Alysha’s pain: ‘I begged for them to keep me safe’
THE woman whose sexual harassment complaint has gone all the way to the Premier’s office says she feels like she is the “collateral damage” of a flawed process.
Alysha spent two and a half hours in a meeting with Premier Peter Gutwein on Wednesday.
She said trying to get justice had taken almost two years, affected her family, her health and her reputation.
“No one should have to go to such extraordinary lengths to be heard about something so serious,” she said after the meeting.
Mr Gutwein announced a former magistrate would head the inquiry into Alysha’s claims of sexual harassment and bullying at Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
She alleges she was referred to as a “f--- doll”, subject to physical assault and bullying after making a complaint and was told her safety could not be assured.
But it was revealed in Budget Estimates hearings on Monday her complaint had been dismissed almost two years after it was made – and she has been told the original paperwork has been lost.
“I’m feeling really like collateral damage,” she said on
Wednesday. “I feel very resentful because I just wanted to be doing my job in an area that I love, and creating positive change and working with youth and doing the work that desperately needs to be done out there.
“And instead, I am displaced from my role because my department failed its duty of care to keep me safe.
“I am extraordinarily stressed to the point that I fainted in parliament today and an ambulance had to come.”
Alysha said she was glad her concerns about the treatment of young people at Ashley were eventually listened to but the past 22 months had left her feeling like she was somehow in the wrong.
“You don’t want to have things like that occur in the workplace, sometimes they do,” she said.
“You trust management to handle it quickly and appropriately and keep you safe.
“None of that happened. I begged for them to keep me safe. They refused to. The damage is done.
“A review is something. Maybe it’ll help the next person, but nothing has been said to offer empathy, or demonstrate support for me and to really show me that there’s any understanding of the damage that this government has done to my family.”
Mr Gutwein said he was committed to a swift and thorough review of the case.
“What I heard concerns me greatly and I advised Alysha that I will immediately commence an independent review of the internal process, which has been recently concluded,” Mr Gutwein said.
“I can confirm that former magistrate, Melanie Bartlett, has agreed to conduct this review, which will be conducted independently of government.”
Mr Gutwein said he expected the review to be completed within of 30 days.
“The government will ensure that appropriate support is available to anyone impacted by this matter,” he said.