Wednesday, 21 September 2022

 Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (17:27): Today I tabled a petition with 2234 signatures calling for the removal of the board of Lyndoch Living and the appointment of an administrator. Put simply, the board has lost the confidence of the community. I asked a question in this place on 28 October 2021 alerting the minister to some of the concerns held around the governance and operations of this organisation. On 30 March this year I was assured by the minister that the department was ‘engaging regularly’. Unfortunately the plight of Lyndoch has worsened.

Lyndoch Living aged care and disability service has been a beloved community asset in Warrnambool for over 65 years. It has grown to have offices located in Warrnambool, Hamilton and Terang. Lyndoch employs more than 400 staff and provides a diverse range of direct care and support services to over 3500 individual clients and residents throughout south-west Victoria. Lyndoch is not owned by the government. Let me be very clear, the petitioners are not seeking for this to become a government-run asset. The Kirner government sought to merge Lyndoch with the Warrnambool Base Hospital, a most unwelcome idea. Lyndoch is a publicly funded community asset and a much-loved one at that.

In 2018 Lyndoch became a company limited by guarantee. Board members must be sourced from a pool of general members. The board has a history of rejecting applications for membership, even from eminently qualified and motivated individuals. The rejection pile numbers over 200. There have been no general members outside of board members and executive staff. On 17 September this year, some weeks after our petition closed, the Lyndoch Living board announced that they had a transparent nomination process. This is a case of too little too late. The Lyndoch AGM—

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Mr Bourman): You cannot take photos up there in the gallery. If you could delete whatever photo you have taken, that would be good, thanks. You can continue, Mrs McArthur.

Mrs McARTHUR: Thank you. I will start again. On 17 September this year, some weeks after the petition closed, the Lyndoch Living board announced what they term as a transparent nomination process. This is a case of too little too late. The Lyndoch AGM has been called for October—next month. Under the new system announced by the board recently, an independent panel will assess nominations from the public and make recommendations to the board to fill three newly created positions. This still leaves the existing board in place and in control of who is and is not chosen to join the board. They remain the gatekeepers.

This is not acceptable to the community, as evidenced by the more than 2200 signatures on the petition. There has been significant senior staff upheaval at Lyndoch, but accountability starts and stops with the board, and this is where the community feels that change is most needed. Under their watch the Warrnambool aged care home failed numerous safety standards in three consecutive Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission audits. Areas of non-compliance included consumer dignity and choice, personal and clinical care, services and supports for daily living, and human resources and organisational governance. The board must immediately open up general community memberships as permitted under its constitution and let these general members vote at the AGM for the new board members. This is clearly the desire of those who signed the petition. Further, the community seeks direct input and consultation with residents, staff, families and interested community members. The Lyndoch Living AGM is rapidly approaching. The proposal of the current board is unacceptable. In order to avoid chaos, the petitioners request the appointment of an administrator to oversee a transition to a new way of implementing the existing constitution. Lyndoch deserves a board who are seen to be acting for and on behalf of the community, striving for excellence not only in the provision of care but of restoring trust and confidence in the governance of this cherished community asset. So I repeat what the petition said:

The petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that the Board of Lyndoch Living, an aged care facility in Warrnambool started by the community, has lost the confidence of the community it serves.