Page 3894 - Week 13 - Thursday, 17 October 1991
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This will also allow someone from an ethnic organisation or a women's group, for example, to lodge a complaint on behalf of a member of that group and will help considerably to defuse the tension and trauma often suffered by individuals bringing complaints of this nature. I believe that this will make the commissioner more accessible and approachable and will encourage people who believe that they have suffered discrimination to come forward with complaints.
The commissioner has a wide discretion to deal with complaints as he or she thinks fit, but is obliged to make a thorough investigation of each matter and to ensure that every party to the investigation is given a reasonable opportunity to present his or her case.
Within these constraints, the process is to be conducted with as little formality and technicality as possible. The commissioner has a range of methods available to conduct investigations and deal with complaints and is at liberty to choose the most appropriate method in each case. However, wherever possible, the Bill requires the commissioner to try to resolve a complaint by conciliation, that is, to reach a solution that is acceptable to all the parties. The experience in other jurisdictions is that by far the majority of complaints are settled in this way.
As part of the process of investigating a complaint, the commissioner has the power to require the parties to attend a compulsory conference. This conference is to be held in private and is to be conducted in such a manner as the commissioner thinks fit. The commissioner may also proceed to investigate a matter by way of a public hearing. The commissioner is free to choose which method is the most appropriate in a particular case or to adopt a combination of methods.
For example, during a public hearing the commissioner may decide that it is appropriate to deal with some part of the investigation in private and may call a compulsory conference to deal with those matters. The commissioner might also decide, for example, that a particular case is suitable for referral to the Conflict Resolution Service for mediation in the first instance.
Where conciliation is not possible or appropriate and after completing an investigation, the commissioner may give a variety of directions, including a direction to the respondent not to continue the unlawful conduct or to pay the complainant a specified amount of money by way of compensation for any loss or damage. Failure to comply with a direction of the commissioner will be a criminal offence.
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