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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 4240 ..
2Unfortunately, it has not been possible, to date, to come to an
equitable agreement on this matter. The main stumbling block is the significant
reduction in the proposed Commonwealth contribution towards the cost of the
office. The ACT developed a model for a modest office to be funded by the ACT
and the Commonwealth on a co-operative basis. The ACT sought a contribution of
37.5 per cent of the total cost of the office from the Commonwealth. The
percentage of Commonwealth complaints received by the Human Rights Office last
year was just under 39 per cent. The Territory believed that the proposed
office represented a viable and affordable option, provided the Commonwealth
was prepared to meet its share of the funding. However, the Commonwealth
offered to fund only 27.5 per cent of the cost of the office. The practical
impact of the Commonwealth's position is that the Territory would be required
to pay 20% more for its human rights administration, than we pay under our
current arrangement. At the same time, the Commonwealth would take the benefit
of a more than 30% reduction in its ACT costs. This is totally unacceptable and
untenable, and has meant that Government has had no choice but to consider
alternatives to a co-operative arrangement, much as we have on the question of
Legal Aid, faced with a not dissimilar reduction in Commonwealth
contribution.
While I am disappointed that it has not been possible to come to a mutually
satisfactory arrangement with the Commonwealth on this matter, I am pleased to
inform the Assembly that an ACT Human Rights Office will be established by the
ACT Government to deal with complaints made under ACT legislation.
The establishment of such an office will provide the Government with the
opportunity to put in place more efficient processes for the handling of
complaints and better reporting arrangements to monitor the performance of
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