“A reduction, rather an increase, in the number of complaints from Canberrans would indicate an improvement in respect for each other across the community. In my mind, this would be a genuine step forward,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE.

DO we have more problems than ever before, or are we just becoming a mob of whingers? 

According to the annual report of the Human Rights Commission there were more complaints received by the ACT Human Rights Commission than in any previous year.

Noting “another year of consistently high complaints”, Acting Human Rights Commissioner Heidi Yates put her best foot forward, suggesting that the complaints are linked “to a growing awareness about using the Commission’s complaints process to resolve concerns and issues”.

The annual report identified “more complaints from older people, including complaints about retirement villages” as well as “complaints about the poor treatment or neglect of vulnerable Canberrans”. These complaints increased from just two in the two months of the year of commencement (in May 2020) to forty three in this report.

The Human Rights Commission’s role has expanded over the years to include cultural rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as well as vulnerable people being subjected to or at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation. Additionally, a charter of rights for victims of crimes has been included in the role of the Human Rights Commission.

Last year, the Commission also became responsible for ensuring there would be a regulatory framework relating to public health risks of covid when no longer a public health emergency. 

Within this context, “the Human Rights Commissioner must be consulted about Ministerial and Chief Health Officer directions, vaccination directions and exemption guidelines in relation to whether they are consistent with human rights”.

Human rights have been on the agenda of the ACT Assembly from the early days. Towards the end of the first Assembly, the Human Rights Office was established, and an ACT Discrimination Commissioner was appointed. The Discrimination Act outlawed discrimination against a person based on their race, religion, sex, sexuality or marital status.

However, it was Jon Stanhope who set out to establish the Human Rights Act in his first term as Chief Minister in the early part of this century. He worked hard through a long process of consultation to establish the legislation. When the law came into force in 2004, the ACT was the first jurisdiction in Australia to enact a comprehensive Human Rights Act.

It is now being used vigorously by many Canberrans to air their complaints. Perhaps the covid era provided time to consider how rights had been trampled!

Regarding victims of crime, the Commission’s annual report pointed to an 86 per cent increase in victims of crime applying for financial assistance, the largest annual increase since this financial assistance scheme began seven years ago.

When people understand and reflect more and more about their rights, there is more work for the Human Rights Commission. The annual report demonstrated that the “human rights legal team provided 113 pieces of legal advice or submissions; human rights training for more than 200 people; and intervened in three Supreme Court cases”.

In addition to legal support there was significant input into assisting Canberrans to resolve a range of concerns. And although people may have been whinging about how they have been handled, 85 per cent of people surveyed about the Commission’s complaints process said it was a fair and accessible service. I do wonder about the other 15 per cent!

There have been more and more complaints arriving on the doorstep of the Commission across the broad services for which it is responsible. This generates mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is great that there is a way of dealing with such complaints. On the other hand, are Canberrans just becoming less tolerant, less able to cop something on the chin and less able to resolve their own issues and problems?

The Human Rights Commission has a vision of “an inclusive community that respects and realises human rights and ensures access to justice for everyone”. The key word, in my mind, is “respect”.

A reduction, rather an increase, in the number of complaints from Canberrans would indicate an improvement in respect for each other across the community. In my mind, this would be a genuine step forward.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.