The most significant changes to Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act since its introduction more than 30 years ago come into effect this year.
And Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) Deputy Commissioner Jane Vasey is part of the team at the forefront of 1 July changes which will modernise the state’s discrimination laws.
Establishing and leading the QHRC’s new Public Policy and Prevention Directorate, Deputy Commissioner Vasey joined the office in September last year and has been involved in extensive consultation.
She is excited about the changes which shift the focus to prevention through the introduction of a positive duty.
“Human rights are an understanding that everybody, no matter what their circumstances, or where they’re born, is deserving of respect and dignity,” Jane said.
“And the Human Rights Act here in Queensland represents the embodiment of those principles into our state jurisdiction. And I think it’s important to reflect that the Human Rights Act came about through a grassroots campaign and has only recently been enacted into our legislation in 2019.
“And that’s a reflection that rights are about people and communities, and that’s where our laws came from. So the law now seeks to ensure that all public entities are responsible to ensure that people’s rights and protections are protected. And that includes at the introduction of laws into parliament, that human rights are considered.
“And so this, I think is a fundamental part of our laws here in Queensland to ensure that everybody is equal and everybody’s rights are protected and respected.”
The amendments to the Act will mean a slight change of focus for the Commission.
“We were just reflecting on the fact that … the commission has previously sort of enforced the Act through the resolution of complaints that people make to the commission. But we know that there’s a whole range of really important reasons why people can’t or won’t make a complaint. And that might be the people who are experiencing the most serious or systemic or layered forms of discrimination, or having their human rights breached,” she said.
“So, it takes a lot of resources to make a complaint and to sustain that complaint over time. So if the Commission is only enforcing the Act through complaints that are made to our organisation, there’s a whole lot of areas and gaps that we’re missing. So we’re now looking to take a more strategic approach.
“And with the new jurisdiction that the Commission will have under the amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act, we’ll be able to take a more proactive approach to working with organisations to stop discrimination, sexual harassment before it occurs and to make sure human rights are being actively protected before they’re breached. So this does mark a change for the Commission in the way that we’re working and how we organise ourselves.
“And it means that we’re going to be able to take a more systems-focused approach to ensuring that the work we’re doing has maximum impact.”
The Deputy Commissioner also took time out to talk with Proctor about a working day at the QHRC.
Could you give me a brief summary of a typical day on the job?
“Our days are usually pretty busy. And, thinking about this question, I was reflecting on the role, having a mix of both an internal and an external focus. So our day or my day is often consumed by a lot of meetings. Lots and lots of meetings.
“And some of those are with external stakeholders. For example, we might be working with a particular duty holder on, assisting them to review their workplace equality. And in that type of a project, they’ll be quite, busy consultation period, where we’re meeting with some of the leaders of the organisation and consulting with people who are affected by experiences of discrimination or have their human rights breached.
“So lots of consultation in that way. And another big part of my day, has an internal focus, and that’s working with our team here at the Commission in the public policy and prevention space. To really organise ourselves to make sure that we can have the greatest social impact in the work that we do.
“So a lot of collaboration, a lot of reflection and a lot of strategy work that we do internally with that team.”
What regular challenges are you faced with in the work day?
“I think one of the, key things that came to mind was the competing priorities, that we have for the commission. So our work is really broad. The Anti-Discrimination Act is a key piece of social infrastructure, inequality laws in Queensland. And so is the Human Rights Act. And the application is very broad.
“So they apply across a wide range of areas of our community. And that means that we have, a lot of stakeholders and it also means, that our work applies in so many environments that we need to be really selective with the work that we do, to make sure that it’s focused on achieving, as I say, the maximum social impact.
“So we need to be purposeful with what work we take on. There’s lots of projects the commission could do and lots of places that we could be. And we need to really manage those competing priorities, so that we are linking to our strategic aims, making sure that we are continually reviewing the needs, and the risk assessment of where the work has a great application, and focusing our work in that way.”
What are some common misconceptions about your job?
“I think one of the things that people think of when they think of the Human Rights Commission is the work we do in a public space, whether that be on issues of public importance through submissions to parliamentary inquiries. And I think they also think of us as being a place where people can have their complaints resolved.
“But what is lesser known about our work is the work that we’re doing collaboratively across a whole range of other ways that might not have such a public visibility. So that can include, throughout education and capacity building teams, where we’re working collaboratively with organisations to uplift the understanding of a human rights culture in their organisations and workplaces, and also the steps that they can take to prevent discrimination before it occurs.
“And also, I guess some of that more collaborative work that we’ve been doing with duty holders, we are working towards, implementing some significant amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act that are coming to effect on the first of July this year. And one of those big reforms, is to, place a legal obligation on organisations to take steps to prevent discrimination before it occurs.
“And so some of the work we’re doing at the moment is to organise ourselves internally to be able to provide guidance to organisations about how they can take those steps, and what they should be doing to implement the new laws. So that includes a lot of consultation with organisations that might be an area that people are less aware of, in the work that we do.”
If you had an extra hour in the work day, what would you do with it?
“I love this question. Because so many different things came today and I thought, ‘well, couldn’t I have an extra two or three hours?’. But I think, for me, the thing I would do with an extra hour in my day, is to allocate time for unstructured reflection. I think reflection is a really key thing to ensure that you’re working critically, you’re self reflective, you’re understanding your reactions to the people you work with, the issues that you’re working on, and that you’re able to have time to reflect on and metabolise the experiences that you’re having through your work.
“So we do in our team, really, great teamwork that is structured reflection, including supervision with the psychologist who works with us and allows us time and space to think about the work we’re doing, how I’m personally involved or reacting to it, and the impact that it’s having.
“But I think unstructured reflection time is certainly something that I value, whether that be reading through materials that are around a topic rather than just the quite a lot of reading that we need to do for our work every day, or even having time, on a personal level, to walk through my garden, to go into nature and to have that time just to reflect on the work that you’re doing and allow yourself to integrate your experiences.
“And I did want to share with you, a really poignant sort of point in my career. I had the great privilege of working with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and I’ll never forget a workshop that we had, with Doctor Rob Gordon, who is a clinical psychologist that works with large organisations where they’re experiencing vicarious trauma.
“And he was talking about the concept of digestion and rest and reflection in protecting against vicarious trauma when you’re doing difficult work. And he gave this analogy where he was talking about it being similar to food. If you eat your food really quickly and you’re not chewing it on the way down, you can get indigestion and the same can be true for lawyers here who are working with clients who might be facing really challenging issues, or who might be, experiencing, vicarious trauma, to make sure that you have the time to reflect and to metabolise what it is that you’re learning about in your work and how you’re interacting with that, to make sure that you can continue to keep yourself well in your work, and also to have a positive impact on the people you’re working with.”
What’s the best part of your work day?
“Well, I love my job and I feel incredibly privileged to work here at the Commission. There’s so many. So there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel glad to come to work and lucky to do the work that we do.
“Some of the best part of my job is when we do deeper consultation with people who have experienced discrimination, sexual harassment or breaches of their human rights and who are prepared to come and talk with us about those experiences so that we can learn from them.
“And we can look to develop recommendations that might respond to some of those issues. And sitting in those meetings where you’re hearing directly from somebody who has experienced discrimination or sexual harassment is incredibly … it’s a conversation often where you reflect on the resilience of people. And I think it’s a great privilege to listen and hear about their experiences with people who are willing to come forward and share them with us, often for the primary focus of improving things.
“So that doesn’t happen for other people in the future. So that, to me, is one of the things that I enjoy most about the work. Having the opportunity to sit with people and learn from their experiences. And another thing I really love about my job is the work that we do with our team. We have a great team, and I learn a lot from the colleagues around me.
“And I feel, again, that that’s something I really enjoy doing. We have different ways of doing meeting. We work near the beautiful botanical gardens, and sometimes we’ll do walking meetings through the gardens and really help support each other in the work that we do. So that’s another thing I love about my job.”
If you could go back and give some advice to yourself on your first day on the job, what would it be?
“I think the key thing that I would talk with myself about is the fact that the law can be a journey and it’s okay to explore the areas that might be lesser known. So my personal background was I started my working life as a criminal defence lawyer in Victoria, and I worked in community legal centres, as a practising lawyer.
“And at the same time, I always felt like the adversarial elements of the law didn’t necessarily resonate with what I wanted to do as a professional, and for my own personal self as well. So I was fortunate to be able to go into working on public inquiries that have a inquisitorial framework rather than an adversarial framework.
“And that journey was not one for me at the time but something that I have since absolutely expanded into and have really enjoyed the work that I do that’s led me to where I am now. And it’s always been working in an organisation that is values based and that has a social justice impact.
“So I think I would really encourage my earlier self and anyone else starting out in their job to keep finding the work that aligns with your values, where your personal and professional values can align and keep looking for workplaces that are going to give you the workplace culture that you need to bring your authentic self to work … that allows you to feel safe at work, and to feel valued as well, so that you can optimise the contribution that you can make through your career.”
Share this article