In a landmark step towards addressing systemic racism, Australia has launched its first-ever national anti-racism framework. Developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the comprehensive plan aims to eliminate discrimination through a series of sweeping reforms across workplaces, education, health, media, and other key sectors.
63 Recommendations for Tackling Racism Head-On
The framework, the result of three years of extensive consultations, sets out a staggering 63 recommendations for the government to implement. According to Giridharan Sivaraman, the national race discrimination commissioner, this marks the first time Australia has had a “comprehensive plan” to confront the “deeply embedded” racism that permeates the nation.
Throughout our consultation process, we heard consistently from First Nations and other negatively racialised people that systemic racism is deeply embedded throughout Australia and requires an urgent national response.
– Giridharan Sivaraman, National Race Discrimination Commissioner
The AHRC document pulls no punches, stating: “In Australia, the refusal to name and confront racism has prevented meaningful progress on eliminating it. The focus on multiculturalism and social cohesion hides or erases many communities’ lived experience of racism as well as the nation’s settler colonial foundations.”
Workplaces in the Spotlight
One of the key areas targeted by the framework is the workplace. The AHRC is calling for reforms to the Racial Discrimination Act to include a positive duty for all employers to actively eliminate racial discrimination. This would apply to:
- Government agencies
- Not-for-profits
- Businesses
- Service providers
Sectors like health, education, retail, hospitality, sport, housing, and finance are singled out for particular attention. Under the proposed changes, the AHRC would be empowered to assess compliance, and medium to large employers would need to develop strategies for hiring and retaining diverse staff, implementing anti-racism training, and preventing and responding to racism.
Online Hate and Religious Discrimination
The proliferation of online hate is also in the framework’s crosshairs, with a push for legislative reforms to hold digital platforms liable for the spread of racist content. Additionally, the AHRC is urging the government to address religious discrimination and inequities faced by racially marginalized asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants.
First Nations Justice
Extensive recommendations are laid out regarding the treatment of Indigenous communities, calling for the framework to acknowledge “the systemic and structural nature of racism, including the historical and ongoing impacts of settler colonisation on First Nations peoples.” Key proposals include:
- Independent monitoring of the implementation of the 1987 royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody
- Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14
- Developing a nationally recognized definition of First Nations cultural safety
Education, Health, and Media Overhaul
The framework takes aim at entrenched racism in education, health, and media, demanding greater representation and support for First Nations and diverse communities. It advocates for anti-racism training across the board, the inclusion of anti-racism materials in school curricula, and the development of safe reporting mechanisms.
For the media, the AHRC wants to see enhanced regulation around the reporting of First Nations and racially marginalized communities, coupled with regular content audits to “assess biases and gaps in the representation of diverse voices.” On the health front, the framework calls for racism to be identified as an urgent national health priority.
The Data Deficit
Recognizing that “data on racism in Australia is limited, inconsistent across jurisdictions, and often ad-hoc,” the framework proposes a “National Anti-Racism Data Plan.” This would involve the development of new population and administrative data standards, initiatives to address barriers to reporting racism, and critically, the meaningful engagement of communities with lived experiences of racism in the data plan’s design.
A Defining Moment for Australia
The launch of the national anti-racism framework represents a potentially transformative juncture for Australia. By naming and confronting racism head-on, and proposing concrete, wide-ranging actions to dismantle it, the nation has the opportunity to chart a new course – one that truly embraces and values its diversity.
However, the road ahead is long and challenging. Implementing the framework’s ambitious agenda will require unwavering commitment, resources, and a fundamental shift in Australia’s approach to tackling racism. As the AHRC itself acknowledges, “meaningful progress” has been stymied by a reluctance to confront uncomfortable truths.
The coming months and years will be critical in determining whether the framework can live up to its transformative potential, or whether it will join the long list of well-intentioned but under-delivered initiatives. For the sake of First Nations communities, racially marginalized groups, and indeed all Australians, the nation must seize this moment and commit to the hard work of building a more just and equitable society.
