Labor has called on the government to reveal whether it plans to axe a commissioner from the Australian Human Rights Commission, after government advertising listed a reduced number of positions.
On Friday, the government advertised for full-time disability, aged and human rights commissioners. The ad states that the commission has a president and five commissioners – instead of the seven commissioners set out under the Human Rights Commission Act.
Throughout most of the current government’s term, there have been six commissioners, including the self-styled freedom commissioner, Tim Wilson – who resigned to pursue a political career in February – but the ad appears to suggest the number will be reduced further.
Labor’s shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said the advertisement raised more questions than it answered.
“Why does it only mention five commissioners rather than the statutory seven?” he asked.
“Does the government have plans to axe or merge positions and is not telling us? Will it provide the Human Rights Commission with adequate funding for these positions?”
No new money was allotted to the commission in the last federal budget.
“Time for the government to come clean after years of treating this respectable organisation as a political plaything,” Dreyfus said.
A spokesman for attorney general, George Brandis, told Guardian Australia thatdespite the call for expressions of interest in the positions – no decision had been made “regarding the division of roles between commissioners”.
“Appointments are expected to commence in July 2016 and will be determined in the context of this recruitment process and the current fiscal environment,” he said.
Wilson was appointed to the human rights commissioner position in February 2014, in what the former commissioner, Graeme Innes, described as a “political use” of the human rights commissioner role.
The aged and disability discrimination portfolios were amalgamated in July 2014, after Innes’s term as full-time disability commissioner ended.
Susan Ryan holds the amalgamated portfolio. Her term expires in July.
“My hope is that they fill the two portfolio positions with two separate people,” Innes told Guardian Australia.
Disability advocates have been pushing for the reinstatement of a full-time disability commissioner since Innes left.
President of people with disability, Craig Wallace, said disability discrimination complaints made up the bulk of complaints assessed by the commission.
There had been a backlog in resolving the complaints since losing Innes as a full-time commissioner, Wallace said.
“Not having a dedicated commissioner has made a difference in the time it’s taken to resolve issues,” he said.
