Bullying rife in Local Government - media spotlight on ASU survey results

4 May 2023


Did you catch the media coverage this week of the shocking results of our recent survey of Local Government workers?

The survey was completed by nearly 400 ASU members as well as potential members working in the sector, in both SA and the NT.

The survey found alarming numbers of Local Government workers have experienced and /or witnessed bullying in their workplace.

43% of respondents reported having been subjected to bullying behaviour at their current workplace.

45% of respondents reported having witnessed a colleague being bullied in the past 12 months.

Of those who raised the bullying with management, only 7.5% were satisfied with how the complaint was dealt with.

The survey also identified that the overwhelming majority of workers have seen their workloads increase since the Covid-19 pandemic.

84% of respondents reported an increase in workload in the last three years, with 50% stating that the increase was considerable.

69% of respondents said they regularly worked through breaks.

56% of respondents worked more than their agreed hours each week.

These results were so shocking they were picked up and reported by national media publications.

Within hours, the Minister for Local Government's office had called to go through the survey results in more detail, and to discuss ways the State Government might assist the union in addressing these serious workplace culture issues.

The ASU is now undertaking a secondary survey to dig down further into the issues raised.

If you work in Local Government keep an eye out for a bulletin with a link to the new survey later this week.