Talking Allergies

Nathan Francis was 13 when he died from anaphylactic shock after eating one mouthful of food containing peanuts at an army cadet camp.

He had been given beef satay, despite his mother's telling the camp's organisers he was allergic .

Now a court has ordered the Australian Defence Force to pay the Commonwealth $210,000 for failing to protect Nathan Francis under the Occupation Health and Safety Act.

But the judge has questioned the deterrent value of a Commonwealth agency paying a fine to the Commonwealth and has called for laws to be changed.

At the same camp two other boys with peanut allergies were also given meals containing peanuts, and in a separate incident six boys were lost in the bush for 18 hours.

The school had told parents not to provide food as they were using ADF meals, but asked to be alerted to any food allergies. Nathan's mother, Jessica Francis, wrote that her son had a severe allergy, stating: "PEANUTS -- but all nuts must be avoided."

However, a list of students with food allergies did not reach the staff member who issued the meals and Nathan was given beef satay. After a mouthful, the boy was helped by a fellow student to the camp's headquarters and he died on the way to hospital.

THE role of a Melbourne private school in the death of a teenage boy who had a fatal allergic reaction to peanuts while on an army cadet camp should be investigated by the Victorian Coroner, a judge said as he fined the army more than $200,000 for negligence...
Comcare, the federal work safety body, mounted a civil case against the Commonwealth for breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act over Nathan's death and the six lost boys.

The camp was run by Scotch College but the Chief of Army was responsible for safety, because army cadets are legally Commonwealth employees.

The army, which apologised to the Francis family, admitted Nathan's death was preventable and "exposed systemic faults".

Nathan's parents told the court they felt betrayed by the school, which had no peanut allergy policy and seemed "utterly ignorant".

The Scotch College principal, I. Tom Batty, said the school, which would continue to fully co-operate with the coroner, now had peanut allergy guidelines.

"Food allergies are something which are easily managed and avoidable and in these circumstances we would ask the Victorian Coroner to also consider the involvements of Scotch College," Mr Francis said.

"While the army has been fined, they're paying the fine from one part of the government to another part of the government, which in itself has given us no satisfaction."

Justice North was also unhappy with the outcome under the Act, which essentially means one federal government agency, the ADF, pays another, Comcare.

Comcare, the Commonwealth occupational health and safety authority, launched action in the Federal Court against the ADF last June.

Justice North recommended consideration be given to changing the law, which did not serve the purpose of deterring the wrongdoer in this case because the penalty was essentially paid to the perpetrator.