Thursday, 23 March 2023

Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (16:18): (145) Today I would like to raise the reported issue of cutbacks to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission with the Attorney-General, and I ask her to ensure that this cutback is reviewed and to restore or increase the funding allocation to guarantee that no frontline services provided by the commission are cut back. Last week the Age reported that due to budget cuts staff at the commission were informed of a restructure due to a ‘significantly smaller budget for the foreseeable future.’ The Age also quoted from a leaked email from the human rights commissioner to staff that said:

I want to be clear that I am not expecting that we continue to deliver the same volume of work with fewer team members. We will be doing less with less funding – not doing the same. And I will be working closely with the [justice] department to make sure they understand these implications too.

The article also reports that staff were shown a presentation saying cutbacks would affect the availability of phone services that assist people making complaints relating to rights of women, Indigenous Victorians, LGBTIQA+ persons and those with an experience of disability in the workplace. Education workshops are also on the chopping block. To read this article last week on National Close the Gap Day was particularly disheartening.

To see vital services that protect vulnerable Victorians being cut is so disappointing. To see a move to effect cuts to the commission, given the appalling events on the steps of this Parliament last weekend and the echoes of those abhorrent views that have reverberated in this very chamber, is unacceptable. It is particularly galling considering the other funding that the government chooses to prioritise. For instance, as I mentioned today, this government has spent over $80 million in just the last year funding the grand prix. Budgets are a question of priorities, and it is clear that this government does not yet place enough value on the work of the commission that protects the rights of us all.

The government’s track record is patchy on human rights. From the targeted and restrictive treatment of people in public housing towers during the lockdowns to criminalising peaceful protest, this government has shown an indication that sometimes human rights are negotiable or nice to have. I think we can do better. I want to see this government ensure that bodies like the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission are fully funded, and now that this matter has been brought to the public’s attention, I hope that we can resource this important commission to serve our most vulnerable Victorians.