Victoria’s Opposition has warned Premier Ben Carroll against making four-year appointments to the state’s newly established multicultural body just weeks before the November election, raising concerns about political independence, taxpayer-funded salaries and the timing of the recruitment process.
Shadow Minister for Multicultural and Multifaith Affairs Evan Mulholland has accused the Carroll Labor Government of attempting to lock in senior appointments to Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria before the state enters caretaker mode on 3 November.
The controversy centres on three leadership positions created under the government’s multicultural reforms — a Multicultural Coordinator General and two part-time Deputy Coordinator General roles.
Recruitment advertisements show the full-time Coordinator General position offering a salary of between $344,616 and $400,741 plus superannuation, while the two part-time deputy positions have advertised remuneration ranging from $207,848 to $268,488 each, excluding superannuation.
At the highest advertised figures, the three positions represent a combined annual salary commitment of approximately $937,717 before superannuation, making the appointments a substantial taxpayer-funded investment in the new organisation’s leadership.
Mulholland says the timing risks undermining public confidence in an institution intended to represent Victoria’s diverse cultural and religious communities independently of the government of the day.
“Victorian multicultural communities deserve to have absolute confidence that public appointments and public funding are not being used as political currency,” Mulholland said.
“They deserve a system where leaders are appointed based on their expertise, their genuine contribution, and their capacity to represent communities, not because of their political allegiances or friendships with Ministers.”
The Opposition’s concerns come as Victoria prepares for the state election on 28 November, with the caretaker period scheduled to begin at 6 pm on Tuesday, 3 November, unless Parliament is dissolved earlier.
Mulholland has accused the government of politicising the new organisation by seeking to finalise appointments so close to polling day.
“Ben Carroll is arrogantly jeopardising the future of Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria by trying to ram through 4-year appointments on the way out the door,” he said.
The Opposition has not publicly identified any prospective appointees in its statement or provided evidence establishing that candidates are being selected because of political connections.
However, its criticism raises questions about the transparency of the recruitment process, the length of the appointments and whether major public positions should be finalised immediately before an election.
The dispute comes as the new multicultural body begins operations following one of the largest changes to Victoria’s multicultural governance arrangements in years.
The Multicultural Victoria Amendment (Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria) Bill 2026 passed Parliament on 8 September, establishing Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria from 1 October. The new statutory body replaces the Victorian Multicultural Commission and brings community engagement, policy development and multicultural grants administration into one organisation.
The changes followed Victoria’s 2025 Multicultural Review, which made 41 recommendations aimed at improving government engagement with culturally and religiously diverse communities.
Under the legislation, the Coordinator General will lead the new body, supported by two deputies, including one with regional Victoria experience.
The positions are intended to operate independently and represent multicultural and multifaith communities impartially.
The Coordinator General will also have responsibilities extending beyond community events and cultural recognition, including advising government departments, overseeing multicultural action plans and preparing reports for Parliament on the effectiveness of government policies.
The government has defended the reforms as a way to strengthen community representation and accountability.
When the legislation passed Parliament, Minister for Multicultural Affairs Paul Edbrooke said the new arrangements would improve engagement between government and multicultural communities.
“This legislation sends a clear message: multiculturalism is one of Victoria’s greatest strengths. Every Victorian should feel safe, valued and free to express their culture, heritage and faith,” Edbrooke said.
The government has also said recruitment for the senior leadership positions would be conducted through an independent process.
However, Mulholland argues that the intended independence of the organisation makes the timing and integrity of appointments particularly important.
His concerns are not new.
During parliamentary consideration of the legislation in August, Mulholland proposed amendments intended to prevent people who had recently held certain political positions from being immediately appointed to the Coordinator General and Deputy Coordinator General roles.
The proposed restrictions would have introduced a 12-month exclusion period for people who had held specified positions or offices. Parliamentary records confirm that Mulholland moved those amendments during debate on 27 August.
The latest criticism brings those concerns back into focus as the recruitment process moves forward.
The government’s official caretaker guidelines provide an important distinction.
Under the rules published by the Department of Premier and Cabinet, appointments can legally be made before the caretaker period begins. The guidelines state that appointments requiring Governor-in-Council approval must also meet relevant Cabinet scheduling requirements.
That means appointing someone before 3 November would not automatically breach caretaker conventions.
The question raised by the Opposition is instead whether making four-year appointments immediately before an election is appropriate for positions expected to remain independent of whichever party forms the next government.
There is also the question of cost.
With advertised remuneration approaching $400,000 for the Coordinator General and more than $268,000 for each deputy, the combined cost of the leadership structure will attract scrutiny at a time when the government faces pressure over public spending and the allocation of multicultural grants.
Supporters of the new structure argue that senior independent leadership is necessary to ensure multicultural communities can influence government decisions rather than merely participate in consultation processes.
The government says the new organisation will have greater authority to monitor government performance and hold departments accountable for how they respond to multicultural and multifaith needs.
But Mulholland says community confidence could be undermined if the appointments are perceived to be politically connected.
“I consult widely with multicultural and multifaith Victorians, and they have had enough of this government using them for rank partisan reasons,” he said.
With the election approaching, several questions remain unanswered, including whether the government intends to finalise all three appointments before caretaker mode begins, who will oversee the final selection process and what safeguards will ensure the appointees remain independent of political influence.
The publicly available material reviewed by The Australia Today does not establish that any appointment has been made improperly.
The central issue is therefore not whether Victoria needs an independent multicultural body — the legislation establishing it has already passed Parliament — but whether its inaugural leadership appointments will command confidence across political parties and the multicultural communities the organisation has been created to serve.
As the government enters the final weeks before the 28 November election, the recruitment process is set to become another point of contention over transparency, public appointments and political accountability in Victoria.
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