The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is struggling to keep up with the number and complexity of complaints, its annual report shows.
In 2023-24, the Commission received 2708 complaints and finalised 2771 complaints. Only 72 per cent of the complaints were finalised within 12 months, lower than the 85 per cent target and lower than the 10 previous years.
“The unprecedented number of complaints received by the Commission over recent years is continuing to adversely impact on the Commission’s ability to deal with discrimination and human rights complaints effectively and efficiently,” the report said.
The Commission said it welcomed temporary funding in 2022 to help clear a backlog, but the volume of complaints, “combined with a challenging recruitment period, means the temporary funding has not translated into all the anticipated efficiency improvements”.
“While the party satisfaction rates the Commission reports on have all improved compared with results from the previous year, and nearly 150 more complaints were resolved through conciliation, a legacy caseload continues to put pressure on complaint handling timeframes,” it said.
An expected downturn in COVID-19-related complaints did not eventuate in the financial year, with 391 complaints received compared to 114 the year before.
“This increase, coupled with very high numbers of complaints received under the Disability Discrimination Act and the Sex Discrimination Act, has meant that an anticipated decrease in complaint handling timeframes has not materialised and this remains the biggest impediment to the ICS (Investigation and Conciliation Service) realising the goal of providing accessible and timely dispute resolution,” the report said.
AHRC President Hugh de Kretser said a lack of core funding posed other challenges including a reliance on external funding from private and philanthropic sectors, and education capacity having to be supplemented by fee-for-service funding.
Read the report here.
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