Prevention of Bullying, Discrimination, and Harassment

Trainees and fellows shall not bully, victimise, harass, or discriminate against anyone:

“Anyone” is not stated by CICM, and instead explicitly listed as:

• CICM employees
• CICM contractors
• CICM committee members
• Other fellows
• Other trainees
• IMG
• Other people in the workplace
• Members of the public

• Discrimination
  Treating a person with an identified attribute or personal characteristic less favourably than a person who does not have that characteristic. Legislatively defined characteristics include:
  • Gender
    Including transgender.
  • Pregnancy
  • Potential pregnancy
  • Childbirth
  • Breastfeeding
  • Martial status
  • Sexual orientation
  • Lawful sexual activity
  • Disability
  • Impairment
  • Race
    Colour, nationality, descent, origin.
  • Physical features
  • Age
  • Carer status
  • Family responsibilities
  • Religious beliefs and activities
  • Political beliefs and activities
  • Union membership or industrial activity
  • Association to any of the above
• Harassment
  Behaviour that is:
  • Unwelcome
  • Likely to humiliate, embarrass, offend, or intimidate
  • Based on a personal characteristic
    See the above list.
• Sexual harassment
  Sexual behaviour that meets the criteria for harassment. May include:
  • Behaviour accompanied by direct or implied threats, benefits, or promise
  • Physical contact, comments, jokes, propositions, “graphic verbal commentaries”
  • Behaviour that creates a “sexually permeated” working environment
• Victimisation
  Unfair treatment of a person following a compliant of harassment, which causes them to feel uncomfortable, isolated, insecure, or intimidated.
• Bullying
  Unreasonable, repeated or pattern of behaviour that creates a risk to health and safety.
  • Unreasonableness is defined as that which could expect to:
    • Victimise
    • Humiliate
    • Undermine
    • Threaten
  • Divided into:
    • Direct bullying
      Overt conduct, including:
      • Aggression
      • Intimidation
      • Spreading misinformation
      • Interfering with property
      • Displaying offensive material.
    • Indirect bullying
      Conducting that excludes or removes a person, including:
      • Assigning meaningless tasks
      • Altering rosters to inconvenience someone
      • Withholding information required for work

Complaints

Redress of grievances:

• Should be sought first from HR, or by an external body such as Worksafe for any conduct occurring in the workplace
  • CICM may also be contacted for support whilst a compliant is being investigated by another body
• From CICM for any conduct that occurred at an official CICM activity

Principles guiding CICM complaint resolution process:

• Confidentiality
  Need-to-know principle applies.
• Impartiality
• Time-frames
  Addressed efficiently.
• Defamation
  Risk is minimised by confidentiality.
• False accusations
  Taken seriously, if found to be malicious may result in defamation proceedings or disciplinary action.
• Intent
  Acceptable comments to one person may be offensive to another: innocent intent is not a defence.
• Support person
  May be a family member, advisor, or co-worker; cannot be a witness in the same complaint.
• Counselling
  May be sought independently.

College Resolution Processes

CICM provides two complaint resolution processes:

• Informal resolution process
  Aim to achieve resolution, rather than present factual proof or substantiate the dispute. May include:
  • Self-help
  • Seeking assistance
  • Mediation
  • Resolution
• Formal resolution process
  Written compliant which aims to substantiate evidence of the claim.
  • Appropriate when:
    • Informal resolution has failed
    • Informal resolution is rejected
    • The allegation is serious
  • Requires:
    • Written complaint to CICM CEO
    • CEO appoints impartial investigator
    • Investigator separately interviews complainant, respondent, and any witnesses
      Witnesses, and employers cannot be compelled.
    • Report is produced and returned to the CEO
    • Investigator arranges a meeting between both parties
    • Resolution may include:
      • Apology and commitment to behaviour change
      • Disciplinary action
        • Professional censure
        • Withdrawal of SOT rights
        • Suspension of fellowship/training
        • Termination of fellowship/training
      • Closed as unsubstantiated
    • Appeal is available for both complainant and respondent

Rights

The complainant has a right to:

• Have their compliant treated informally or formally
• Have their complaint investigated or conciliated
• Support
• Express concerns without fear of retribution
• Withdraw the complaint
• Privacy
• To a remedy

The respondent has a right to:

• Be informed of what they are accused of, and by whom
• To respond
• To fair treatment, free of prejudgment and discrimination
• Support
• Not be dismissed, treated unfairly, or treated unreasonably
• Privacy
• Protection from defamation and malicious complaints

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References

1. CICM. IC-20 Prevention of Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace. 2016.