Claims by Carenne Special School staff that Lynette Duncan was attempting to circumvent FOI proven

Posted September 3rd, 2009 by jules85 on Sydney Indymedia

Claims made by Carenne Special School staff two weeks ago that their principal Lynette Duncan had instructed them to use psuedonymns when referring to whisteblower Brian Carter in order to circumvent the Freedom of Information Act have been proven with the release of documents under Freedom of Information by the Department of Education and Training.

In a number of emails between department officials, Mrs Duncan has referred to Mr Carter simply as "special friend" and "BC" in an obvious attempt to avoid these being able to be provided to Mr Carter.

In one email, she says that she told Mr Carter that a non-classroom based teacher's aide special was a General Assistant, despite nobody ever hearing of this classification. It appears that Mrs Duncan is making stories up as she goes along.

What this does prove however is that Mrs Duncan has attempted to circumvent legislation which is intended to provide for transparency in public institutions. If Mrs Duncan is willing to do this to hide what she is saying, what else is she willing to hide?

If the department is to have any credibility in this matter it must stand down Mrs Duncan pending a full investigation.