29 September 2023
81 – 83 Campbell Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Dear Professor Croucher,
I am writing on behalf of LGB Alliance Australia. LGB Alliance Australia is Australia’s largest organisation advocating solely for the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals. Our vision is that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals live free from discrimination or disadvantage based on their sexual orientation. Many of us have spent decades campaigning for equality for people with a same-sex sexual orientation.
We wish to object in the strongest possible terms to the communication received yesterday (see below) by many members of our community who made personal submissions to the Australian Human Rights Commission in relation to the Lesbian Action Group's application for a temporary exemption. This communication told individuals who had made personal submissions 'The Commission wishes to consult with you on the potential release of your submission which includes your personal information.'
The tone and content of the email has caused considerable anxiety, fear and distress amongst LGB community members who received your correspondence. Many LGB people, especially older people, have lived experience of being 'outed', being publicly shamed for their sexuality, and being treated in unjust and highly intimidating ways by public authorities.
Many of our members interpreted your email as potentially outing their personal information, including their identifying details and the personal narratives included in their submissions, as well as their written support of the Lesbian Action Group's application. Such information, in the wrong hands, is highly likely to expose them to personal attacks, doxing and potential violence. Some of our members are so concerned by your email that they have considered seeking legal advice.
The email communication from the Commission showed a lack of cultural awareness about the lived experience of lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians - especially, but not only, older LGB people - and the potential consequences of 'outing'. This is utterly unacceptable from a public body charged with upholding our human rights.
We are concerned that this intimidatory communication will have the effect of making it harder for LGB individuals to enjoy their rights to freedom of opinion and expression (Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and right to access public services on an equal basis (Article 21). Being made to feel unsafe and unwelcome will make them less willing to engage in comparable public consultations or human rights processes in the future.
The communication was also written in complex, legalistic language which was very difficult for many of our community members to understand. It is especially inaccessible to someone with school-level education and/or English as an additional language. Again, we find it shocking that a human rights body would think it appropriate to communicate with community members in such a fashion.
We request a meeting with AHRC management to discuss how this matter can be handled in a better way in the future. Our community has lost faith in your Commission and there is lack of trust in the process. We would like to discuss some productive steps forward to have this faith and trust restored.
As this concern was brought to us by our members, we will be sharing this communication with them and we look forward to your response.
Regards
Nicole Mowbray
(Board Member, LGB Alliance Australia)
Email sent to our members as follows:
Good morning,
Freedom of information request and opportunity to comment
The Australian Human Rights Commission has received a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) for all submissions made by individuals in relation to the Lesbian Action Group’s application for a temporary exemption.
The Commission published the submissions that it received from organisations on its website, but did not publish the submissions it received from individuals.
Under the FOI Act, where an Australian Government agency receives a request for access to documents containing another person's personal information, and the agency believes that the other person may object to the release of the documents, the agency is required to consult with that person before making a decision to grant access.
The Commission wishes to consult with you on the potential release of your submission which includes your personal information.
The Commission invites you to advise of any objection you may have to the release of your submission under the personal privacy conditional exemption in the FOI Act (section 47F(1)). This personal privacy exemption provides that a document is conditionally exempt if its disclosure would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about any person. Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
Please note that even where section 47F(1) is found to apply, access must still be given to the document unless this would be contrary to the public interest. Accordingly, if you wish to make a submission, please indicate whether you believe that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.
More information about the personal privacy exemption is available in Part 6 of the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner.
If it is your view that the documents fall within the scope of the exemption outlined above, please consider whether the deletion of any specific information from the document (in accordance with section 22 of the FOI Act) would address your objections.
You should be aware that if the Commission decides to grant access to the requested documents, the Commission is generally obliged to publish that information on its disclosure log. However, we will not publish information (such as personal information) where this would be unreasonable.
If you wish to make any comments, we would be grateful if you could please send us those comments in writing by 12 October 2023.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Peter
Paralegal & Legal Research Officer
Australian Human Rights Commission
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
T +61 2 9284 9617