Journalists play a critical role in the way people are racialised. That’s why the Australian Human Rights Commission, in partnership with Media Diversity Australia, has produced the Race Reporting Handbook to help overcome misrepresentation and stereotyping.

From reporting on First Nations people reinforcing stereotypes to the cultural burden placed on people with lived experience of racism in newsrooms, the handbook reveals the inequity in our current media landscape and includes tips for newsrooms to overcome it.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said: “The media has the power to decide who tells stories, whose stories are told, and how they are told. If you are white, you are often centred in nearly every aspect of the media and rarely, if ever, need to be concerned about the way in which the media represents your race.”

"Responsible reporting which is built on racial literacy is essential for creating any anti-racist society. It’s time to shift narratives from sensationalist headlines and move to editorial decision-making that are reflective of stories that showcase strengths rather than diminish negatively racialised communities.

“The handbook contains principles and checklists for anti-racist journalistic and editorial practices, including recruitment for greater diversity in media workplaces. Inclusive storytelling will better amplify underrepresented voices for more robust reporting,” Commissioner Sivaraman said. 

Media Diversity CEO Mariam Veiszadeh highlighted the need for the handbook at a critical juncture in the Australian media landscape.

“If a person were of an Anglo background, would you, for example, reference their race? This is a crucial question to consider.

“Enhancing the racial literacy of a sector that informs and shapes the health of our democracy can result in more nuanced and inclusive reporting, greater audience reach, and a stronger, more resilient democracy.

The Race Reporting Handbook addresses how to combat structural and systemic racism in Australia's media landscape. It emphasises an anti-racist approach to reporting to assist media professionals in building stronger community connections and adopting more inclusive editorial policies.

The Workplace Cultural Diversity Tool is a free self-assessment tool based on international best practice. The Tool is designed to support employers, managers and human resources personnel as they work to promote cultural diversity and engage in anti-racism in the workplace.

You can access an offline-version of the Tool's assessment questions below. We recommend completing the online version of the Tool, to receive analysed results, recommended resources and track your progress over time.

The Tool is reviewed and updated regularly to align with good practice, the questions within this resource are therefore subject to change. The questions in this resource are valid as of July 2023.

You can find the Tool here: https://itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/workplace-cultural-diversity-tool.

Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Toolkit

From the AITSL website:

The tool will provide a guided process of critical reflection on assumptions, attitudes, beliefs and biases in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, languages and cultures. It will develop your awareness and understanding of how these may impact on your teaching practice and learner outcomes.

The tool will pose a series of conceptual questions, prompts, or stimuli for you to consider and respond to. The purpose of these items is to help you actively engage in deep reflection and, by responding honestly, perhaps discover things you ‘didn’t know you didn’t know’.

You will receive a report that indicates a relevant starting point for your further development on a continuum of intercultural learning. From there, you will be guided to the relevant area of a capability framework to learn more about your current stage of intercultural development and find recommended actions to support your ongoing learning.

The self-reflection tool will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. Your results will remain private and should be used to guide your own learning or, should you choose, may be discussed with others to inform your learning plans.

AIATSIS guide to evaluating and selecting education resources 

From the AIATSIS website:

In October 2022 AIATSIS published the Guide to evaluating and selecting education resources (the Guide). The Guide assists non-Indigenous educators, and others to critically self-reflect on history and the effects that this has on pedagogical practises today.  

It allows teachers to ensure curriculum resources selected for teaching do not cause harm to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, but rather foster trust and build a sense of pride for all.

The Guide is underpinned by pivotal resources including:

• The Curriculum Corporation’s 1995 publication, A Resource Guide for Aboriginal Studies and Torres Strait Islander Studies;
• The Queensland Studies Authority’s 2007 document, Guidelines Indigenous Perspectives: Selecting and evaluating resources; and
• The AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research.

The Guide supports educators to make conscious and critical decisions when selecting curriculum resources, to ensure they reflect all children, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and cause no harm.

The Guide will also assist teachers to select appropriate resources for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, and languages respectfully and effectively.

Visit their website for resources and more information on Transformational Ethical Story Telling (opens in new window).

As stated on their website:

"This document has been created to set out both the non-binding Transformational Ethical Story Telling Principles and the legal framework Story Telling sits within. It is a guide for Partners who wish to follow a safe and ethical approach to their Story Telling practices. It is also a guide for Story Holders and their communities to understand their rights and provide a bargaining framework when deciding if and how they will share their Story. In doing so, it will give agency to Story Holders, through centring them and their Story.

The document provides an overview of the legal rights that Story Holders may have to their Story, including in copyright. Whilst Partners may have legal obligations, these may not meet ethical standards. By following this framework, Partners and Story Holders can balance ethical and legal standards to understand what each party is providing and giving up, so that Story Holders can make informed decisions abobut whether and on what terms they wish to share their Story."

Download the guide below or visit Our Race | Workshops and collaborative consulting (opens in new window) for more information.

Inclusive recruitment at work guidelines 

In 2022, DCA partnered with Jobsbank to create these evidenced-based inclusive recruitment guidelines.

DCA’s Inclusive Recruitment project is a response to the uncommon times Australia finds itself in: 

• 31% of Australian organisations say they can't find workers to fill jobs
• 3,000,000 Australians are looking for work or want more work

These people are capable, talented, and willing but overlooked by employers. They are most likely to be from marginalised groups, sometimes multiple marginalised groups.  

In this context, Australian organisations need to diversify who and how they hire if they are to meet their workforce needs – tapping into pools of talent typically left off their recruitment radars.  

That’s where Inclusive Recruitment can make a real difference.

Download the guide by clicking the download link below. Note that the guide will open as a zip file on your computer, providing both a PDF and accessible word document version.

This guide is intended for those who want to talk about the Racism. It Stops With Me campaign video, and the issues it discusses, with their colleagues, family and friends. It is designed to give campaign supporters the tools to engage in conversations about racism and anti-racism, and will be most useful in the context of conversations with other people who already recognise that racism is a problem and want to do something about it. This guide is not intended to support conversations with people who deny, openly advocate for, or defend racism, which requires a different approach.

Nurses and Midwives Association anti-racism resources