‘Alpha’ culture: AACo bullying, homophobia claims raised

afr.com:

An “alpha group” of staff on an AACo property allegedly “routinely bullied, intimidated and harassed their peers”, according to an internal safety report at the cattle giant, which proclaims the importance of an inclusive culture.

And a gay contractor working for AACo was allegedly exposed to homophobic slurs while working on one of its outback properties.

AACo makes premium Westholme wagyu, but concerns were raised about culture on one of its stations.  Jason South

The same contractor was also allegedly left to work on roofs for hours alone there without communications, according to notes of the incidents, revealed exclusively today by The Australian Financial Review.

Other internal documents detail that a young worker at another property was injured and left unable to walk for days after being pinned between a charging cow and a boulder in July this year.

He was taken to a clinic and airlifted to Darwin after a veteran bore runner, typically not at the site and instead checking watering points, saw the injured worker and told him to go to the clinic, notes of the accident said.

It raised concerns within AACo about processes for assessing injuries. Questions were also raised about claims of a dearth of initial contact from AACo with the worker’s parents about their injured son.

ASX-listed AACo declined to confirm or deny the incidents or the outcomes of any investigations, citing privacy concerns. “AACo is committed to ensuring a safe workplace … unsafe behaviour is not tolerated,” a company spokesman told the Financial Review.

The concerns jar with strategic safety aims at AACo, which has almost 430,000 cattle, owns almost 1 per cent of Australia’s land mass, and has as big shareholders UK billionaire Joe Lewis and