GORCAPA urges respect for its staff

THE Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) is calling on the community to treat its staff with respect.

In a statement issued this week, GORCAPA chief executive officer Jodie Sizer said the organisation’s staff were “not faceless entities – they are your neighbours, friends, and family members”.

“They live here, they love this place just as much as you do, and they work tirelessly and expertly to safeguard it.

“They have a right to feel safe and deserve your respect.”

Ms Sizer said GORCAPA was “urgently calling on the community to stand with us in rejecting unwarranted, unruly, and disrespectful behaviour”.

She said the authority’s sole purpose since its formation was to protect, conserve, enhance and manage the Great Ocean Road coast and its parks.

“To achieve this, our people are working from Point Impossible to Warrnambool to serve the 21 unique communities along this iconic coastline, respecting the rights of our Traditional Owners, the Eastern Maar and Wadawurrung People,” Ms Sizer said.

“For over a decade, local communities and entities together with Traditional Owners had passionately advocated for our establishment, seeking simplified and dedicated oversight of the area.

“Fragmented land management has already been significantly reduced, with the authority now responsible for coastal reserves, ports and public land previously managed by 11 different agencies, applying our protection principles respecting cultural, environmental, social and economic values in balance as one integrated living entity.

“We understand that not every decision will be popular or easy to reach, but let us be unequivocal: there is no excuse for abuse of any kind.

“It has become all too easy for individuals to hurl hurtful, harmful words, often without considering the real pain inflicted on real people.

“Enough is enough.

“We value diverse opinions and constructive feedback; in fact, we rely on it.

“But there is a stark line between dialogue and abuse.”