{"id":27774,"date":"2024-07-11T07:02:03","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T07:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=27774"},"modified":"2024-07-11T07:02:03","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T07:02:03","slug":"experienced-investigator-to-lead-inquiry-into-grnsw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2024\/07\/11\/experienced-investigator-to-lead-inquiry-into-grnsw\/","title":{"rendered":"Experienced investigator to lead inquiry into GRNSW"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris is appointing experienced mediator and investigator The Hon. Lea Drake as an Acting Commissioner of the NSW Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission (GWIC) to lead an inquiry into Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The inquiry will examine complaints about GRNSW\u2019s governance and operations, track safety and animal welfare isssues, including claims made by whistleblowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ms Drake is an accomplished investigator with more than two decades\u2019 experience as a member of the Fair Work Commission and inaugural Commissioner of Integrity of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, as well as sitting on civil, administrative and sports misconduct related tribunals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The inquiry will be conducted in accordance with GWIC\u2019s powers under Part 8 of&nbsp;<em>the Greyhound Racing Act 2017<\/em>&nbsp;(the Act) and cover issues including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Greyhound welfare and the care of greyhounds by GRNSW, including adoption and rehoming programs<\/li><li>GRNSW processes and management, including procurement and recruitment practices<\/li><li>GRNSW reporting and accuracy in relation to greyhounds<\/li><li>GRNSW management\u2019s response to complaints or concerns about organisational and workplace culture and conduct.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Other steps already taken by the Minister to ensure the highest standards of integrity and animal welfare include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Referring serious allegations where appropriate to the relevant authorities for consideration, including the Independent Commission Against Corruption<\/li><li>Updating Regulations under the Act to give the Minister more flexibility to make an order to remove the GRNSW Board and appoint an administrator in circumstances where he has lost confidence with the Board<\/li><li>Requested the GRNSW Board show cause to the Minister as to why its members should not be stood down from their positions<\/li><li>Asked GWIC to conduct a separate review of claims about the operation of GRNSW\u2019s Wyee rehoming facility following concerns about the treatment of greyhounds housed there. The Minister will also refer this report to the Acting Commissioner to consider along with the matters above.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Terms of Reference for the Inquiry can be found&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsw.gov.au\/departments-and-agencies\/office-of-racing\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am absolutely committed to ensuring a competitive, responsible and sustainable greyhound racing industry, with the highest standards of animal welfare and integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is important that the governing bodies and senior leadership of the racing codes meet these standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI take these various concerns about GRNSW very seriously and this inquiry, using the full investigative powers of GWIC, will conduct a thorough and wide-ranging review of all relevant issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMs Drake is eminently qualified to lead this inquiry. Further details about the inquiry, its procedures and conduct of hearings will be made in due course. The Acting Commissioner is to report back to me by 13 December 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe NSW Government will continue to work with GRNSW and industry participants to ensure the viability and longevity of the industry in NSW and to make it the best it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris is appointing experienced mediator and investigator The Hon. Lea Drake as an Acting Commissioner of the NSW Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission (GWIC) to lead an inquiry into Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW). The inquiry will examine complaints about GRNSW\u2019s governance and operations, track safety and animal welfare isssues, &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2024\/07\/11\/experienced-investigator-to-lead-inquiry-into-grnsw\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Experienced investigator to lead inquiry into GRNSW&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27775,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27774\/revisions\/27775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}