Adam Toma's threat

 I refer to the following threatening email from the Shonkey National Enforcement Manager from ITSA Adam Toma.

I am still waiting for your threat to come true......................
The Stupid fucks at ITSA use this section to threaten anyone who realizes their intentional misuse  of the Bankruptcy Act
Please take me to court Adam Toma!
I will then be able  to subpoena Commissioner Sedgwick , Karin Fisher, Veronique Ingram, Mark Findlay  Cheryl Cullen  and cross examine them.  I will also have access to the names of the 33 Agency Heads that were referred to the APS Commission in the last financial year. It also will give me access to the documents I have requested under FOI that the Commissioner does not want me to have access to.
Adam, Eat shit

474.17   Using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence

             (1)  A person is guilty of an offence if:

                     (a)  the person uses a carriage service; and

                     (b)  the person does so in a way (whether by the method of use or the content of a communication, or both) that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, menacing, harassing or offensive.

Penalty:  Imprisonment for 3 years.

             (2)  Without limiting subsection (1), that subsection applies to menacing, harassing or causing offence to:

                     (a)  an employee of the NRS provider; or

                     (b)  an emergency call person; or

                     (c)  an employee of an emergency service organisation; or

                     (d)  an APS employee in the Attorney-General's Department acting as a National Security Hotline call taker.

---

Subject: Your Complaint
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:51:03 +1100
From: Adam.Toma@itsa.gov.au
To: fionabrown01@hotmail.com

Dear Ms Brown,

I write to you regarding your recent complaint and following discussions with acting Chief Executive Digby Ross with whom you have also been in contact.

I have become aware that in recent correspondence with ITSA you have behaved in an inappropriate manner using offensive language which has been directed at several ITSA staff.

As your inappropriate behaviour is upsetting and disrupting numerous ITSA staff, I have instructed all ITSA personnel as follows:

•       Your access to any ITSA premises is hereby revoked.  Pursuant to section 12 of the Public Order (Protection of Persons and Property) Act 1971, I hereby advise you that should you attempt to re-enter any ITSA premises, you shall immediately be asked to leave – should you fail to leave, New South Wales Police will be contacted.

•       You are also asked to refrain from calling ITSA’s free call (1300) number as all personnel attached to that service have been instructed to terminate any call they receive from you.  Should you make contact with ITSA’s 1300 service, ITSA personnel have been directed to advise me accordingly, at which time I shall refer the matter to the appropriate police service.

I would like to bring to your attention the provision of section 474.17 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) which provides an offence for using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

474.17 Using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if:
(a) the person uses a carriage service; and
(b) the person does so in a way (whether by the method of use or the content of a communication, or both) that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, menacing, harassing or offensive.

Penalty: Imprisonment for 3 years.

"Carriage service" has the same meaning as in the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) and is broad enough to capture telephone calls, email and SMS. Should you continue your recent behaviour, ITSA may also refer the matter to the Federal Police for action.

I recognise this course of action may be considered harsh, but your repeated behaviour towards ITSA personnel has resulted in me implementing these actions in order to protect ITSA personnel.

I have also had the opportunity to read the response to your complaint provided to you by Mark Findlay (Business Manager, Regulation and Enforcement), detailing his findings. I have discussed the matter at length with Cheryl Cullen (Assistant National Manager, Trustee Services) who has also made enquiries into the issues you've raised on my behalf.

I wish to advise you that I am satisfied with the findings of the report provided to you by Mark Findlay and do not propose to take any further action in regards to the issues you have raised.

As a result, please note that the Official Trustee also does not propose to take any further action in the estate unless there is a significant new development or funds are recovered. In that event the trustee will report to all creditors.

The Official Trustee will also report to all creditors on the final outcome of the offence referral in due course.
If you are unsatisfied with this outcome you may pursue the following options:

• obtain the consent of another trustee to take over administration of the estate;
• make a complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman; or
• apply to the Court under sections 178 or 179 of the Bankruptcy Act if you consider you have been affected by a particular act, omission or decision of the trustee (application to the Court must be made within 60 days of the relevant act, omission or decision), or you wish the court to inquire into the conduct of the trustee.

I will consider any correspondence from you as long as that correspondence is directed solely to me and is posted to my contact details outlined below. It will only be considered if it raises new issues that have not been previously addressed.

Yours sincerely

Adam Toma
National Manager Trustee Services
Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia
Level 16, 300 La Trobe Street, Melbourne Vic 3000

Phone   1300 364 785
Fax     (03) 8631 4940

Asic Statistics

Australian Securities and Investment Commission Statistics 2010-2011 

Statistics on complaints of ASIC regarding Insolvency Practicioners

Australian Securities and Investments Commission March 2011

Insolvency practitioners complaints statistics These statistics summarise information provided in ASIC’s public submission to the Insolvency Enquiry and also brings them up to date. ASIC will provide six-monthly updates on these figures. 

Complaints volume trend 2006-07		2007-08		2008-09		2009-10		2010-11 To Dec		Total/ Average %
Total complaints and enquiries finalised	11,455		12,514		14,543		14,002		7,779		60,293
Total insolvency appointments	11,966		12,524		15,567		14,056		7,357		61,470
Total complaints and enquiries against insolvency practitioners	406		352		633		520		234		2,155
Total complaints and enquiries against insolvency practitioners excluding duplicates	344		317		438		467		218		1,784
% insolvency practitioners complaints and enquiries of total complaints and enquiries	3.5%		2.8%		4.4%		3.7%		3.0%		3.6%
% insolvency practitioner complaints and enquiries of total appointments	3.4%		2.8%		4.1%		3.7%		3.2%		3.5%

Statistics of complaints regarding Practitioners from the Insolvency Trustee service Australia.
( Note these are substantially lower)
This is because Bankruptcy Regulation uses S134 (3) to justify misconduct 

Table 8: All practitioners – complaints While the percentage of justified complaints increased marginally it is pleasing to note that the number of complaints received in 2010–11 decreased. 

2008–09		2009–10		2010–11
Number of complaints received	418		434		401
Percentage of complaints found to be justified	17%		10%		11%
Number of complaints not requiring investigation	189		195		214
Complaints not requiring investigation finalised within 14 days (standard 80%)	100%		97%		92%
Number of complaints investigated	229		239		187
Actual percentage of investigative complaints finalised within 60 days (standard 80%)	85%		86%		87

Of the 401 complaints received in 2010–11, 335 were against registered trustees and the Official Trustee (343 in 2009–10).
These complaints encompassed six main areas: 

..lack of information or responsiveness 29% (25%) ..decisions concerning the claiming or disposal of assets 21% (21%) ..the extent of trustees’ fees and costs 10% (11%) ..delays in the administration or lack of action 15% (9%) ..inappropriate conduct or conflict of interest 9% (11%) ..income and contribution liability assessments 5% (4%) 

Commonwealth Ombudsman's Statistics
2009-2001
2010-2011
Not
investigated Investigated
Agency Received Cat 1 Cat 2 Cat3 Cat 4 Cat 5
ASIC 158 49 69 35 10
2009-2010
ITSA 69 29 22 6 8
2009-20010



ASIC 169 49 83 31 11
2010-2011
ITSA 70 27 17 15 8
2010-2011
Anything higher than a category 4 should be referred to the Minister.
The Ombudsman usually do a deal prior to this with the agency and send you a letter telling you to fuck off as they have solved the problem.



Also note only 20-25per cent of complaints are investigated.
Refer to my blog put up on Saturday night Commonwealth Ombudsman Statistics 2010-2011 for an explanation.