The workplace strife at the Canberra Institute of Technology has dramatically escalated, with allegations involving dozens of individuals now being investigated.
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ACT public service authorities have confirmed they are investigating complaints in relation to 39 staff and students, with many of the allegations about bullying and harassment, at CIT.
Twenty-six complaints have been lodged with the ACT Commissioner for Public Administration, Andrew Kefford, whose office is examining the claims or supervising their investigation by CIT.
Sixteen of the complaints were submitted after WorkSafe ACT released its scathing report on the management of bullying or harassment allegations at the institute last month.
It was the latest official work done on the workplace culture at CIT, which has been dogged by bullying claims for several years.
The report found CIT's systems were so poor they effectively protected bullies and left staff afraid to speak out about their treatment.
CIT was given six months to make a number of improvements to its systems regarding prevention and management of bullying and harassment of staff.
Mr Kefford said his office was investigating the circumstances of 34 of the 39 individuals involved in the complaints, while the remaining five were being examined by CIT with supervision from his office.
He said the matters raised included bullying and harassment, workers' compensation, issues with workloads and returning to work after absence.
The complaints are from current and former CIT staff and, in a small number of cases, students.
Mr Kefford said the number of complaints was concerning, but he it took as an indication that the processes in place had made people willing to speak out.
''All allegations will be examined by my office, and a report provided to the government and the chief executive of CIT,'' the commissioner said.
''While the number of complaints is of concern, I would encourage any person holding information relevant to the examination of these or other complaints to raise those concerns with my office.''
The office of Education Minister Chris Bourke, who has demanded weekly updates on the workplace culture at CIT in the wake of the WorkSafe report, said many of the complaints that Mr Kefford was looking into were not new matters.
''These are a series of complaints that in some cases go back many years,'' he said.
''They are not necessarily complaints that have originated since April.
''The fact that complaints have now come forward indicates a confidence in the system that has been put in place.
''I'm pleased that the weekly reports indicate that CIT is putting in the right policies and procedures and leading the cultural change that is required.''
CIT chief executive Adrian Marron also said that the large numbers of complaints indicated that workers at CIT were more comfortable coming forward if they believed they had been mistreated. ''I think it is good to get these things out into the open,'' he said.
''The publication of the WorkSafe report has encouraged people who have something to say, to say it.''
Mr Marron said he and his staff had been working hard at complying with the recommendations of the WorkSafe report.
''We've been spending a lot of time and a lot of resources in complying with the WorkSafe recommendations, we've been more than complying with WorkSafe recommendations,'' he said.
''Some of the things that [Mr Kefford] is dealing with relate to things that happened some years ago.
''But there are things that need to be dealt with that are current and we're very keen to do that.''