Victorian justice department workers will be offered white privilege training, as the state forges ahead with plans to broker an historic treaty with Indigenous people.
Department 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 advantages afforded to white people by systemic forms of racial injustice.
Premier Jacinta Allan defended the module, pointing out it was voluntary.
Premier Jacinta Allan says criticism of the training course is unwarranted. Credit: JAMES ROSS/AAPIMAGE
"I don't think there's anything wrong with efforts being made to make workplaces safe and respectful for everyone."
AAP has been told the training won't be rolled out across other state agencies or departments.
How agencies brand workplace training was a matter for them, Ms Allan said.
Corrections and Youth Justice Minister Enver Erdogan also backed the training module, but conceded a name change may have been prudent.
"(It) probably could have been rebranded," he said.
"People have different perspectives on life and different backgrounds and I think that's important to understand in multicultural society."
Opposition justice spokesperson Brad Battin said it was a failure of good governance for Labor to support race-based training.
"Victorians don't pay tax to cover Labor's woke agenda," he said.
Negotiations on Australia's first treaty with Aboriginal people are slated to begin between the Victorian government and First Peoples' Assembly in November.
The opposition withdrew its support for treaty in January following the failed national voice to federal parliament referendum, citing concerns about cultural heritage laws.
