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Human Rights Training and Communication

The Department of Justice has responsibility for coordinating training for public authorities and has run a number of different training programs aimed at a range of audiences across the public sector. Training needs were identified through consultation with departments and training experts.

Community education is conducted by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and further information is available on their website.

Legal and legislative policy officer training

Following enactment of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006(the Charter Act), the most urgent identified training need was to prepare the public sector for implementation of the Charter Act requirements in relation to the development of legislative and policy proposals.

The Department of Justice has trained more than 1,300 government legal staff through the Legal and Legislative Policy Officer Training. This one-day course is designed to give participants an understanding of the Charter Act and equip them to comply with its requirements.

The course provides an orientation to the Charter Act, covers impacts and obligations, compliance strategies and tools, challenges of implementation and identifies the way forward.

Other training

The Judicial College of Victoria provides specialised training for the judiciary. Further information about the program is available on the Judicial College website.

Communication materials for public authorities

The Department of Justice has developed a range of communications materials to raise awareness of the Charter across public authorities. These are available on the 'Human Rights Charter Act - Resources for Public Authorities Page' and include:

• 'Think Charter' brochure (employee guide) - a short brochure about the Charter Act intended for distribution to staff as an educative and promotional tool.
• Charter Act chatterbox – an activity with basic information about the Charter Act intended as a promotional and reference tool.
• Charter Act FAQs – this document is intended for uploading onto departmental intranets - it answers a number of the common questions about the Charter Act.