The following article has been published on J‑Wire. 

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New Race Discrimination Commissioner

J‑Wire
October 8, 2018

Victorian com­mer­cial property lawyer Chin Leong Tan has been appointed as the new Race Dis­crim­in­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er.
Tan, whose appoint­ment started from today, was recently Director of Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Engage­ment at Swinburne Uni­ver­sity of Tech­no­logy, where he led the devel­op­ment of a Charter of Cultural Diversity. Tan studied in Australia and practised here as a lawyer for more than 20 years. In 2011 – 15, he was chair­per­son and com­mis­sion­er of the Victorian Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Com­mis­sion, having been appointed by the then Victorian Liberal premier Ted Baillieu.
Peter Wertheim, the co-CEO of The Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry, told J‑Wire:
“Chin Leong Tan is well qualified to be the new Race Dis­crim­in­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er. He has a dis­tin­guished track record as a champion of a tolerant and mul­ti­cul­tur­al Australia, and as an opponent of racism. We look forward to working with him and wish him well in his new role.
The integrity of the role Race Dis­crim­in­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er needs to be main­tained. Proposals to rename and redefine the position of Race Dis­crim­in­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er to focus broadly on ‘community relations’ are mis­con­ceived.
Whilst Australia is among the world’s most tolerant and inclusive countries, there is no evidence that the problems of antisemitism and other forms of racism from far-Right, Islamist and far-Left sources has dimin­ished. Quite the contrary. Diluting the focus on racism in the title and functions of the Com­mis­sion­er would thus be coun­ter­pro­duct­ive.
The title and the functions of the Race Dis­crim­in­a­tion Com­mis­sion­er are pre­scribed by the Racial Dis­crim­in­a­tion Act, so any change would require amend­ments to the Act. This legis­la­tion was enacted under the foreign affairs power in the Aus­trali­an Con­sti­tu­tion in order to give effect to Australia’s inter­na­tion­al oblig­a­tions as a party to the Inter­na­tion­al Con­ven­tion on the Elim­in­a­tion of All Forms of Racial Dis­crim­in­a­tion. Indeed, the Con­ven­tion in its entirety is repro­duced as part of the Racial Dis­crim­in­a­tion Act, namely in the Schedule to that Act. Any dilution of the anti-racist focus of the Act, or change in the name of the office of Com­mis­sion­er would thus depart from its essential purpose, which is to give effect to the Con­ven­tion.”
In 1999 Tan unsuc­cess­fully sought Liberal party preselec­tion for a state seat. Tan has been a member of the Victorian Police Commissioner’s Human Rights Strategic Advisory Group; Victoria’s Depart­ment of Premier and Cabinet’s Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Services Delivery Inter-Depart­ment­al Group, and the Victorian Government’s Min­is­teri­al Council for a Mul­ti­lin­gual and Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Victoria. He also served on the Aus­trali­an Football League’s Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Focus Group. He won an award at the 2017 Victorian Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Excel­lence Awards. Speaking in 2013, Tan said that while racism could never be elim­in­ated, it could be minimised. “We can put in place in society a sense of who we are … a sense of goodwill and com­mit­ment to become a better society where we under­stand each other”.