Justice Stocktake 2025
Home | Racism and discrimination
Racism and discrimination
Racism can take many forms and includes “prejudice, discrimination or hatred directed at someone because of their colour, ethnicity or national origin”. Racism can be overt (where disadvantage against a particular group is openly acted on or spoken about), covert (where it is subtle such as a “joke” or when seemingly universal rules only actually affect one group) or structural (where processes or systems either purposely or inadvertently disadvantage a particular group).
Unfortunately, racism is a common occurrence in Australia. Over the past 10 years, racist incidents have been reported in all aspects of Australian society, from everyday settings such as public transport, to essential institutions such as education and healthcare. While legislation protects against discrimination based on race, many people experience racism daily.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds experience racism at a higher rate than the general population. Racist attitudes and behaviours often become more pronounced, and less veiled, according to topical and current affairs in Australian society. This can sometimes lead to an increase in racial discrimination against specific groups in society at a given time. Sadly, we have seen examples of this even as a result of events far from Australia’s shores. At the heart of racism is the failure to recognise that we are all inherently equal and valuable, so that is where we need to start in addressing racism.
Research shows a correlation between racial discrimination and poorer physical and mental health.[1]
62% indicated racism a “very big” or “fairly big” problem
62 per cent of respondents to a social cohesion survey indicated racism was a “very big” or “fairly big problem”.[2]
60 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reported experiencing at least one form of racial prejudice in the past six months.[3]
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples also experience the highest rates of workplace discrimination (50 per cent compared with 24 per cent of non-Indigenous workers).[4]
We have the power to make a difference
We can urge action from our governments
Governments of all levels can strengthen and enforce anti-discrimination laws to ensure equal treatment for all citizens, including regularly updating legislation to address emerging forms of discrimination. One part of this is ensuring that it is easy and accessible to report instances of discrimination.
Young people are critical to eliminating racism and discrimination. Governments can work together to implement culturally appropriate educational programs that promote understanding, tolerance, and diversity in schools.
We can implement change in our community and our workplaces
In our workplaces we can push for mandatory workplace diversity training to foster an inclusive and safe work environment.
When organising events, we can make sure they are welcoming and culturally appropriate. We can theme social events around celebrations of the value of diversity such as Harmony Day, NAIDOC Week or culturally specific holidays like the Lunar New Year.
We can also make sure that services, supports and business offerings we organise are accessible and empowering to diverse communities.
We can have influence in our personal lives
Unconscious bias is a driver of racism and sometimes we can unthinkingly act on beliefs that consciously we know not to be true. That gives us the opportunity to really examine some of the assumptions we may have made and then choose to act in a more deliberate and considerate way.
Racism is often subtle, so we can be hugely influential as individuals simply by seeing and calling out casual racism. This might look like not laughing at jokes that rely on racial stereotypes, critically examining arguments that make assumptions about people from other cultures, or even calling out statements that are discriminatory.
Lewsley, J., & Slater, R. (2023, May 31). What are the effects of racism on health and mental health? Medical News Today. [Link] ↩︎
Scanlon Institute. (2021). Mapping Social Cohesion 2021 Report. [Link] ↩︎
Reconciliation Australia. (2022). 2022 Australian Reconciliation Barometer. [Link] ↩︎
Anderson, P., Mapedzahama, V., Kaabel, A., & O’Leary, J. (2022). Racism at Work: How organisations can stand up to end workplace racism. Diversity Council Australia. [Link] ↩︎