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).

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

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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 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.

The CiQ Program is designed to build understanding, not overwhelm, so cultural lessons are drip fed every week to allow learners time to engage with the content. Every three weeks, learners can join a LIVE Cultural Coaching session providing regular opportunities to check their understanding and connect with other learners.

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Link to CiQ's website.

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.

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Access intertwine's Privilege, Resistance & Proximity to Power poster. 

Diversity Focus website (opens in new window) 

How organisations can stand up to and end workplace racism resource.

Cultural diversity guidance resource (PDF, 372kb). 

The Law Society of NSW recognises that creating an environment where every person, regardless of their background, has opportunities and support to reach their professional potential can result in better outcomes for the community at large, and better business outcomes for the profession.

The Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, cultural diversity guidance encourages workplaces to actively consider their recommendations towards improving cultural diversity in the legal profession.

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The Creative Equity Toolkit provides an action-oriented approach to increasing cultural diversity in the arts. It is a project run by Diversity Arts Australia and the British Council.

The site features dozens of implementable actions, from simple to complex, along with hundreds of links to tools and resources developed around the world to help put these actions into practice.

Internationally there are remarkable differences in how arts organisations approach the question of diversity. This site brings together ideas, research and best practice from around the world into one place. The Creative Equity Toolkit has extracted the solutions and recommendations from research and case studies, and provided short introductions to key concepts to help inform debate.