- everything is fine*
- Posts
- 'One person was spoken to for wearing a keffiyeh'
'One person was spoken to for wearing a keffiyeh'
Human Rights Commission staff claim anti-Palestinian bias
Alex McKinnon
May 28, 2024
Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) staff are claiming the Commission’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza has shown “anti-Palestinian bias”, alleging staff have been unofficially disciplined and monitored on social media for showing support for Palestinians at work.
Two staff members, who spoke out anonymously, are furious that Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay has been allowed to “flaunt her pro-Israel views” while lower-level employees are being spoken to “for the smallest signs of support for Palestine.”
“Staff members have been spoken to for the most innocuous things — people who’ve signed petitions calling for a ceasefire have been called into HR. One person was spoken to for wearing a keffiyeh,” says AHRC employee Jane*, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions.
Responding to questions, an AHRC representative said “the Commission has made multiple enquiries to determine whether anybody had faced adverse consequences for wearing the keffiyeh and has not been able to identify that any such incident occurred.”
Jane disputes that claim. “I personally know the colleague to whom it occurred,” she says.
At a Senate estimates hearing in February, Commission president Rosalind Croucher denied that any of the AHRC’s roughly 200 staff had been “sanctioned” or “disciplined” for expressing pro-Palestinian views, telling Estimates that “staff have been reminded about their need to behave within the constraints of the [Australian Public Service] code of conduct”.
Responding to questions, an AHRC spokesperson reiterated Croucher’s stance that “the AHRC has not disciplined or sanctioned any staff member” for expressing support for Palestinians, and that unofficial “reminders…[do] not amount to taking disciplinary action, nor the imposition of a sanction.”
Jane, however, says otherwise.
“Even informal ‘chats’, of which there are a lot, often involve notes being taken by HR,” she says. “Since there is very little transparency around these processes, we as employees have no idea whether or not these ‘unofficial’ chats have led to ‘official’ records.”
Anya, who also did not wish to be named for fear of professional repercussions, concurs, citing an example of a staff member who had been "called up about posts on Twitter and LinkedIn".
"We know we're being monitored on our social media."
Finlay, who was appointed by the Morrison government in 2021, has made no secret of her pro-Zionist sympathies. In March she wrote an opinion piece for The Nightly citing the pro-Palestinian protest at the Sydney Opera House in October and the January “doxxing” of more than 600 Australian Zionists in a private Whatsapp group discussing how to censure pro-Palestinian artists and creatives as examples of “the calculated and co-ordinated way that anti-Semitism is currently presenting in Australia”.
Staff also mentioned Finlay’s recent attendance of a screening of Screams Before Silence, a documentary that repeats discredited Israeli government claims that Hamas fighters committed mass rape and sexual assault on October 7. Finlay also took part in a panel discussion afterward.
“It’s awful to see a commissioner be so blatantly disconnected from social politics and be so biased — seemingly with intent — to a specific group of people,” says Anya*. “There’s no way you can be in the position you’re in, with the intellect and the degrees you claim to have, and not understand what your actions will do.”
Staff claim they were told AHRC leadership have no influence over Finlay or other commissioners expressing public views.
However, a Freedom of Information request filed by a member of the public in March revealed that Finlay solicited feedback of her Nightly opinion piece from Croucher, newly appointed Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman, and Human Rights Team director Joanna Maxwell. The FoI also reveals Croucher provided written notes and instructed Finlay to “loop in” other senior AHRC figures, although the substance of the advice Croucher and others gave Finlay was redacted.
“We know that the Commissioner is independent and not bound by the APS Code of Conduct, but watching her proudly display her bias without facing any consequences is an affront to staff who are working in an environment where they’re scared to say the word ‘Palestine’,” Jane says.
“Commissioners can use their discretion to seek input and feedback from senior leadership,” an AHRC representative said in response to questions. “Commissioners always have the right to express their own informed opinion as they see fit. They cannot be compelled by the Commission to adopt a particular view.”
AHRC staff dissatisfaction extends to how the wider Commission leadership has responded to the war on Gaza since October 7, both in public and internally.
Staff claim the first communication they received from AHRC leadership about the war on Gaza was an all-staff email from Croucher on November 17, in which she downplayed the Commission’s ability to discuss the topic publicly.
“Because our statutory mandate is defending human rights in Australia, this means we are constrained in what we can say and do in respect of human rights in another country,” Croucher said in the email. “We cannot overstep our mandate to advocate for particular foreign policy outcomes.”
Anya says that claim left staff who had expressed support for Palestinians furious and bewildered.
“There are a lot of Australian Palestinians in Gaza — it’s within our rights as an institution to speak on this topic,” she says.
Jane claims AHRC leadership responded very differently when Finlay expressed her opposition to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament, compared to their “silence” now.
“When [Finlay’s] said or done things on other issues unrelated to Palestine, management and the President and the Chief Executive have raised it with staff and checked in on staff’s wellbeing. They held a ‘town hall’-style meeting where people could raise concerns,” Jane says. “But [Finlay’s statements] on this particular issue have gone by without any mention whatsoever. …All of this has created a really hostile environment where people feel they can’t raise or address issues related to Palestine.”
Rising staff anger culminated in an open letter sent to Commission leadership in January, in which 24 staff members expressed their concern at “the Commission’s failure to fulfil its mandate … in regards to Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Staff claim leadership’s response to that letter has been dismissive.
“Their attitude has been: ‘Why did you embarrass us? Why did you expose us to the public like this?’’’ says Anya.
“How can we possibly claim to uphold human rights for everyone when our commissioner’s acting with such open bias? It’s dragging our name through the mud,” Jane says. “We have portions of the community that no longer trust us.”
Reply