Review into Victim Support launched after fresh claims of 'bullying' and 'unsafe' workplace culture

The country's lead agency supporting victims of crime and trauma is launching an investigation into its workplace culture, confidence in leadership and workplace complaints processes.

The external review comes after reporting by RNZ over claims of a "toxic" and "bullying" workplace culture, four years after an investigation into similar allegations.

RNZ spoke to several current and former workers who raised concerns about the culture at Victim Support. One person described it as a "very unsafe environment".

The agency's chief executive James McCulloch earlier said the agency "does not accept that these claims reflect Victim Support today".

In an earlier email to staff he also said the allegations were "disrespectful and offensive".

However, in a u-turn on Thursday McCulloch told staff that the leadership team and Board had recently agreed "in consultation with our main funder Ministry of Justice" to undertake another independent external review of the agency's workplace culture.

In a statement to RNZ, Victim Support confirmed it had agreed to commission a review of the organisation's workplace culture, confidence in people leadership and the processes for resolving workplace concerns.

"The review has been discussed with the Ministry of Justice and will build on previous independent work, including the 2024 culture check-in.

"Evidence from the past three years - including independent reviews, audits and staff surveys - has consistently indicated that we have a positive workplace culture. Getting robust, independent information is already a normal part of how we assess and strengthen our organisation. Being wellbeing-first means we take concerns raised by our people seriously, including those reported through media. With that, now is an appropriate time to get further independent assurance about what is working well and where improvements may be needed."

Victim Support said an independent reviewer would speak one-to-one with a random sample of people across Victim Support.

"Staff can also request an interview. Participation will be voluntary and confidential. The review is expected to begin in August, with the final report anticipated before the end of the year. Victim Support will publicly share a summary of the findings and carefully consider any recommendations. To protect people's privacy, findings will be reported in themes rather than attributed to individuals."

In a statement, McCulloch said the team at Victim Support had made "big strides in recent years".

"And I am determined that we all continue strengthening a workplace where people feel respected, supported and able to do their best work for victims. We will continue to seek robust, independent evidence and feedback to help us understand what is working well, where we can improve, and how we can continue to best support victims of crime."

The concerns

One of the staff members spoken to by RNZ said one of their main concerns was around the senior leadership team and how they felt there was no opportunity for staff to ask questions or challenge anything in a "safe way".

"I think it's a very unsafe environment… I think people are really reticent about being honest in any engagement survey."

The staffer said there were "major concerns" among staff.

One current staff member, who has worked at Victim Support for several years, told RNZ they had reported being "bullied and picked on" by their direct line manager as well as the district manager.

They said they went through the recommended internal channels, but said it did not help.

"It actually made it worse … they didn't take me seriously whatsoever," she said.

"It made me feel like there was just no point in trying to change anything."

They had witnessed a coworker being brought to tears multiple times before they quit and were aware of several other support workers who were having problems.

"It's not just isolated to me … it's kind of like there's just no point in speaking out, because it's not going to go anywhere. So either put up with it or leave," she said.

A former staff member who left the agency earlier this year says her position became "intolerable".

She said she was prevented from doing her job correctly, and was called into a meeting with her manager to address some "serious issues" with no warning.

"The list was all the times I had questioned the support needed for my clients which I had been giving for the past 12 years. I continued to receive complaints from police and court victim advisors, I urged them to make their feelings known to Victim Support and Ministry of Justice which they did."

She eventually resigned, saying she was suffering mentally from what she was going through at work.

Another of the former staffer's colleagues had recently signed an agreement not to speak about her bullying, she said. She said she was aware of several active personal grievances.

Another former staffer, who left in 2024, said there were "massive concerns around a very long, historic culture of bullying, toxic behaviour and really poor HR processes".

'Rather surprising media request'

McCulloch emailed staff after RNZ first approached Victim Support for comment.

In the email, seen by RNZ, he said the agency had received a "rather surprising media request suggesting that the culture, practice, values, leadership and wellbeing here had not actually changed or improved in recent years, and that all the challenges back in 2021/22 were still very much an issue".

"We are taking this very seriously and will strongly refute this. We are an organisation that delivers exceptional outcomes for victims through a focused purpose and practice, and a wellbeing first, award winning staff culture.

"I personally feel that any suggestion that this is not the case is disrespectful and offensive to all our incredible team and the victims that we support."

In 2021, the agency hired an independent investigator to look into allegations of bullying, bad training and delivery failure.

The full report was not released. However, RNZ earlier reported that a summary said while the inquiry did not find widespread bullying, there were regions where reports of bullying and unreasonable behaviour by a direct or senior manager were "very high".

McCulloch earlier told RNZ that Victim Support today was a "fundamentally different organisation".

"One that has implemented significant changes to strengthen its culture, practice and focus on victims. Victims deserve - and rightly expect - high levels of professionalism, care and boundaries from our staff."

McCulloch said that following the independent review in 2022, Victim Support accepted the recommendations and made a number of changes.

He said the changes had resulted in a "more victim-centric service".

The most recent independent survey of staff found that 86 percent of employees agreed that the agency genuinely supported and prioritised employee wellbeing, McCulloch said.

"Staff turnover has also more than halved, from 41 percent in 2023 to 17 percent today."