High-profile lawyer says Victorian project to protect women at work ended in 'perfect failure'

A high-profile lawyer asked to oversee the delivery of an $800,000 Victorian government project aimed at protecting diverse women in workplaces says she had to leave the project early, after it left her feeling "victimised" in her own job.

Efforts to independently assess the taxpayer-funded project's success have also seemingly failed, with an evaluator finding it was not possible due to the project's "instability" and mismanagement.

The project is called the WorkWell Respect Network and was managed by WorkSafe Victoria, which contracted Victoria University's Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, headed by lawyer and human rights advocate Nyadol Nyuon, to deliver it.

Several people involved with the project agree that strained relationships damaged its ability to achieve its goal — saying it was plagued by tensions, delays and departures over a tumultuous year.

Some lamented that it had overshadowed the important work the project was meant to achieve in helping women at risk of harassment.

The project, which officially launched in July last year, was designed to work with industries deemed at higher risk of gendered violence — particularly against women from diverse backgrounds.

Ms Nuyon said she became concerned about being used as "corporate blackface" to sell a program that did not represent real change.

She said despite the focus on diversity, she experienced systemic racism while working on the project. 

"This is a typical everyday experience of being a black woman, especially a black woman in a position of leadership," Ms Nyuon said.

But another person involved in the project, who identifies as a mixed-race woman, said she was concerned allegations of racism were being "used as a stick to make people fall in line", which she said was "inappropriate" and "reinforced a stereotype that multicultural programs are difficult to work with".

"Racism is a real phenomenon in Australian society, however, reverse racism is not necessarily helpful with stakeholders who are trying to create social cohesion in Australia," she said.

Ms Nyuon said that comment reflected a lack of understanding about the institutional power behind racism, and she saw it as evidence of the issues she was raising.

Institutional racism is just one of the issues that plagued the project, according to Ms Nyuon.

She said she also ended up working incredibly long hours because of resourcing issues, was concerned about about WorkSafe overstepping its role and there were disagreements between the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre and one of the industry groups.

Project 'failed in all the ways', lawyer says

After all of the staff who had been working on the project at Victoria University's Sir Zelman Cowen Centre left, Ms Nyuon became directly involved in the project.

She said it was immediately clear to her that the project was "very ambitious" and was already behind schedule.

"It was 18 months to deliver a lot, and it seemed really complex, but I thought it was doable," she said.

She thought it could send an important message to employers to take the issue seriously, and she hoped the focus on diverse women, who are at higher risk of harassment, would create "a safety net for everybody".

"[It was] also very personal too, for the kind of the workplaces that I could go to, that my daughter could go to," Ms Nyuon said.

But within a year, she had resigned from her role feeling "betrayed" by her university employer and now believes the project to be a "perfect failure".

"This was a project that failed in all the ways," she said.

Another person involved in the project said institutions needed to pay "attention" to the "complexity of multicultural programs", and "authentic and engaged leadership" was required to ensure they were not a "tick-a-box" exercise.

"It's not an easy thing, to work with a diverse group of stakeholders," they said.

Early concerns raised about resourcing for ambitious project

In the early stages of the project, Ms Nyuon made multiple requests in writing to Victoria University in relation to resourcing. 

A staff member from another part of the university was brought across to assist and it was acknowledged Ms Nyuon needed "additional support" to "meet tight deadlines" before the launch event was held.

The ABC understands by mid-last year, three additional staff had been brought in.

Ms Nuyon said she now believed she had been "set up to fail", as she was also still working as the director of the centre.

One participant said the relationship between the institutions "broke down". They said WorkSafe could be "difficult to work with" and inflexible, but also questioned if the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre had the capacity to deliver the project.

But one of the industry groups, Women 4 STEM, has defended the project, saying it had "excellent content" and was "delivered well" by those involved. 

The project is set to wrap up in the middle of this year and has delivered some educational forums, which others have pointed to as a marker of some success.

The issues that occurred during the project have been raised at senior levels in both Victoria University and WorkSafe.

In a statement, Victoria University said it was "always looking for ways to improve" and was "working hard to address concerns raised".

Disagreements between parties

As part of the project, a series of educational forums and workshops were to be run through four main partners: Women 4 STEM, Australian Hotels Association Victoria, National Association of Women in Operations (NAWO) and Professional Migrant Women.

Only two of the groups remain involved in the project. 

Some of the early delays in the project revolved around ensuring key occupational health and safety messages were being properly delivered in forums, after WorkSafe raised concerns.

The first of four forums was pushed back and the program's launch was delayed.

By this point, the Professional Migrant Women group had already left — pulling out months before the official launch was even held.

Ms Nyuon said other tensions arose, including with NAWO, which disagreed with late changes being sought to the material it had planned to deliver.

Ms Nyuon said she was concerned that the project's formal evaluation would become difficult if the materials being delivered at different industry forums were misaligned.

The ABC has contacted NAWO for comment.

Ms Nyuon said throughout the project, NAWO had been difficult to deal with and "would not listen" to staff from her centre.

A meeting was called with staff from WorkSafe, NAWO and the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, where WorkSafe decided it would oversee NAWO directly and the group was allowed to proceed with its forums.

WorkSafe working directly with NAWO created some consternation with another industry group, Women 4 STEM, which questioned the apparent "prioritisation".

It wrote an email to Victoria University, also flagging concerns about NAWO and the future of the project.

Women 4 STEM claimed NAWO had been "abrupt, even rude" to members of the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, and a member of the Women 4 STEM team had been "ignored or disregarded" by NAWO on "several occasions".

Women 4 STEM told the ABC its concerns were "addressed in a timely fashion" and the group rolled out "excellent content" through the network.

"Although the milestones were delayed, it was communicated to stakeholders and enabled us to recruit more industry participants to each forum," it said.

Human resources staff flagged concern over 'Machiavellian behaviour'

As disagreement flared, there were discussions within Victoria University about pulling out of the project.

Ms Nyuon emailed the vice-chancellor raising concerns "lived experiences and expertise" were being "consistently and alarmingly disregarded" and claiming "continued association with this project would undermine our stance on diversity and inclusion".

"The current approach fails to set appropriate standards for engaging with diverse communities and, more concerningly, marginalises the very voices it claims to amplify," she wrote.

After WorkSafe proposed mediation to manage tensions within the project, the university stayed involved.

Ms Nyuon said further into the project, she was working long days as changes to the forum designs significantly increased the workload. She said it created "a completely toxic environment" where everyone was stressed and concerned about their reputation, as they fought to meet "ridiculous" timelines.

"I would push back and WorkSafe would just escalate [to the university, which] would require compliance, and I'll be back in the same circle," she said.

She was concerned WorkSafe was giving different information to her as it was to NAWO, and complained to Victoria University that WorkSafe was overstepping its role and causing her "harm".

The ABC has seen text messages between her and a member of the university's human relations team, where the HR representative said she was "concerned" for Ms Nuyon.

In response to Ms Nyuon saying WorkSafe was "harming her" and the university "needs to stop this", the HR representative agreed WorkSafe was "causing harm".

"It's a level of manipulation and Machiavellian behaviour I have never seen," the HR representative's next text read.

Despite the acknowledgement, Ms Nyuon said she did not receive the support she required from the university, which she felt was "protecting" its relationship with WorkSafe.

In a statement, WorkSafe said it "greatly values the expertise and experiences of all of our partners and stakeholders and will continue to invest in sharing knowledge and information to create safe workplaces for all".

'Where were the checks and balances?'

By September, NAWO had left the project.

NAWO has since run its own program called Operation Respect, which it has described as "a powerful series of dynamic webinars" designed to help "organisations build stronger, safer and more respectful workplaces for all employees".

Last year, the Professional Migrant Women association took part in one of the Operation Respect events.

Separately, Women 4 STEM and the Australian Hotels Association Victoria are now working together on their own program, called the WorkPlace Respect Series, to "build on the success of the WorkWell Respect Network".

Yet WorkSafe said it "continues to engage with stakeholders involved in the delivery of multiple WorkWell Respect projects aimed at addressing work-related gendered violence".

The contract for the original project continues until June this year, when final audits and assessments are planned.

Part of the final report to be submitted is meant to be an independent assessment of the project, but it is not clear how that will be conducted.

The project's independent evaluator, which has expertise in multicultural programs, concluded it wasn't possible to do their job, citing mismanagement and "psychosocial culture and instability".

One insider told the ABC the project "got out of hand quickly" and they didn't think Ms Nyuon "handled it well", but said some blame should rest with "senior people" in WorkSafe and Victoria University who "did not pay enough attention" to the "resources required".

"Emotions were very high, there was a lot of passion [from people involved], but a lack of support for [the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre] to actually do it," they said.

"Where were the checks and balances? It can't all be blamed on one person."

Former project lead says she feels 'betrayed' by former employer

Ms Nuyon said she ended up in hospital in the latter stages of the project after collapsing, and her mental health was also impacted.

In November she wrote to the university, claiming pay for the additional hours she had worked on the project.

VU's vice-chancellor responded in a letter saying Ms Nyuon would be receiving a $70,000 payment to "recognise the additional work you undertook to ensure the delivery of this important research and policy project".

"On behalf of all of us, I want to express my personal gratitude to you for your continued dedication and contribution," they said.

Ms Nyuon has yet to decide whether to accept the money and resigned from Victoria University earlier this year, feeling "pushed out", "isolated" and "betrayed" by the institution.

Victoria University told the ABC it remained "committed to supporting Nyadol in any way we can".

"We welcome and celebrate the diverse perspectives, identities, cultures and experiences of all our staff and students," it said.

Ms Nyuon said most people involved, especially more junior staff, had come to the project with good intentions and that systemic issues were largely to blame.

She also said she "could not be what some of those people wanted me to be" and couldn't "be nice all the time".

"I also think that my communication style is very different, right?" she said.

She believes the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre was unfairly blamed for some delays, had the "capability of delivering" the project but required more resources, and wasn't responsible for the "meaningful failures that impacted the project".

She said while she "still had tough days", she was "mostly ok" and the "biggest risk" for her was never losing a job.

"The biggest risk is feeling disempowered and not being able to speak about what has happened to me or what I think is true in the most authentic way to me possible."