Former Fair Work Commissioner Barbara Deegan will chair an independent public inquiry into the Dhulwa Mental Health Unit, a medium security facility for people involved or at risk of involvement with the criminal justice system, the ACT Government announced today.

The inquiry’s Terms of Reference were also published today.

Nurses have allegedly been terrorised by violent inmates and let down by a ‘rotten’ work culture, their union, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), ACT Branch, stated earlier this year.

A preliminary report will be published within three months once the inquiry begins, and a final report published six weeks later.

Emma Davidson, ACT Minister for Mental Health, hoped the report would make recommendations the government could immediately act upon, “to make sure that Dhulwa becomes a place that is both safe for the staff, and delivers the best clinical outcomes for people needing care”.

“Nurses were very clear with us that they wanted to see action and they wanted to see this happen quickly,” Ms Davidson said.

“We have responded to what they have told us is important to them, and made sure that this inquiry will be very efficient, and that we will be able to get to the heart of the matter as quickly as possible.”

Read more:

• ACT Government finally agrees to Dhulwa Mental Health Unit inquiry (2 May)
• Nurses repeat call for inquiry into work safety at Dhulwa (20 April)
• ANMF claims Dhulwa nurses unable to provide proper care (8 April)
• Danger and desperation at Dhulwa Mental Health Unit (7 April)
• Dhulwa management has acted swiftly, CHS says (7 April)
• Inquiry at Dhulwa facility needed, nurses’ union says (6 April)

The ANMF, backed by the Canberra Liberals, called for an urgent inquiry earlier this year after staff reported 100 assaults over the past few months, and complained that management punished and blamed nurses who spoke out. (Most of the attacks took place in February, and assaults have reduced significantly since then, Ms Davidson said, while Canberra Health Services said at the time that management was quick to respond.)

In April, WorkSafe ACT imposed a prohibition and improvement notice the same day a nurse was maimed in an unrelated incident.

The ACT Government announced at the start of May it would launch an inquiry into the legislative, workplace governance, and clinical policy frameworks at Dhulwa.

“It is acknowledged that the existence of complex and unsettled governance arrangements at DHULWA has, inter alia, likely precipitated the existing significant and concerning workplace safety and clinical practice matters,” the Terms of Reference, published today, state.

“It is a very high-risk workplace,” Ms Davidson acknowledged. “That’s why it is so important that every time there is a workplace safety issue, it’s reported, so that we can look at learn from everything that happens, and continue to make it a safer workplace.”

The independent inquiry panel will consist of Ms Deegan as chair, supported by a forensic mental expert and a work health and safety expert.

Ms Deegan served as a Commissioner of the Fair Work Commission and its predecessors from 1996 to 2014, and as a Commissioner of the Tasmanian Industrial Commission from 2010 to 2014. She was Assistant Secretary of the Legal Services Group of the Department of Industrial Relations; Principal Registrar of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission; the Australian Government’s representative at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva; and Commissioner with the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in 1996.

Ms Deegan was selected for her legal and governance expertise, Ms Davidson said, and ability to “understand the big picture elements” and “draw together all the threads” from the Human Rights Commission review, the WorkSafe ACT review, and an independent clinical mental health review.

The Terms of Reference, developed by the ACT Government and ANMF in collaboration, are broad, the Minister explained, so that the chair can hear from everyone they need to.

Submissions are sought from parties including (but not limited to) workers, unions, and consumers and their representatives. Ms Davidson encouraged anyone concerned about workplace safety issues to make a submission.

“It takes great courage to look at an issue like this, unpack what’ happening, and look at what we can do better in the future,” Ms Davidson said. “So I am very thankful for all the people who have so far come and talked about what they’re dealing with, and what they’re concerned about. I look forward to their making submissions and participating in this inquiry.”

Canberra Liberals MLA Leanne Castley, Shadow Minister for Mental Health, called on the government to commit to implementing all of the inquiry’s recommendations.

“Nurse safety must be the top priority, and security at Dhulwa should be reviewed to ensure guards have the power to intervene and protect staff,” Ms Castley said.

In her view, Ms Davidson must explain what changes have been implemented at Dhulwa to protect nurses since the union first called for an inquiry; and what improvements have been made following the WorkSafe investigation to ensure nurses do not fear going to work.

When the inquiry was announced on 2 May, Matthew Daniel, ANMF ACT branch secretary, said he was delighted the ACT Government had announced the independent inquiry.

“It responds to our call to provide the nurses at Dhulwa with an opportunity to work in a safe workplace and to address some of the issues that have been outstanding for some time.”

Ms Davidson said she looked forward to the AMNF “being part of the conversation” about how the report’s recommendations were implemented.