time taken to investigate and conclude the bullying and harassment matter I brought to your attention on 24th June 2014, almost three months ago."
WorkSafe ACT also conducted an investigation into the complaint, after being asked to look into "alleged procedural irregularities" in the directorate's handling of the complaint.
But the agency found no proved offence had occurred under work health and safety laws, and said the government had handled the complaint appropriately.
The agency also reviewed and supported the findings of the independent consultant in clearing Mr Lane.
Commissioner Mark McCabe wrote to Mr Swain in November, advising him that the consultant's investigation was robust, and was conducted in a reasonable timeframe.
Mr McCabe said the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness were adhered to and proper standards of proof were applied.
