BY JENNY LONG
SYDNEY — NSW Anti-Discrimination Board (ADB) workers have responded furiously to vicious cuts to be imposed on the ADB by the Premier Bob Carr's Labor government.
The government's plans for massive funding cuts to the ADB became publicly known in mid July after budget cuts, not included in the June 24 state budget, were revealed. This year's budget for the ADB has been reduced by over $750,000 — 23% — and a further 30% cut is expected next year.
The Public Service Association (PSA), which is the union representing the public servants working for the ADB, organised a strike by ADB employees on August 1 — the 25th anniversary of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act. "Is it a birthday or is it a funeral?", asked the PSA industrial officer Stephen Spencer.
The union views the cuts as an attack on human rights in NSW. Among the parts of the ADB to go are the policy and legal branches — those which prepare advice to the government on law reform.
The community education branch of the ADB will also be undermined by the funding cuts, with a reduction in the size of the community education team. The community education team is responsible for outreach and maintaining links with various community groups. The team has taken a partnership approach in the last few years to address the needs of older people, who may suffer age discrimination; lesbians and gay men with new rights under property relationships legislation; schools seeking to combat homophobia; organisations helping people with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C to access legal help against discrimination; and people with intellectual disabilities.
Supporters of the ADB service argue that community education works to prevent discrimination, and more people — the least powerful who are least likely to know their rights or complain — are now likely to put up with discrimination. It is also expected that more formal complaints, not dealt with earlier, will result, stretching resources at the ADB.
According to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, writing on behalf of practitioners and organisations representing individuals and groups who fall within the jurisdiction of the Anti-Discrimination Act, delays in the processing of complaints within the ADB's current resources, are already a serious concern and the budget cuts will infringe human rights by placing further strain on the already-stretched operations of the ADB.
After the funding cut plans were revealed, the government announced a community consultation period, which resulted in only minor changes to the job cuts proposed.
There are suspicions that the cuts to the ADB are motivated by political revenge, after the Carr government was embarrassed by the ADB's activities.
In March, the ADB released a report, Race for the Headlines: Racism and Media Discourse, which found that since September 11, 2001, major newspapers and radio stations in Sydney have scapegoated ethnic minorities for crime, unemployment and other social problems and attempted to link Muslim immigrants with terrorism.
After the report was denounced by the Murdoch-owned Daily Telegraph, Carr told the NSW parliament on May 1 that the ADB's report was "pernicious", "ignorant", "inflammatory" and "tendentious, ideological claptrap". He claimed the ABD report was driven by a "deep contempt for Australians and Australian society" and an attempt to "generate a climate of guilt and paranoia on issues of race".
The next day, Chris Puplick resigned as ADB president, declaring that the organisation could not be "an effective advocate for human rights" without the government's support.
From Green Left Weekly, August 27, 2003.
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