Premier backs white privilege course for justice staff as Victoria pushes ahead to broker treaty with Indigenous people

Victorian Department of Justice staff will be offered white privilege training as the state moves forward with plans to sign a historic treaty with Indigenous people.

Ministry of Justice and Community Safety staff will participate in a mandatory cultural awareness course that includes a white privilege module.

The term white privilege refers to the advantages afforded to white people by systemic forms of racial injustice.

Prime Minister Jacinta Allan defended the module, pointing out that it was voluntary.

“It’s a bit rude to call this one module, one training program, that is optional for those employees,” Ms Allan told reporters at the state parliament on Tuesday.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the efforts to make workplaces safe and respectful for everyone.”

AAP has been told the taxpayer-funded training will not be rolled out to other government agencies or departments.

How agencies ‘brand’ workplace training was a matter for them, Ms Allan said.

Minister of Corrections and Youth Justice Enver Erdogan also supported the training module, but admitted that a name change might have been wise.

“(It) probably could have been renamed,” he said.

‘People have different perspectives on life and different backgrounds and I think that’s important to understand in the multicultural society.’

Opposition spokesman Brad Battin said it was a failure of good governance for Labor to support race-based training.

“Victorians are not paying taxes to support Labour’s woke agenda,” he told AAP.

Negotiations for Australia’s first treaty with Aboriginal people were due to begin in November between the Victorian government and the First Peoples’ Assembly.

The opposition withdrew its support for the treaty in January after the failed national referendum vote in federal parliament, citing concerns over cultural heritage laws.