“Tasmania’s anti-discrimination commissioner is refusing to hear a claim against her predecessor relating to the transgender rights debate, citing a potential perceived conflict of interest.
Two feminists campaigning against elements of transgender law reform, Isla MacGregor and Bronwyn Williams, late last year lodged a discrimination complaint against former anti-discrimination commissioner Robin Banks.
Their complaint relates to an email sent to members of a human rights group by Ms Banks — a prominent supporter of transgender law reform — in which she described the women’s views as “hateful” and cautioned against allowing them to speak at a public forum.
The two women, of Women Speak Tasmania, lodged a complaint with Ms Banks’s immediate successor, incumbent anti-discrimination commissioner Sarah Bolt, claiming Ms Banks had discriminated against them on the basis of political beliefs.
Ms Bolt has since written to both women advising that she has decided to delegate assessment of their complaint to the state ombudsman, Richard Connock, “in order to avoid perceptions of bias or conflict of interest”.
“As the current commissioner, I consider it inappropriate for me to be the decision-maker in relation to a complaint against a former commissioner,” she wrote on January 11.
She also noted that “All the current conciliation and investigation officers worked with Ms Banks”, further advising that “the ombudsman is independent of this office and as such the potential for either party to perceive or allege bias or conflict of interest in relation to the decision-making process is removed”.
However, the women fear that Mr Connock, whose office is stretched for resources and faces a long backlog of Right to Information appeals, will not be able to progress the case in a timely manner. “We are … very concerned our complaint will not be dealt within the same timeframe as complaints handling at Equal Opportunity Tasmania,” Ms MacGregor told The Australian.
“We are disappointed that the anti-discrimination commissioner does not perceive her office as capable of conducting an impartial investigation into a straightforward complaint such as we have submitted,” Ms MacGregor said.
Ms Bolt declined to comment “due to confidentiality obligations imposed by the Anti-Discrimination Act”.
Mr Connock was unavailable for comment, as was Ms Banks.
Ms Banks has previously declined to comment on the complaint but has defended her conduct, saying she was not seeking to deny WST a platform at the forum and was simply urging that other views be considered, too.
The event, in early December, was cancelled in the wake of the controversy.
WST opposes reforms currently before the Tasmanian parliament that would require parents to “opt in” to record the sex of their child on a birth certificate, and allow people to change their legal gender simply by statutory declaration.
Mrs Williams and Ms MacGregor argue that the changes could threaten the sanctity and safety of services for girls and women.
Source: The Australian