or complaints to public authorities, or through
more formal grievance mechanisms, reviews
instigated by members of the public are critical
to ensuring that the human rights of all Victorians
are protected.
negotiations with administrative decision makers
and service providers to promote better decision-
making. In court matters, VLA's experience has
been that the Charter is particularly important
regarding infringements, occupational regulation
(for example, in relation to the Working With
Children Act) and residential tenancy matters.
The Charter has also been used in matters
regarding conditions in custody, such as access
to legal representation and supports for young
or vulnerable people. How the Charter is raised
in court proceedings is discussed further in
Chapter 3.
providers to take into account the human rights
of all persons and to consider how to resolve
situations where there appear to be competing
rights. For example, the Disability Services
Commissioner reports that the Charter has
been used to consider how best to respond to
complaints about the behaviour of individuals
who live in group homes. A decision to remove
a person from their home can have a profound
impact on that individual and their rights under the
Charter. However, the behaviour of an individual
can also impact on how other residents enjoy their
rights, including their rights to privacy, to family life
and to freedom of movement. Using the Charter, it
is possible to consider how a decision might affect
all residents and to consider if any limitations on
rights are justified.
decision-makers within public authorities to
ensure that their actions are appropriate to
the circumstances of the individual and that
they take the option which least restricts the
individual's human rights.
assess how effectively they provide services
to the community. Feedback and complaints
mechanisms are crucial methods for monitoring
and evaluating the effectiveness of a service.
Public authorities also use data collection, user
surveys, forums and client interviews to evaluate
their services. Human rights standards should
form part of the monitoring and evaluation of
to assess their compliance with the Charter.
recommended that "public authorities that
do not have internal complaints procedures
relating to human rights be supported through
the development and distribution of templates
for incorporating such procedures into existing
complaints processes".
government departments and local councils
include human rights considerations in their
complaint handling policies. However, only
a few government departments report using
specific procedures for responding to human
rights complaints. For example, the Department
of Sustainability and Environment provides a
separate human rights complaint form and these
complaints are referred to the Department's
human rights and equal opportunity officer.
procedures for handling complaints have been
developed in compliance with the Charter. Any
complaints that may raise a human rights issue
are directed to a specific person within the
department for review and response. However,
this process relies on staff being appropriately
trained to recognise and respond to human rights
issues. The decision on how best to respond to
complaints may also be determined by resource
and capacity constraints.
some government departments and public
authorities to improve how they respond to public
complaints, including how human rights issues
are identified and addressed.
recorded in public complaint forms and feedback
forms, government departments reported to
the Commission that it is rare for an individual
raising concerns to express their complaint in
human rights terms. For example, a person may
complain that their privacy has been breached,
without referring to the Charter.
receives may reveal human rights breaches,
even when these are not directly identified by
complainants. In recognition of the importance of
human rights considerations in the professional
standards of policing, particularly in the
Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (2011),
Recommendation 5.