ACT Human Rights Commission receives jump in complaints in 2020-21

The commission received 922 complaints last financial year, up 11 per cent from the year before and 35 per cent over two years.

The vast majority of complaints related to health services at 640, followed by discrimination complaints at 218.

Health services complaints rose dramatically from 574 in the year before, the ACT Human Rights Commission 2020-21 annual report showed.

Of the health services complaints, the three most dominant issues related to treatment (273), communication (86) and professional conduct (68).

The highest number of complaints were against individual practitioners at 337, followed by the public health service at 205 and general practices at 57.

"As with previous years, many complaints relates to communication between practitioners and patients about consent, expectations of treatment and risks associated with particular treatments or procedures," the annual report said.

One of the complaints was from a woman who complained about chemical burns sustained from nasal surgery which resulted in an eye injury. This injury came from an antiseptic used to clean the surgical area.

The woman also complained about post-operative care, saying there was a lack of compassion and a delay in referring the eye injury to a specialist.

In its investigations, the commission found the product information indicated the product should not be used on a person's face. The surgeon received a caution from the commission and the Medical Board of Australia and the woman received $15,000.

The highest number of discrimination complaints related to disability and was followed by race and sexual harassment.

The ACT government departments and agencies were the most frequent respondents to discrimination complaints, representing almost half of all complaints.

From the 218 complaints, 210 had been resolved at the end of June. The most common reason for closure was that the complaint had been successfully conciliated or otherwise resolved.

The second most common reason was that the complaint was withdrawn and there were also a number of cases where it was determined conciliation was unlikely to succeed.

One woman received $10,000 in compensation after she was exposed to sexual harassment in the workplace. She also received reimbursement for 10 psychologist appointments.

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Since March, the commission has had the ability to take complaints about sexuality or gender identity conversion practices. In the first three months the commission received one inquiry related to conversion practices but no complaints.

There was also a significant jump in the number of people who sought help from the victims of crime commissioner.

More than 3000 people were helped through the victim services scheme - which was a 27 per cent increase on the previous year and a 64 per cent increase on 2018-19.

Of the clients who sought help from victim services, 65 per cent were from people who reported family violence or sexual assault.

There was $2.43 million paid out in financial assistance to victims of crime.

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