The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission marked Human Rights Week in December with the launch of a free online education program about the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities for local government staff.
The Commission said local councils are the closest tier of government to the community and they play a particularly important role in protecting and promoting the rights of the people they engage with and the communities they serve.
As public authorities, councils must – by law – act compatibly with the human rights set out in the Charter.
They must take those human rights into consideration when making decisions and designing programs and services, and when delivering these to the community.
Local councils have a number of roles in supporting human rights including as:
- planners
- community capacity builders
- service providers
- resource providers
- partners and brokers and
- advocates and supporters.
The Commission said making the Charter online education program a core part of training will help staff to continue building a workplace culture of human rights.
Its key objective is to introduce audiences to the Charter and provide local government staff with a baseline awareness of their obligations.
To find out more contact your People and Culture representative about undertaking the program or ask when the Charter online education program will be rolled out to your team. Or you can contact the Commission’s Education and Engagement team on education[@]veohrc.vic.gov.au or (03) 9032 3467.
