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Welcome to AGDBullying
AGDBullying is a Support Group primarily for staff who have experienced workplace bullying while employed with the Attorney General's Department of New South Wales, Australia.
The Department's official Code of Conduct states:
2.2 All staff should treat each other with respect and courtesy. The Department has a diverse workforce and every individual's contribution should be recognised and valued.
2.3 The Department will not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any form. Most forms of harassment and discrimination contravene both NSW and federal laws, and will be dealt with accordingly. Harrassment and discrimination undermine the Department's commitment to equity and diversity in the workplace.
Fine words. However, staff, supervisors, supporters and contributors to this website know that the AGD not only tolerates discrimination but actively supports it with an entrenched culture of bullying. Subscribing to the Code of Conduct makes one a target of those staff, supervisors and managers immersed in this culture.
What about Stress? "Stress is not the employee's inability to cope with excessive workload but a consequence of the employer's failure to provide a safe system of work. Bullying is one of the most widespread social evils of today and is present in all forms of harassment, discrimination, abuse, violence, etc. Targets of bullying (and harassment, abuse etc) find that denial is everywhere. It could be said that denial is more harmful than the original bullying. (Bully OnLine)
"Bullying is a more insidious and pervasive feature of the Australian workplace than many might think. It is a symptom of a sick organisation. We need to move beyond considering bullying as an individual's problem, practised by a few unpleasant people at work, towards the idea of the organisation as the bully. Data on workplace bullying found that while the large majority of victims reported the bullying behaviour to their employers, very few were satisfied with the response they received. In fact, a significant proportion of victims were dismissed for making such claims. Organisations need to examine their culture to see whether or not it is contributing to bullying behaviour."
Learn how to recognise the bullies in your life and the harm they cause to you and others.
Where are people bullied?
*at work by their manager or co-workers or subordinates, or by their clients (bullying, workplace bullying, mobbing, work abuse, harassment, discrimination)
*at home by their partner or parents or siblings or children (bullying, assault, domestic violence, abuse, verbal abuse)
*at school (bullying, harassment, assault)
*in the care of others, such as in hospital, convalescent homes, care homes, residential homes (bullying, harassment, assault)
*in the armed forces (bullying, harassment, discrimination, assault)
*by those in authority (harassment, abuse of power)
*by neighbours and landlords (bullying, harassment)
*by strangers (harassment, stalking, assault, sexual assault, rape, grievous bodily harm, murder)
How do you know if you're being bullied?
Bullying differs from harassment and assault in that the latter can result from a single incident or small number of incidents - which everybody recognises as harassment or assault - whereas bullying tends to be an accumulation of many small incidents over a long period of time. Each incident tends to be trivial, and on its own and out of context does not constitute an offence or grounds for disciplinary or grievance action. So, ...
What is bullying?
*constant nit-picking, fault-finding and criticism of a trivial nature - the triviality, regularity and frequency betray bullying; often there is a grain of truth (but only a grain) in the criticism to fool you into believing the criticism has validity, which it does not; often, the criticism is based on distortion, misrepresentation or fabrication simultaneous with the criticism, a constant refusal to acknowledge you and your contributions and achievements or to recognise your existence and value, constant attempts to undermine you and your position, status, worth, value and potential
*where you are in a group (eg at work), being singled out and treated differently; for instance, everyone else can get away with murder but the moment you put a foot wrong - however trivial - action is taken against you *being isolated and separated from colleagues, excluded from what's going on, marginalized, overruled, ignored, sidelined, frozen out, sent to Coventry *being belittled, demeaned and patronised, especially in front of others *being humiliated, shouted at and threatened, often in front of others
*being overloaded with work, or having all your work taken away and replaced with either menial tasks (filing, photocopying, minute taking) or with no work at all
*finding that your work - and the credit for it - is stolen and plagiarised
*having your responsibility increased but your authority taken away
*having annual leave, sickness leave, and - especially - compassionate leave refused *being denied training necessary for you to fulfil your duties
*having unrealistic goals set, which change as you approach them
*ditto deadlines changed at short notice - or no notice - without you being informed (until it's too late)
*finding that everything you say and do is twisted, distorted and misrepresented *being subjected to disciplinary procedures with verbal or written warnings imposed for trivial or fabricated reasons and without proper investigation
*being coerced into leaving through no fault of your own, constructive dismissal, early or ill-health retirement, etc
How do I recognise a bully?
Most bullying is traceable to one person, male or female - bullying is not a gender issue. Bullies are often clever people (especially female bullies) but you can be clever too.
Who does this describe in your life?
*Jekyll & Hyde nature - vicious and vindictive in private, but innocent and charming in front of witnesses; no-one can (or wants to) believe this individual has a vindictive nature - only the current target sees both sides
*is a convincing, compulsive liar and when called to account, will make up anything spontaneously to fit their needs at that moment
*uses lots of charm and is always plausible and convincing when peers, superiors or others are present; the motive of the charm is deception and its purpose is to compensate for lack of empathy
*relies on mimicry to convince others that they are a "normal" human being but their words, writing and deeds are hollow, superficial and glib
*displays a great deal of certitude and self-assuredness to mask their insecurity
*excels at deception *exhibits unusual inappropriate attitudes to sexual matters or sexual behaviour; underneath the charming exterior there are often suspicions or intimations of sexual harassment, sex discrimination or sexual abuse (sometimes racial prejudice)
*exhibits much controlling behaviour and is a control freak
*displays a compulsive need to criticise whilst simultaneously refusing to acknowledge, value and praise others *when called upon to share or address the needs and concerns of others, responds with impatience, irritability and aggression
*often has an overwhelming, unhealthy and narcissistic need to portray themselves as a wonderful, kind, caring and compassionate person, in contrast to their behaviour and treatment of others; the bully is oblivious to the discrepancy between how they like to be seen (and believe they are seen), and how they are actually seen
*has an overbearing belief in their qualities of leadership but cannot distinguish between leadership (maturity, decisiveness, assertiveness, trust and integrity) and bullying (immaturity, impulsiveness, aggression, distrust and deceitfulness)
*when called to account, immediately and aggressively denies everything, then counter-attacks with distorted or fabricated criticisms and allegations; if this is insufficient, quickly feigns victimhood, often by bursting into tears (the purpose is to avoid answering the question and thus evade accountability by manipulating others through the use of guilt)
*is also ... aggressive, devious, manipulative, spiteful, vengeful, doesn't listen, can't sustain mature adult conversation, lacks a conscience, shows no remorse, is drawn to power, emotionally cold and flat, humourless, joyless, ungrateful, dysfunctional, disruptive, divisive, rigid and inflexible, selfish, insincere, insecure, immature and deeply inadequate, especially in interpersonal skills.
"I estimate one person in thirty has this behaviour profile. I describe them as a socialised psychopath, or sociopath: a violent, aggressive but intelligent individual who expresses their violence psychologically (constant criticism etc) rather than physically (assault). (Tim Fields). Learn more at Bully OnLine - see link below.
Tell your colleagues, clients, family, friends, neighbours, union reps, legal representatives, HR and equality officers, counsellors and fellow professionals about AGDBullying. Bullying is one of the most widespread social evils of today and is present in all forms of harassment, discrimination, abuse, violence, etc.
If you know someone who is being bullied or harassed, knowledge of this site can make a big difference to them; it may save their sanity, even their life.
Bully OnLine - HUGE Anti-bullying resource
AGDBullying News
AGDB Case Histories
The Serial Bully
AGDBullying Humour
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Send E-Mail to: agdbullying@yahoo.com.au
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