Background

Phase I

In March 2021, the Commission called for a National Anti-Racism Framework and released a Concept Paper outlining guiding principles, outcomes, and strategies.

The Commission then undertook consultations with peak and community organisations, service providers, government departments and agencies, experts, and community members. 100 consultations were undertaken with approximately 300 organisations. The Commission partnered with community peaks and organisations as well as government departments to conduct 10 community consultations across the nation. The Commission also called for public submissions between October 2021 and February 2022 and received 164 submissions. The Commission released its National Anti-Racism Framework Scoping Report in December 2022. 

Phase II 

Since then, in addition to the below community consultations, the Commission has undertaken and commissioned additional research to progress the findings from the initial scoping phase including in the areas of data collection, anti-Asian racism and health. 

This year extensive community consultations about a National Anti-Racism Framework were undertaken. This included consultations with over 496 First Nations people across Australia, from diverse populations including those with metropolitan, rural and remote backgrounds, varying ages, genders and socio-economic backgrounds, and sectoral representation. These involved one-on-one interviews and focus groups, both in place and virtual, an online survey and group submissions, ensuring a wide range of voices were heard. 

Consultations with negatively racialised communities were also conducted, led by 18 organisations and comprised of 44 community consultations with over 860 participants. The consultations were conducted across all states and territories including remote, regional, and metropolitan areas, with a majority conducted face to face and others online. They included intersectional focus areas of LGBTQIA+ people; women; people with disabilities; refugees and asylum seekers; older people; young people (18-25 years); people and communities of faith; new and emerging communities; and communities with prominent caste systems.  

Shift from Interpersonal Racism to Systemic Racism 

The findings from this initial scoping process were shared in the National Anti-Racism Framework Scoping Report in December 2022. The Scoping Report indicated strong support from participants across the board for a Framework as an overarching and coherent approach to anti-racism. Across the board, participants affirmed that First Nations self-determination, sovereignty and truth-telling should be central to the Framework. The following themes and sectors were also identified as areas of focus:

• Data collection
• Education and Public Awareness
• Cultural Safety
• Legal protections and Justice
• Health
• Media

• Read and download the National Anti-Racism Framework
• Read and download a summary of the National Anti-Racism Framework
• Read the media release 

Related reading

The following reports have contributed to the National Anti-Racism Framework:

• Mapping government programs and policies relevant to anti-racism
• Race Reporting Handbook
• An Anti-Racism Framework: The Perspectives of Multicultural Australia
• Anti-Asian Racism Research Project
• An Anti-Racism Framework: Voices of First Nations Peoples

Acknowledgments 

The Commission recognises the ongoing strength and leadership of Australia’s First Peoples in leading anti-racism efforts since colonisation.

The Commission acknowledges the vast emotional and intellectual labour of the community, particularly those with lived experiences of racism, who shared their vision for a National Anti-Racism Framework that takes a transformative approach to addressing racism in Australia.

Image design copyright Bree Buttenshaw for Saltwater People (2024).

Key findings relate to:

• systemic racism
• unconscious bias
• historical and ongoing impacts of colonisation
• over-policing and incarceration, and
• accountability

Addressing these issues requires a concerted effort to reform systems, educate individuals, 
and ensure meaningful representation and accountability for First Nations peoples.

The report makes recommendations for:

• legislative reform
• accountability mechanisms
• First Nations advisory bodies
• standardised cultural safety education
• cross-sector workforce strategies, and
• a standalone First Nations Anti-Racism Framework.
   

This report was produced for the Commission by First Nations Collective Consulting. The Commission is deeply grateful to all those who took part in the consultations and who shared their concerns, priorities and solutions.

The report’s findings were the subject of the 10th annual Kep Enderby Memorial Lecture. You can watch the lecture on our YouTube channel.

Downloads

• Kep Enderby Memorial Lecture 2024 - Marni Tuala (198.64 KB)
• An Anti-Racism Framework: Voices of First Nations Peoples (3.02 MB)
• First Nations Consultations - Infographic (287.49 KB)

Report methodology 

Between November 2023 and May 2024, FECCA engaged 18 organisations across Australia, using an intersectional lens and intentionally prioritising groups that are most likely to experience racism together with other forms of discrimination.  

In total, 44 consultation sessions took place across all states and territories, covering more than 860 participants. An online survey was also conducted, with 411 valid responses. 

Key findings 

Among the key findings was that, despite the diversity of people’s backgrounds – including location, age, disability, sexuality, faith and cultural background – racism was widespread throughout the country and entrenched in society.  

Racism, the report found, is often being experienced at the same time as another form of discrimination such as disability or sex discrimination, and is taking place in people’s schools, workplaces, public spaces, and during interactions with health services or law enforcement.   

Governments and the media were also found to be culpable in further marginalising people through a culture of silence, which either ignores or minimises incidents of racism or stokes divisions through sensationalist rhetoric.  

The experiences shared by participants have reinforced findings from previous studies and brought to the forefront the solutions that those with lived experience of racism propose to build a society where racism is actively combated. 

Recommendations 

In total, 11 recommendations (7 main, 4 supplementary) were made to help build a society where racism is actively combated. These include: 

• The Australian Government must lead the way to change and commit to a whole-of-society, anti-racism agenda, such as through a national anti-racism framework.  
• Combating First Nations racism must be at the forefront of reform.  
• Schools must educate on racism, including First Nations experiences of settler colonisation, and take a strengths-based approach to racial diversity including via curriculum. 
• Public and private institutions, including in education, employment, healthcare, and justice, must have policies in place to address racism in all its forms. This includes incorporating preventative and redress mechanisms, reviewing all current policies and procedures for accessing opportunities and services, and introducing mandatory anti-racism training.  
• Media should employ more professionals from culturally diverse backgrounds that lead news and help to shape anti-racist narratives in Australia. 

Downloads

• Full report: 'An Anti-Racism Framework: Experiences and Perspectives of Multicultural Australia' [PDF 452 KB]

Image design copyright Bree Buttenshaw for Saltwater People (2024).

The Commission is currently developing a model for a National Anti-Racism Framework. The Framework will be a whole-of-society approach to addressing racism and will coordinate anti-racism efforts across Australian governments and sectors including business, education, health, justice, and others.

This report will inform the Commission’s development of a National Anti-Racism Framework. The Commission has also conducted extensive consultations as part of this work, including with First Nations and other negatively racialised communities.

The Commission contracted PwC Indigenous Consulting and Jumbunna Institute to conduct the research and produce the report. 

Download PDF

Download Accessible Word

Report methodology

The research for the report focused on publicly available information from federal, state and local government as well as the community sector including legislation, strategies, plans and frameworks, Reconciliation Action Plans, resource materials, campaigns, research, reviews and evaluations, position statements and grant funding programs. A range of Interviews about relevant policy and programs were also conducted with stakeholders across all levels of government, relevant community organisations, First Nations groups and academic research specialists.

Key Findings

• There is a reluctance on the part of government to use the term ‘racism’
• Existing anti-racism work fails to enter public awareness, and has limited or no monitoring and evaluation or impact assessment
• The burden to address racism is still predominantly borne by people and communities who experience racism, rather than the systems, structures, and institutions that perpetuate it 
• Government work at all levels appears to be ad-hoc, disjointed, and reactive
• Government work is most commonly focused on internal staffing issues
• Policy approaches lead to negatively racialised communities having to compete with each other for funding
• There is limited focus in programs and policies on First Nations communities’ experiences of racism
• Local government tends not to see itself as being responsible for addressing racism
• There is a failure of political bipartisanship on addressing racism
• There are some good practice examples of effective programs that should be supported and amplified

Recommendations

The report makes several high-level recommendations to the Commission, which will be incorporated into the Framework’s ongoing development:

• Recommendation 1: Establishment of a National Anti-Racism Council that brings together First Nations and CALD leaders and experts for the first time to advise government on strategic directions for policy and programs.
• Recommendation 2: Development of a nationally recognised definition of racism.
• Recommendation 3: Development of a clear, whole of government strategic approach to addressing racism and racist behaviours in Australian society.
• Recommendation 4: Inclusion of a formal monitoring and evaluation approach in the Framework for tracking and reporting on progress and implementation of government work addressing racism.
• Recommendation 5: Addressing racism in schools to ensure victims do not leave education facing lifelong disadvantage, and perpetrators do not enter adulthood believing racist behaviours are acceptable and do not attract accountability.
• Recommendation 6: Establishment of a national database or clearinghouse of anti-racism work, policies and programs, research and outcomes.

The ultimate goal of a cultural temperature check is the creation of a culturally safe and racially equitable workplace environment through practical, meaningful, and active anti-racism strategies.

A cultural temperature check should identify any structural barriers, risks, or issues in relation to the current promotion and implementation of cultural diversity and anti-racism in your workplace. As well as this, it should seek to foster self-reflection by engaging with staff at all levels on the impacts of power and privilege. 

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC’s) Workplace Cultural Diversity Tool is a great first step to assessing the current level of cultural inclusivity within your organisation. This tool can be used in tandem with this guide (available for download below) to conduct a comprehensive check of your organisation. These resources are directly geared towards creating positive change and embedding anti-racism in the workplace.

Conversations about the referendum and proposed Voice to Parliament have the potential to be harmful for First Nations peoples. The Australian Human Rights Commission’s Voice referendum resources seek to minimise harm by encouraging cultural humility and focusing the conversation on human rights principles as they relate to the referendum and proposed Voice to Parliament.

There are nine documents in the resource kit – available to download in full on the Commission's website.

The stand-alone resources are available for individual download on the webpages linked below:

• The Uluru Statement from the Heart.
• Minimising harm in conversations about the referendum.
• Indigenous Rights & the Voice.
• The history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples advocating for the right to be heard.
• Symbolic change or substantive reform.
• Self-determination and Indigenous peoples.
• The Voice and human rights.
• Referendums and constitutional change.
• Support services.

Acknowledgements

The Commission thanks IndigenousX, a 100% Indigenous owned and operated media, consultancy and training organisation, for their generous guidance and expertise on this project until mid-June 2023. The Commission was grateful for the opportunity to partner with IndigenousX due to their impartial and non-partisan position on the upcoming referendum and demonstrated understanding of the Commission’s independent and statutory role. Further, IndigenousX's insights into the nature of race and racism in Australia along with their dedication to ensuring careful consideration of and respect for Indigenous rights, knowledges, and experiences, proved invaluable to the development of these resources. 

The Commission also thanks Saltwater People, an Indigenous-owned, full-service creative agency that delivers strategic design communications and cross-cultural engagement. Throughout the development of this resource kit, they generously provided expertise in best practice cross-cultural engagement, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) and visual communication.

Please note, the artwork accompanying this kit is © Paul Bong.

In response to these issues, the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) convened a roundtable of representatives from across the Australian sporting sector, and anti-racism experts, to discuss opportunities to work together and potential ways forward.

Held on 27 April 2021, the roundtable included a discussion of the need for a set of guidelines to promote a coordinated approach to spectator racism in sports. Over subsequent months, the Commission led a working group in the drafting of these guidelines, which were released by the Commission and over 20 partner organisations in November 2021.

See key learnings from this project via our evaluation - accessible below

In 2020, the Commission began working on a new iteration of the Racism. It Stops With Me campaign. This was inspired by a number of factors: the continued leadership of First Nations communities in resisting racism and calling for an end to Indigenous deaths in custody, the COVID-19 pandemic and the intensification of racist narratives in media and political discourse, rising Islamophobia, antisemitism and concerns about home grown terrorism and extremism. This included the need to fully understand and respond to the ways in which racism is entrenched in colonial Australian history, in our structures and institutions, and as a result, in our everyday lives. 

The campaign relaunch went live on 12 July 2022, with a six-week promotional rollout period that ran to 19 August. 

New research has found many journalists and media workers from diverse and minority backgrounds experience online abuse and harassment yet believe it to be ‘part of the job’. The research project, led by Griffith University and Macquarie University, was commissioned by not-for-profit organisation Media Diversity Australia supported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Meta (Facebook), Google News Initiative, the e-Safety Commissioner and Twitter. The research is a key step toward identifying, understanding, and addressing online abuse and harassment of diverse journalists and media workers.

Findings reveal discrimination and abuse increased towards journalists and media workers who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, and/or queer or transgender, and/or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), and/or living with a disability.

The report, accompanying infographic and press release can be found on the Media Diversity Australia website.