Media release - Community Safety at Risk: Commission’s Frontline Service Underfunded

Media Release - 16 May 2025

Community Safety at Risk: Commission’s Frontline Service Underfunded

The NT Anti-Discrimination Commission (ADC) is the first and often only place Territorians can turn to when experiencing sexual harassment, discrimination, victimisation, or mistreatment including in mental health and forensic disability through our Community Visitor Program. This is a frontline service, dealing with some of the most sensitive, complex and high-impact matters affecting safety, dignity, and equality in our communities.

Yet despite this critical role, the Commission remains chronically underfunded. With only two full-time complaints officers across the entire Territory, the ADC is expected to manage over 300 complaints a year. At current capacity, each officer can handle 30–40 matters at a time without staff burnout, far below community expectations.

An Unmet Legal Need, With Real Consequences

This is not just an administrative backlog; it is an unmet legal need.  When complaints go unallocated for months at a time, individuals are left vulnerable, workplaces become unsafe, and discrimination, including sexual harassment, goes unaddressed. The delay increases the likelihood of complainants proceeding to a hearing, potentially creating backlogs in our Courts and Tribunal.

We have recently advised stakeholders that our current backlog is up to 6 months just to have a matter allocated to a complaints officer. Respondents will not even be notified about the complaint until a complaint is accepted, meaning harmful conduct can continue unchecked for more than six months. Unchecked micro-aggressions and discriminatory behaviours do not stay contained, they escalate. The cumulative impact of inaction damages community trust, isolates the vulnerable, and puts both wellbeing and community safety at risk.

We Need More Than Goodwill to Address Discrimination

Despite repeated warnings, successive NT Governments have not provided adequate funding to support the ADC in its critical work. The Commission is doing its best with limited resources, but justice delayed is justice denied.

Urgent Call for Action

The ADC calls on the Northern Territory Government to:

• Immediately fund at least 4 additional full-time complaints officers to meet legal demand.
• Recognise the ADC as a frontline legal and community safety service.
• Develop a resourcing strategy that reflects the increasing complexity and volume of complaints in the Territory.

Every Territorian deserves timely and fair access to justice. Until the ADC is properly funded as the frontline service it is, community safety remains at risk.

Jeswynn Yogaratnam
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner & Principal Community Visitor

Media contact: antidiscrimination@nt.gov.au