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Commissioner Tan said the inclusion of this policy in the budget came as a surprise to key stakeholders in the multicultural sector and a lack of information about the policy had created justifiable concern among members of the Australian community.

From all points of the southern sky, we gathered in the centre of the country we’ve called home for more than 60 thousand years, to endorse a statement that would pave the way for First Nations peoples to have a voice enshrined in the Constitution. 

There have been too many news reports of COVID-19 prompting racial abuse: A Chinese woman was spat on in a Sydney street, two students bashed in the Melbourne CBD, a family’s home vandalised – to list just a few. But the story that struck me most was Jennifer Li’s.

As I have said before, COVID-19 has nothing to do with race or nationality—and neither fear of the virus nor frustration at the difficulties we all face are excuses for abusing people based on race, nationality or ethnicity. 

It’s important at this time that we listen to the health experts, such as the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), follow their advice, and avoid visiting remote communities and putting them at risk. I have been appalled at reports from organisations such as the Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association (AIDA) of racism within the healthcare system. Racism is never OK, but at a time like this is it particularly damaging.