FROM THE COMMISSIONER’S DESK ...

There’s no doubt about it - the first nine months of the new Commission has been sheer hard work. It was established amidst a storm of controversy with the termination of the co-operative agreement between the Commonwealth and the State Government culminating in the Commonwealth closing all offices of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and withdrawing services from Queensland.

At the time, I don't think anyone really believed the impasse would not be resolved without a co-operative arrangement in some form. Reality hit home - that Queensland would have to "go it alone" with less than a month to set up its own show. Upon reflection I can only conclude that we weathered the storm because of a handful of dedicated staff working around the clock to set up the new Commission and an equally dedicated crew of former HREOC staff working around the clock to ensure the transfer of complaints was completed as professionally and smoothly as possible.

I extend my personal thanks, on behalf of all Queenslanders who can only benefit from the continued presence of a Human Rights watchdog, to everyone involved in the transfer. I particularly want to thank the former HREOC staff, many of whom work at the new Commission, for putting the interests of the organisation and parties to complaints above their own interests and transferring the files in a timely and coordinated way despite the fact that their own state of employment was uncertain. I also want to thank staff of the Dispute Resolution Centre in Cairns and Townsville who kindly shared their premises and offered a helping hand to receive complaints in the interim while more long term arrangements could be developed.

The good news is we did it! Despite all the odds and speculation, we pulled together and steered the ship through turbulence to calm sailing. The Queensland government, to its credit, was serious enough to dig deep and deliver where it counts with $2.5 million for the organisation. In fact, the healthy budget allowed us to better the previous Commonwealth outfit by setting up an additional regional office in Townsville on top of the regional presence in Cairns and Rockhampton.

Our complaint team worked hard and fast to ensure there was no blow out of a backlog of complaints.

We have exceeded our projected goal on this front too! Of the 760 complaints we inherited, some 100 of which were official backlog cases (pre-1995 lodgement), at the end of the financial year our caseload stood at 583 with only 17 backlog cases remaining - and this record was in spite of the fact that on average around 100 new cases per month continued to roll in! The successes in complaint management were equally matched in community relations and training. Since December, the Commission has held forums with many key stakeholders under the Act. Important links and networks have been established between the target respondent representatives as well. This saw the Commission develop strong links with peak Government agencies as well as productive protocols with business and industry. Important liaison and information channels were fostered with our inter-state Commission colleagues.

A new newsletter is part of this development. Many people will be familiar with the publication `Under One Sun', produced jointly by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the former Queensland Anti-Discrimination Com-mission. The content of `Balancing the Act' may also be familiar in parts, although the focus will be State-based, rather than national.

So, welcome to `Balancing the Act', the newsletter published by the Anti-Discrimination Commission, Queensland.

On all fronts, we have succeeded. I am sure that our achievement so far will be matched in the full year ahead. To our clients - I hope you continue to be impressed and comfortable with the new look Commission. To my staff a big thank you for a champion effort. I have every confidence the organisation will continue to go from strength to strength.

Karen Walters

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