A report into Moira Shire Council has found the murder of former operations manager Rick Devlin might have been preventable if council’s workplace had been less toxic to employees.
Mr Devlin was murdered by former employee Andrew Paterson in August 2022 in what was described in court as a “revenge attack”.
The Commission of Inquiry into Moira Shire Council report, which resulted in Victorian Local Government Minister Melissa Horne dismissing the council in parliament this week, said “there is good reason to think” Mr Devlin’s murder “may have been preventable”.
Mr Paterson was sentenced to 26 years’ prison for murder.
Mr Paterson murdered Mr Devlin following false allegations of theft of a small amount of kerosene from the Nathalia depot.
The report said staff at depots had historically been able to take a small amount of kerosene home to clean shoes, clothes and cars.
While the allegations of theft against Mr Paterson were never substantiated, he did not return to work after November 2019 and requested a voluntary redundancy package 15 months before he murdered Mr Devlin.
The report said while these requests were not uncommon and were often approved, his was “rejected out of hand”.
“Had these events not occurred, it’s questionable whether the subsequent courses would have transpired,” the report said.
“The Nathalia works depot was the epicentre of a bitterly divided workforce riven by victimisation, threats, bullying, harassment, accusation and counter-accusation.”
The report quoted former council chief executive Mark Henderson, who said Mr Devlin “struggled with managing difficult people” and “had not embraced modern management practices”, preferring instead to “get rid of them”, which impacted the workforce across the shire.
“It broke some men who went on to long-term WorkCover and drove others to resign. The few women employed in the depots also suffered harassment and abuse with little done to protect them,” the report said.
The report said former chief executive Mr Henderson and council’s human resources team should have been alert to the risks to staff, especially following a 2017 external investigation, and taken action to mitigate them.
The report said Mr Henderson was unaware of that report, which spoke about the “extremely toxic atmosphere” and “high levels of dysfunction and distrust among the workplace”.
“Instead, (council) stood back and pursued flimsy and often unfounded disciplinary actions against accused employees.”
The report said not only had council dodged responsibility for risks to staff in the lead-up to Mr Devlin’s murder, but there had been an “abject failure since the murder to put in place any plan or process to bring about the fundamental cultural and behavioural changes required”.
The report said current chief executive Clare Keenan could not be held accountable for any of the issues that began before her tenure in charge began in May 2021, but slammed her for not trying to address deep-seated cultural issues at council.
“The current CEO, 18 months after the murder, told the commission that her ‘take’ on the murder of Mr Rick Devlin was that Mr Paterson ‘was somebody that had personality problems’ and ‘I don’t see that Nathalia is a problem depot’,” the report read.
“The commission would expect that any chief executive officer, confronted with the murder of one employee by another, would make every effort to be thoroughly briefed by her senior officers and her occupational health and safety manager about the work environment of those employees.”
In a statement released just after the report was made public, Ms Keenan said the focus of the organisation was on the health of those impacted by the report.
“We understand that the findings of the report may be confronting for our staff and their families, and concerning for our community,” Ms Keenan said.
“Our priority continues to be the wellbeing of staff, and we have implemented measures to ensure they have support.
“At this stage, council will review the findings and seek relevant advice before making any further comment.”