Can someone other than the head of the human rights commission handle my complaint?

The situation

I am living in Melbourne, Victoria, and I am currently dealing with a very distressing situation at my workplace. About three months ago, in early January, my manager started making several derogatory comments regarding my ethnic background during our weekly team briefings. This has continued for twelve weeks now, and it has made the labour environment incredibly hostile. I have already tried speaking to our HR department twice—once on the 15th of February and again last Monday—but they have done absolutely nothing to address the behaviour or ensure my safety. I finally decided to lodge a formal complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission last week to get some proper assistance. However, when I called their office yesterday to check on the progress of my file, the person on the phone told me that the Commissioner is far too busy to deal with individual cases directly and that they might pass my paperwork to a different staff member or an external person to manage the investigation. I am quite confused by this. I thought only the main Commissioner had the authority to make decisions on these matters. Can they actually hand over their official responsibilities to a regular employee or some other person, or is that not allowed?

Detailed Analysis

In your situation, you are concerned because the person you spoke to at the Australian Human Rights Commission suggested that the Commissioner might pass your paperwork to a different staff member or an external person. Under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, this is a legally valid process known as delegation. Delegation is when a person in authority gives their legal power to someone else to act on their behalf.

Specifically, the law allows for this in two ways. First, the Commission itself can delegate its powers. The Act states that "The Commission may, by writing under its seal, delegate to a member of its staff, or to another person, all or any of the powers conferred on the Commission under this Act"^[1]. This means the organization as a whole can assign tasks to employees or outside parties.

Second, the Commissioner personally has the power to delegate. The law provides that "The Commissioner may, by writing signed by the Commissioner, delegate to a member of the staff of the Commission approved by the Commission, or to another person approved by the Commission, all or any of the powers exercisable by the Commissioner under this Act"^[1]. This confirms that the Commissioner does not have to personally handle every individual case and can legally authorize a staff member or an approved external person to manage your investigation into the derogatory comments made by your manager.

Because the law allows for these transfers of authority, the person you spoke to was providing accurate information regarding how the Commission operates. It is common for high-level officials to delegate the day-to-day management of files to ensure the workload is handled efficiently.

Please note that state, provincial, or local laws in Victoria may add further rules regarding workplace safety and discrimination.

Statutory Citations

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