Oakden aged care scandal part 3 - “Boss on the floor” … or, how bad things stayed secret Artwork

The Westminster Tradition

Unpacking lessons for the public service, starting with the Robodebt Royal Commission.
In 2019, after three years, Robodebt was found to be unlawful. The Royal Commission process found it was also immoral and wildly inaccurate.

Ultimately the Australian Government was forced to pay $1.8bn back to more than 470,000 Australians.

In this podcast we dive deep into public policy failures like Robodebt and the British Post Office scandal - how they start, why they're hard to stop, and the public service lessons we shouldn't forget.

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The Westminster Tradition

Oakden aged care scandal part 3 - “Boss on the floor” … or, how bad things stayed secret

March 04, 2025 • The Westminster Tradition • Season 3 • Episode 4

How did the abuse at Oakden remain hidden for so long? And what finally brought it to light?

In this episode we discuss:

why families might not complain
how small, isolated outposts can hide terrible things
the importance of following up on things that don’t feel quite right.

Intro grab from the RN Background Briefing episode A Failure to Care: The Oakden Nursing Home, featuring Lorraine Baff, whose father was a patient at Oakden.

You can find the full ICAC Report into Oakden here, and the Chief Psychiatrist report here.

This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.

Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....

While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.

Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at thewestminstertraditionpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music.

'Til next time!