One of Victoria’s most senior bureaucrats weighed into the debate over Australia Day, telling staff it signified “invasion, associated violence and dispossession of Country” for many people, and that public servants who did not wish to celebrate January 26 could take an alternative day off.
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing secretary Sandy Pitcher sent a message to staff the day before this year’s public holiday, pointing out a little-known public service rule giving bureaucrats the right to substitute public holidays for other days.
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing secretary Sandy Pitcher.Credit:Simon Schluter
“I want to acknowledge and recognise that this is not a day of national celebration for all,” Pitcher wrote.
“For some, it’s a day celebrated with friends and family, Pitcher says. “But for many, 26 January can be a difficult day, in particular for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Australians who reflect on the invasion, associated violence and dispossession of Country.”
“Please speak with your manager and consider operation and business requirements if you would like to discuss working on 26 January and taking a potential alternative leave day.”
In the same message, Pitcher says she wants to encourage people to reflect on Australia’s past “a little deeper”.
Under clause 50.5(a) of the Victorian Public Service Act (2020), state bureaucrats have the right to substitute another day for any public holiday “to observe religious or cultural occasions or like reasons of significance to the employee”.
Pitcher’s message came to light amid calls to dump January 26 as a public holiday. Many see it as offensive and sorrowful because it marks the day on which, in 1788, the first governor of NSW, Arthur Phillip, planted a Union Jack in Sydney Cove and declared British sovereignty over the land.
As reported by The Age this week, staff at Melbourne University are pushing for the right to reject Australia Day as a public holiday and take leave on a day of their choosing in a gesture of solidarity with First Nations people.
National Tertiary Education Union Victorian branch assistant secretary Sarah Roberts said the push for the right to reject the January 26 public holiday was likely to feature in future negotiations between the union and other universities.
“In the union movement we call it Invasion Day, so substituting the public holiday would recognise that it is a day of despair, of horror for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people,” Roberts said.
More to come.
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