Lose pay if you go, raped nurse told
05.03.2008
A NURSE who was raped on remote Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait was told by Queensland Health immediately after the attack that if she left the island she would have the days away deducted from her leave.
The Australian has been told the nurse had to get a local islander to take her by dinghy on a 30-minute trip to Badu Island, where she was taken by plane to Thursday Island.
Since the attack on February 5, Queensland Health has refused to pay the nurse any wages or expenses, telling her that, because she was ``injured'' at work, it is an issue for WorkCover and the department was not responsible.
This is despite Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson yesterday apologising for his department's not acting on a 16-month-old report that assessed the personal risk posed to nurses on the islands as ``extreme''.
The internal report, which Queensland Health denied existed before it was leaked to The Australian, warned that the residential quarters provided to the nurse on Mabuiag was one of the worst, having no locks on the doors or windows, and no security system or working lights.
A colleague of the nurse said yesterday she had complained about the lack of security before the rape but nothing was done. ``She was sent there to quarters that were not secure, without a doctor or police officer on the island, and in quarters where there was no lighting working, no running water, and no gas for the stove,'' the friend said.
``And when she reported the rape to Thursday Island (authorities) and said she wanted to come off, she was told she would have to have any time taken off deducted from leave owed to her.
``She arrived on Thursday Island because her partner arranged for a flight, and had to get her own accommodation, and then the nurses' union arranged for her to get to Cairns, where she received medical and psychological assistance.''
The colleague said the nurse gave statements to police, who arrested and charged the alleged perpetrator. ``Now she has returned to her home outside Sydney and has not been paid a cent since the incident, being told it is the responsibility of WorkCover,'' the colleague said.
``The nurses have advised the Government through the union that they will be withdrawing their labour if security of their accommodation on the remote islands is not brought up to scratch in a month.''
A Queensland Health spokesman said the nurse would get ``special leave on full pay, with the pay coming through WorkCover''. Speaking in Cairns, Mr Robertson said the internal report, revealed in The Australian yesterday, had not been acted on because it had ``sat on the desk of a former manager''.
``That's not acceptable and I apologise for that,'' he said.
Mr Robertson said the Government's QBuild arm would now take over maintenance of the Torres Strait Islands buildings. New security is to be installed in facilities on Mabuiag Island.
