Community fundraising drive to take Lyndoch Living to court
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
Tonight we are launching a Go Fund Me campaign on behalf of the Warrnambool community as the first step toward taking Lyndoch Living to court.
It’s time for action.
A group of community philanthropists has been working on this legal challenge for some time and have now reached the point where a barrister can be engaged.
The crowdfunding will pay for expert advice from a barrister who is the Australian specialist in this field of the law.
The advice will consider the best way to frame a case against the Lyndoch board – both collectively and as individual board members – on whether they have failed in their duty to uphold the original spirit and purpose of Lyndoch.
This is the first step in a legal process that will probably take place in either the County Court or the Supreme Court.
We have been ignored, silenced, pressed down, rejected and dismissed by the board for more than two years.
Enough.
We are now moving, as a community, to hold the Lyndoch board to account.
To take the first step, we need to raise $5000.
This is the equivalent of 100 people donating $50, or 1000 people donating $5 each.
Chip in what you can afford.
It reminds me of the days of buying a raffle ticket to support Lyndoch – except this time the prize is not a car, but Lyndoch itself: keeping Lyndoch a community asset, fully accountable to the community it serves.
A professional legal opinion from the best in the field is the first step.
We have already explored the next step: receiving pro bono (free of charge) support to run the case in court. We have received some very positive responses.
[If you prefer an offline method to chip in, please contact me via DM or at Terriercarol@protonmail.com]
VCAT challenge to Lyndoch’s rejection of members rolls on
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
An update: Warrnambool vet Dr Michael McCluskey is marching on with his VCAT challenge against Lyndoch Living and its flat rejection of members from the wider community.
He now has a date.
Following VCAT’s acceptance of Dr McCluskey’s case late last year, a mediation hearing date has now been set for a videoconference on 10 March.
Dr McCluskey is testing whether Lyndoch Living has broken anti-discrimination laws by refusing to accept his membership application on the basis of his name and gender.
He is not the only one.
I – and one other – also lodged a complaint with VCAT on these same grounds and, just an hour ago, had an email to say the case had been accepted and a mediation hearing will be scheduled in the near future.
Mediation is the first step in the VCAT process.
As we know, the Lyndoch Living membership application form allows only for a name and address.
On this basis – a name and an address – the Lyndoch board has rejected more than 130 applications for membership over the past two years.
As a result, Lyndoch has no general members.
Along the way, it has also failed to explain why it has rejected every application, including those from health professional and academic Prof James Dunbar, Order of Australia recipient Vicki Jellie, senior South West Health care nurse Kate Sloan, former aged care director Janet Dunn and experienced local business people, such as Marie Bird.
A bucket load of applications was also received from everyday people across the community – like me – who care about the future of Lyndoch, which has been a community asset for more than 60 years.
We are not letting go of our input into a much-loved community asset that easily.
Dr McCluskey said he was extremely pleased VCAT had accepted his application.
“Allowing a broad based community representation amongst Lyndoch Living’s membership is of utmost importance in my opinion if we are to see optimal outcomes for the vulnerable and those most at need amongst us,” he said.
Dr McCluskey said he could speak from personal experience about the importance of maintaining a thriving, community-based aged care home, as he was also a carer.
“We are currently providing 24/7 in home care for an elderly family member and that experience has heightened my awareness as to how crucial it is that we have community based aged care centres operating as caring and effectively as possible.”
Aside from his VCAT challenge, Dr McCluskey is preparing to try again with his membership application for Lyndoch.
He hoped the appointment of local consultant Robert Lane to review Lyndoch’s board membership would lead to an opening up of general memberships.
“I am hoping the appointment of an outside consultant will create a fresh ‘set of eyes’ and lead to a wiser mindset within the decision makers at Lyndoch Living,” Dr McCluskey said.
The shutting out of the community from Lyndoch Living is just one thread to this complex story, but it is a critical one.
General memberships are the only bridge between Lyndoch being fully transparent, or remaining a closed shop where the board has total control and the community remains at arm’s length.
I can only come back to the question of why – why would Lyndoch not want general members?
The challenges to VCAT provide some hope of an answer and – perhaps – a change.
Another challenge will be revealed shortly. Watch this space.
VCAT agrees to hear challenge to Lyndoch membership rejection
Warrnambool veterinarian Dr Michael McCluskey is challenging Lyndoch Living’s refusal to accept his membership.
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
Warrnambool vet Dr Michael McCluskey has secured a significant first step in challenging Lyndoch Living’s refusal to allow him to become a member, with VCAT accepting his case.
As reported here in early October, Dr McCluskey lodged a complaint with VCAT arguing that the decision by the Lyndoch board to reject his application was discriminatory and illegal under the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act.
VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal) has since formally responded to Dr McCluskey to confirm his case has been assessed and accepted.
According to Dr McCluskey, the tribunal has also notified Lyndoch Living about its decision to hear the case.
Dr McCluskey says he has indicated to VCAT and Lyndoch Living that he is happy to attend a mediation session as the first listing of the matter.
At this stage, Dr McCluskey will attend the first listing without legal representation, which underscores the David v Goliath fight ahead, as Lyndoch Living has access to top Melbourne lawyers, K&L Gates, for its legal battles.
Once again, I am astonished that I have to write the words “legal battle” between Lyndoch and the community.
Under its Constitution both past and present, Lyndoch has had the power to do this.
Never, however, has it used that power with such blunt force.
At no time has the gate been closed so firmly by Lyndoch against the community that created it. Even our local MPs can’t get straight answers as to why.
The mounting concerns around Lyndoch Living that have been exposed by this page have always been two-fold:
the loss of so many experienced staff and the decline in care to the point where Lyndoch is now, for the first time, failing national standards;
the shutting out of the community from becoming members or board members.
I often wonder how many members of the Lyndoch board or executive would feel comfortable having their loved ones in the care of a nursing home that has dropped to two out of four stars, unlike any other aged care home in Warrnambool?
The second issue – the shutting out of the community – well, this is our issue to fix.
Lyndoch can only be stolen from under our noses if we don’t push back.
Dr McCluskey is among all of those pushing back and while he may be the “David” in the battle ahead, he has a big slice of the community right behind him.
VCAT asked to rule on Lyndoch Living membership rejections
Dr Michael McCluskey has asked VCAT to examine his rejection as a member of Lyndoch Living, claiming discrimination due to the very limited information allowed on the application form. Image supplied.
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
Warrnambool has two choices. It can accept that the community has been cut out of Lyndoch, or it can fight back.
Warrnambool vet Dr Michael McCluskey is among those now doing the latter.
Dr McCluskey is challenging the rejection of his membership application to Lyndoch Living on the grounds of discrimination.
Dr McCluskey lodged a complaint with VCAT today, arguing that the decision by the Lyndoch board was illegal under the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act.
“The only information that can be filled out on the Lyndoch membership form is my name and address,” Dr McCluskey said.
“There was no request from Lyndoch for any further information from me.
“Given this, the Lyndoch board could only have rejected me on the basis of my name and my gender, because they know nothing else about me, my background, or my qualifications, or interests.”
A very good point, because if the Lyndoch board had bothered to find out more about Dr McCluskey, they would have discovered the following:
He holds a University degree with Honours in the field of biological sciences (Bachelor of Veterinary Science);
Extra post graduate University level study with multiple units in the fields of psychology, law and economics;
Five years as Director of Finance on Board of Management at a local community sporting organisation handling a multi-million dollar annual turnover;
More than six years as both volunteer and member of committee of management of Warrnambool Riding for Disabled;
Is a current member and also serving on committee of management of Water for East Timor, a locally-based charity that is overseas focussed.
Dr McCluskey didn’t apply for membership to Lyndoch as part of the recent community membership drive – he applied several months earlier.
He is now among a long list of community minded souls who have had their applications flatly rejected.
This means everyone who applied is also automatically ruled out of nominating for the board at the AGM on 26 October, as only members can apply.
Having read that 115 people from across the community were rejected last month, Dr McCluskey decided it was time to push back.
“I’m hoping this can become a test case on behalf of the community,” he says, “and that VCAT will at least decide that Lyndoch has a case to answer”.
He hopes others will be encouraged to follow his lead, particularly as the VCAT application is free of charge due to the issue falling under the Equal Opportunity Act.
Lyndoch Living has used the “no reason” clause in its Constitution to dismiss every single membership application from the general public these past two years.
Those who have tried these past two years include now Mayor Vicki Jellie, AM, senior SWHC nurse Kate Sloan, aged care expert Janet Dunn, leading local businesswomen Natalie Stevens and Marie Bird, the inaugural Director of the Greater Green Triangle University Department of Rural Health, Professor James Dunbar, educator and MPower board member Helen Bayne, former Lyndoch senior nurse Tracey Dean, educators Tina Reilly and Claire Bishop, retirees in Lyndoch’s Waterfront Living apartments, and dozens of locals who care about Lyndoch as a much-loved community asset.
All were bumped by the board without reason.
But a “no reason” clause can be fragile, as WCC CEO Peter Schneider proved with his Supreme Court case.
No doubt the Lyndoch board, Sue Cassidy (hairdresser/salon owner), vice chair Kerry Nelson (ex MPower CEO), treasurer Kane Grant (Sinclair&Wilson), retired Deakin academics Lorraine Mielnik and Prof Rob Wallis, Ron Page (dairy industry) and WCC director Andrew Paton hope the community will just accept it.
In my opinion, the board’s loyalty is to the CEO. It is not to the wider community.
Those prepared to push back, however, are loyal to the spirit of Lyndoch, to its vulnerable residents who must be its first priority, and to the increasingly exhausted staff who care for them.
Dr McCluskey has cast another stone in what has become a David and Goliath battle. We shall see where it lands.
WCC advertises for new CEO as court hearing looms
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
Will it be a new face, or an old face? The Warrnambool City Council recruitment of a new CEO has officially begun.
The job advert has gone out, just four days before a Supreme Court hearing which will decide whether the former CEO, Peter Schneider, could get his old job back.
The advert was posted online yesterday by top local government recruitment firm, McArthur, with applications closing on 15 February.
On Monday, however, the judicial review into Mr Schneider’s sacking begins and will sort out one way or the other whether he was denied natural justice when he was dumped by the former council in July last year.
If the judge rules in Mr Schneider ‘s favour, then the new council will have to decide whether they will rehire him.
No witnesses will be called for Monday’s hearing, with a judge instead deciding the case on the written evidence and affidavits put before them.
We can only hope the judgment is made quickly, for the sake of Mr Schneider, the new councillors who inherited this mess, and the good people of Warrnambool, all of whom have been sitting in the equivalent of a Jetstar flight circling over and over the airport, unable to land because of turbulence.
I asked the council spokesman and Mayor Vicki Jellie today how the council could start advertising for a new CEO, when the former CEO is still yet to learn his fate?
The response was that, under the Local Government Act, the WCC is legally bound to get things moving and must “…make a permanent appointment to the position of Chief Executive Officer as soon as practicable after a vacancy in the position occurs”.
“Given the then impending elections, and the intervening caretaker period, an earlier appointment was not a feasible option,” the statement said.
But, the statement added, ” the appointment of a CEO is a priority for the new councillors”.
I bet it is.
The whole process from here will be overseen by the council’s CEO Employment Matters Committee, which will also have all new faces at the table, including Mayor Jellie, two councillors and an independent chair.
This chair is being recruited as we speak and will be in place after the 1 March council meeting.
Monday also marks the first council meeting for 2021 and, I feel, when the real work begins for this new council.
They have a lot to clean up: appointing a chief who can finally land that plane, get us all through customs, and get Warrnambool out into the fresh air is the first of them.
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
