Studies show that experiences of racism are associated with people’s experiences of anxiety, post-traumatic stress, suicidal ideation and general mental health.¹

As our understanding of mental health develops, we need to acknowledge the impacts of interpersonal, institutional and systemic racism on mental health. This includes the ongoing and intergenerational impacts of colonisation and dispossession experienced by First Nations peoples.² The health of family, community and country was identified as a key factor in determining mental health in the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2020 report, Wiyi Yani U Thangani.³

First Nations psychologists and health experts note that holistic approaches to mental health should consider social and emotional wellbeing, a framework that views mental health as inseparable from physical health, as well as connections to family, community, Country, culture and spirituality.⁴ Ongoing human rights violations, systemic racism and the inequitable distribution of resources throughout society all continue to undermine social and emotional wellbeing. Health policies must consider these structural determinants of mental health and employ culturally informed and responsive practice.⁵

The Localities Embracing and Accepting Diversity (LEAD) Experiences of Racism Survey identified that prevention is likely to be a more effective and efficient public health intervention, rather than responding to individual incidents.⁶ Embedding anti-racism into our schools, organisations, institutions and government is vital in addressing mental health. Tackling racism will have positive psychological effects for our communities.

By reflecting on the impact of racism, and taking a stand against it, we can build a fair and equal society – for all.

Racism.

It stops with me.

Racial profiling leads to unfair and unnecessary criminalisation, with detrimental health and socio-economic impacts.¹ Racial profiling by police reinforces stereotypes and can further stigmatise targeted communities, leaving them feeling alienated and unsafe.

In a 2017-2019 study on the criminalisation of young people from the South Sudanese community in Victoria, participants described experiences of harassment, intimidation and surveillance by police, and noted a stark difference in their treatment vis-à-vis white communities.² Similar experiences were reported in the case of Haile-Michael v Konstantinidis (2013), in which the Federal Court established that the complainants, both East African-born, had been subjected to discriminatory policing through repeated and unjustified street stops.³ The case called on an expert witness who confirmed that young African Australians were 2.5 times more likely to be stopped by police in certain suburbs of Melbourne.⁴

There is explicit evidence demonstrating that First Nations people are routinely subject to racial profiling by police. In one example, documents released to The Guardian by Western Australia Police under Freedom of Information laws revealed significant disparities between police-initiated and automated camera law enforcement.⁵ The 2019 data revealed that Aboriginal drivers were far more likely to be given penalties by police, despite cameras revealing infringement levels between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal drivers to be almost exactly the same.⁶ Gaps in on-the-spot fines varied across different offence types, but in some cases, Aboriginal drivers were found to have 19.2 times more penalties than non-Aboriginal drivers. The same data showed that traffic enforcement involving Aboriginal drivers was leading to cycles of unpaid fines and further police attention.⁷

Racial profiling can also influence decisions made by others in positions of authority that lead to interactions with police. In 2020, a coronial inquest into the death of Yorta Yorta woman, Tanya Day, who died in police custody in 2017, found the train conductor’s unconscious bias regarding Ms Day’s Aboriginality directly influenced his decision to request police attendance to the train station.⁸ The inquest found that Ms Day was the first sleeping passenger ever removed from the train by that conductor.⁹

First Nations people in Australia are the most incarcerated people in the world, representing just 3% of the Australian population, but 29% of the prison population.¹⁰ Experiences of colonisation, dispossession, housing instability and trauma compound the likelihood that a person will encounter the criminal justice system. Research also shows that many Indigenous people are placed in custody for trivial offences and are less likely to be granted bail than non-Indigenous people.¹¹ In reality, racial profiling by police is just one example of discrimination within and around the justice system.

In 1991, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) made numerous recommendations designed to prevent the over-incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.¹² Since then, more than 500 First Nations people have died in police custody¹³ and most of the key recommendations made by RCIADIC remain unimplemented.¹⁴

Communities are providing tangible solutions to many of these issues. Organisations like Deadly Connections provide holistic, culturally responsive interventions that disrupt disadvantage and break the cycles of over-incarceration.¹⁵ Across the country, women and girls who engaged with the Wiyi Yani U Thangani project expressed their willingness to volunteer their efforts, expertise and community connections to ensure a better relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and police.¹⁶

By reflecting on the impact of racism, and taking a stand against it, we can build a fair and equal society – for all.

Racism.

It stops with me.

Research shows that racism in schools negatively impacts attendance, with students reporting skipping school to avoid racism.¹ We also know that racism impacts educational outcomes.²

Racism in schools occurs on many levels. The 2017 Speak Out Against Racism study found 43% of students reported seeing incidents of racial discrimination directed towards other students by teachers.³ The study revealed that over 40% of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students or students from culturally and linguistically diverse communities experienced racial discrimination from their peers. Many teachers also report feeling underprepared to respond to racism in the classroom.⁴

However, racism in schools extends beyond racism between people. What we teach and experience in classrooms has a direct impact on the way we perceive ourselves, understand our histories and place value of certain knowledges and cultures. In the 2020 Wiyi Yani U Thangani project, First Nations women and girls spoke of the need for truth-telling about Australian history and an acknowledgement of the continued impact of European colonisation.⁵ Respondents spoke of the need for mandatory Indigenous designed, owned and led cultural competency across education and the incorporation of Indigenous cultures and histories into the education system to support national truth-telling.⁶

In addition to cultural competency, building racial literacy (an understanding of how race and racism shape society) is vital to developing skills in anti-racism from a young age. Developing this literacy in school-aged children is an important step towards racial equity.

Resources such as the Australia High School Anti-Racism Kit, the AIATSIS Education Strategy 2021-2025 and the Know Your Country initiative are just three examples of initiatives designed to build cultural competency and racial literacy in schools. We need to acknowledge and support the important work being undertaken by students, teachers, communities and others within the education sector to tackle racism in schools.

By reflecting on the impact of racism, and taking a stand against it, we can build a fair and equal society – for all.

Racism.

It stops with me.

Racism is a key social determinant of health,¹ and there is extensive evidence that shows differences in life expectancy experienced by people of different racial identities.² Racism is also a key factor in determining how people access health services, receive diagnoses, treatment and care, and are perceived within the health system.³ A lack of cultural safety within the health sector means that many are unable to access the care they need.

Racism in health is about more than just individual attitudes impacting on a person’s experience, such as when the bias of a particular healthcare professional impacts their engagement with a particular patient.⁴ Experiences of racism are often the result of policies, practices, and institutional biases that inform the very architecture and culture of our health system.⁵ This means that individual prejudices are often left unchallenged, or even reinforced within the health system, or that reports of racism may not be adequately dealt with.

In addition, experiences of racism in health are compounded by racism experienced in other parts of society, and mutually reinforce one another. For example, consider how unequal opportunities in employment and education, discrimination in housing, or racism within the justice system might impact or be impacted by an individual’s health. Racism has economic, social and political implications that can increase or limit an individual’s life expectancy. 

Different health outcomes based on race are not inevitable. In many cases, communities are working to address this inequity, and advocating for systemic reform. This includes sustainable and adequate funding to, and expansion of, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health sector, or programs to support the growth of First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse workforces across health sectors to improve on cultural safety. Initiatives such as the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Equity Framework are working to centre community voices in the design of healthcare services that impact them. 

By reflecting on the impact of racism, and taking a stand against it, we can build a fair and equal society – for all.

Racism.

It stops with me.