Victoria’s human rights commission has been forced to slash its budget by almost 20% as it braces for a surge in complaints triggered by new anti-vilification and bail laws.
Earlier this month, staff at the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) were told eight of the agency’s 52 positions – about 15% of the workforce – would be made redundant.
A presentation to staff dated 3 April showed the commission’s annual budget would also fall from $9.6m in 2024-25 to $7.6m in 2025-26, then to $7.2m in 2026-27.
It said even if its funding request for the 20 May state budget was successful, it was anticipating a string of deficits over the forward estimates.
“Our budget continues to decrease and our government efficiency requirements continue to expand,” the commission said according to a presentation seen by Guardian Australia.
“We’ve explored different options – but with a smaller budget, we need to become a smaller organisation that delivers core services to Victorians.”
The job cuts suggested in the presentation included the entire communications and education teams, comprising six filled roles and two vacant positions.
Guardian Australia understands the restructure, which is expected to come into effect on 2 June, is unrelated to the review of the Victorian Public Service commissioned by the treasurer, Jaclyn Symes.
In February, Symes and the premier, Jacinta Allan, announced they had appointed former Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary, Helen Silver, to cut about 3,000 positions from the public service, which employs 55,000 people.
The review is also expected to “consolidate” government departments and authorities, with Silver having written to several in recent weeks. Her interim recommendations are expected to be reflected in the budget, with staff at VEOHRC fearful further cuts could follow as a result.
Established in 1977, the VEOHRC has evolved into an important free dispute resolution service for discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation complaints.
It is also required under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 to undertake “programs to disseminate information and educate the public” about their rights.
A staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the restructure followed two earlier rounds of redundancies after Covid-19, as part of the Victorian government’s efforts to rein in spending on public sector wages, which left the commission “bare boned.”
“The first one was tough, the second one was tougher. Now, this restructure is much, much bigger than the previous two rounds of redundancies over the last three years – and they come at the absolute worst time,” the staffer said.
They said there was already a “huge backlog” of complaints, which were taking up to a year to reach conciliation stage.
They said new anti-vilification legislation was expected to increase reports, while the commission had previously warned the state’s revised bail laws “limit human rights” and “risk the over incarceration of marginalised communities for minor offending”.
“The bail laws, in particular, will increase our workload significantly,” they said.
The Victorian Greens’ justice spokesperson, Katherine Copsey, said the cuts appeared to be a breach of the legislation.
“VEOHRC have just had their responsibilities expanded to oversee Victoria’s new hate speech laws and these significant cuts raise serious questions [about] how they’re expected to resource this critical work,” she said.
Copsey said it would also hamper the independent body’s ability to hold the government to account on human rights problems.
In the presentation, VEOHRC said it would “cease certain activities”, “discontinue commission-funded education services” and prioritise “digital education”, as well as only undertake “fully funded consultancy projects and reviews”, to manage workload and save money.
The Community and Public Sector Union said it was providing support to affected staff, who have been offered to apply for other positions.
The union’s Victorian branch secretary, Karen Batt, described the cuts as “yet another short-term, counterproductive cut to a vital service at a time when the need for these specialist services will be in more demand”.
The Victorian government said the restructure was a matter for the VEOHRC but a spokesperson said they would ensure it “has what it needs to continue its important work”.
