Victorian Department of Justice staff to undergo white privilege training

A plan to include white privilege training in a new taxpayer-funded cultural awareness course for Department of Justice workers has prompted backlash from staff.

A controversial plan to include white privilege training in a new taxpayer-funded cultural awareness course that will be rolled out across the Victorian justice department has been labelled woke and divisive.

Thousands of Department of Justice and Community Safety staff have been told to undertake mandatory cultural awareness training ahead of Treaty in Victoria, with negotiations to kick off later this year.

The cultural awareness course includes sections on Aboriginal cultural awareness training and Aboriginal cultural safety workshops, which have been welcomed by staff.

However, one module titled “white privilege training” has prompted a backlash.

A justice worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Herald Sun: “There are lots of types of privilege – race, class and wealth.

Staff have been told to undertake mandatory cultural awareness training ahead of Treaty in Victoria.

“But I don’t feel that pointing out the colour of people’s skin has worked in the past, so why is it acceptable to now be doing this in our workplace?”

Director of law and policy at the Institute of Public Affairs John Storey accused the government of pushing a “radical agenda” and perpetuating a “victimhood mentality”.

“It is a destructive agenda that has led to the deterioration of social cohesion in our state,” Mr Stoery said.

He said Victorians had already lost confidence in the state’s “health system, the police, and our political class”.

“It would be the final straw if Victorians lost respect for our justice system.”

Opposition justice spokesman Brad Battin called for the removal of the white privilege module from the state-funded training program.

“‘Workplace safety is essential, and to have training that discriminates on race just to deliver on a woke agenda is disgraceful,” he said. “They must withdraw this module as a matter of urgency.”

Opposition justice spokesman Brad Battin called for the removal of the white privilege module. Picture: Aaron Francis

But Premier Jacinta Allan backed the program.

“I don’t have a problem with looking at every effort to make workplaces safe,” she said.

“I really do think it’s a bit rough to call out this one module of one training program that’s optional for those workers.”

Australian Industry Group Victorian head Tim Piper said cultural awareness training had merits, but he had concerns about the specific module.

“What I would expect the government to do is to ensure there is no discrimination against any party and make sure additional training is not divisive,” he said.

“It’s hard to know the value without knowing what this training actually involves.”

The department did not divulge what would be included, but a spokesperson said the white privilege training was an optional component.

“This training module is optional,” they said.

“Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training is about making sure the workplace is culturally safe and inclusive for Aboriginal Victorians.”

White privilege training has become common practice in the US in recent years to help identify structural racism in the workplace, but there has been debate about whether it is discriminatory.

The training has been implemented in a number of not-for-profit organisations in Victoria.