Victoria’s justice department workers will be offered training on white privilege, as the state presses ahead with plans to negotiate a landmark treaty with Indigenous people.
Department of Justice and Community Safety staff will participate in a mandatory cultural awareness course that includes a white privilege module.
The term white privilege refers to the advantages granted to white people by systemic forms of racial injustice.
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan defended the module, saying it was voluntary.
“It’s a bit harsh to mention this module, a training programme, which is optional for those workers,” Ms Allan told reporters at state parliament on Tuesday.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with efforts to make workplaces safe and respectful for everyone.”
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says her government is fully committed to implementing a Treaty in the state.
The AAP has been told that the taxpayer-funded training will not be implemented in other state agencies or departments.
How agencies ‘grade’ workplace training is a matter for them, Ms Allan said.
Juvenile Justice and Corrections Minister Enver Erdogan also endorsed the training module, but admitted that a name change might have been prudent.
“The name probably could have been changed,” he said.
“People have different perspectives on life and different backgrounds and I think it’s important to understand that in a multicultural society.”
Opposition justice spokesman Brad Battin said it was a failure of good governance for Labor to support race-based training.
“Victorians don’t pay taxes to cover Labour’s agenda,” he told AAP.
Negotiations on Australia’s first treaty with Aboriginal people were due to begin between the Victorian government and the First Peoples’ Assembly in November.
The opposition withdrew its support for the treaty in January following the failure of a national referendum in federal parliament, citing concerns over cultural heritage laws.