New allegations surface in Emma Dunch dismissal saga

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The former CEO of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Emma Dunch, alleges she was fired after she began investigating claims of sexual assault and harassment against male musicians in the orchestra.

Dunch was terminated from her role late last year, two years before her contract was due to end, after reports emerged of serious concerns with her leadership, in particular the relationship between the SSO and major funding bodies Create NSW and the Australia Council – accusations Dunch rejected at the time, declaring she was the victim of “a politically architected ‘hit job’”.

Emma Dunch. Photo © Anthony Geernaert.

Now, short documents obtained by The Australian, reveal that Dunch claims she was fired after initiating a review into allegations of sexual assault and harassment. The review by Elizabeth Broderick, the former Commonwealth Sex Discrimination commissioner, allegedly detailed “systemic sexual harassment, bullying, racism and behavioral issues … dating back more than two decades, as attested to by approximately 60 interviewees”.

Dunch alleges that her termination was directly related to her initiating this review, and because she fired a performer accused of sexual assault, after a female musician made the allegation in May 2021.

In the court documents Dunch further claims that throughout June and July last year, six current and former employees came to her alleging other instances of sexual harassment or sexual assault, leading her to commission Broderick to undertake her review of the orchestra’s culture, and a preliminary report was presented to the SSO board in October detailing the history of issues.

While all this was occurring, Dunch was herself the subject of two separate reviews. The first, led by lawyer Gabrielle Trainor, was commissioned in December 2019 by Create NSW and the Australia Council for the Arts, which detailed concerns about Dunch’s leadership, saying: “The new CEO has been seen (rightly or wrongly) by some key influencers on the SSO’s future to have behaved in a manner which has not promoted understanding, collaboration and mutual respect. The consequent erosion of trust and goodwill poses serious and ongoing risk for the SSO.”

Trainor made 19 recommendations. In April 2021, Tim Walker, the former Chief Executive of the London Philharmonic was asked to undertake a second review, studying the implementation of Trainor’s recommendations.

Adding to the intrigue and subterfuge surrounding this whole situation, Dunch claims that she was contacted by the ABC’s Leigh Sales in October 2021, seeking Dunch’s comments on the sexual assault allegations and on Broderick’s review. Dunch further claims that three days after this initial approach, Sales contacted her again in regards to Tim Walker’s report, which Dunch claims was “strictly confidential and illegally disclosed to Ms Sales”.

These new allegations raise serious questions not just for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, but for Create NSW and the Australia Council as major stakeholders in the orchestra. According to their own financial documents, the SSO received $25 million in government funding in the COVID-affected calendar year to 31 December 2020, and $15 million in the last non-COVID year of 2019.

Presumably, if it were established that the SSO had presided over a culture of “systemic sexual harassment, bullying, racism and behavioral issues … dating back more than two decades”, government funding bodies would seek to ensure that those issues were being addressed as a prerequisite to further funding, especially on such a significant scale.

It also remains to be seen whether Create NSW and the Australia Council had any knowledge of these allegations prior to today’s reports, and whether these funding bodies remain confident in the decisions made by the orchestra’s board in recent months in regards to Dunch’s termination and also their handling of these allegations.

For their part, the SSO would not be drawn on whether there was an active investigation into these allegations of sexual assault and sexual harrassment, nor whether there were processes in place to handle such allegations if they were to be made. The orchestra would also not comment on how Leigh Sales had received confidential reports, nor whether there were any plans to examine the board’s decision-making processes through this period.

In a statement issued to Limelight on Friday afternoon, a Sydney Symphony Orchestra spokesperson said:

“The Sydney Symphony rejects the assertions made by Ms. Dunch and recently published in the media. We will be vigorously defending the Orchestra against those claims at court. As the claim is now before the court, we are unable to make further comment.”

The Australia Council declined to comment.

Create NSW did not respond to questions before publication. We will update this story when they do.

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