"One person was spoken to for wearing a keffiyeh"

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.