BendigoWeekly www.bendigoweekly.com.au
ISSUE 1041 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2017
For a cause BENDIGO’S Jemille McKenzie wants locals to show their support for young people experiencing cancer and band together on National Bandanna Day next Friday. The 21-year-old CanTeen member, whose sister Sinead died from cancer in 2010, is keen to raise awareness of the organisation’s biggest fundraiser by asking locals to buy bandannas and donate throughout October. To buy bandannas go to www.supportbandannaday.com
FEW FAULTS Photo: ANDREW PERRYMAN
By SHARON KEMP
FORMER Bendigo Health chief executive John Mulder has defended corruption detection systems that operated at the hospital under his watch, claiming only one department had problems which were exploited by only one dishonest employee. Mr Mulder’s statement follows the response of Bendigo Health to the anti-corruption agency’s investigation which alleged misconduct against he and former construction manager Adam Hardinge. Bendigo Health reported staff
Ex hospital CEO defends his tenure
will undergo training on reporting fraud and it will create a senior management position to handle inhouse reports of corruption. The group also lists other training and audits in the response to the recommendations of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission that Bendigo Health tighten its procedures when it comes to acting on allegations of miscon-
duct such as those levelled at Mr Mulder and Mr Hardinge. But Mr Mulder said a review carried out in 2015 found few faults. “Bendigo Health’s external auditors RSM Bird Cameron reviewed the controls and systems in place across Bendigo Health at the time and found them to be strong throughout the health service, with one exception, the building and engineering
services division, where one dishonest employee had taken advantage of a poor departmental system and inadequate supervision,” Mr Mulder said. “The controls were consistent with best practice across the system at the time and prior to Adam Hardinge’s offending there had been no other examples of fraud or corruption at Bendigo Health that sug-
gested the controls were anything less than adequate.” The building and engineering services division was responsible for building the new $630 million Bendigo hospital, from which Mr Hardinge was convicted in October 2016 of stealing materials after an initial investigation by IBAC. Mr Mulder was sacked in August this year after the Bendigo Health board launched its own investigation into his conduct based on an extension to IBAC’s inquiry.
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