An anti-racism strategy for the ACT, a public awareness campaign, and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled housing organisation are among the recommendations of the ACT Legislative Assembly’s sixth Inquiry into Racial Vilification report, published this week.
The Standing Committee on Education and Community Inclusion described the report as an evidence-based response to the surfacing of racism that has been observed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic; racism from a small minority of Canberrans directed towards those of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Michael Pettersson MLA, the Committee’s Chair, said: “Even if only instigated by a few, racial vilification has a profound impact on many in our community. The recommendations in this report aim to scaffold strong community support of diversity and a Canberra culture that calls out incidents of racism. On behalf of the Committee, I thank everyone who contributed to this inquiry.”
The inquiry was initiated by former Canberra Liberals MLA Giulia Jones last year. She hoped it would reveal the prevalence of racist attacks in the community, and the context in which they occurred; provide a forum for victims and witnesses of racist attacks to share their experiences confidentially; and provide a stocktake of existing laws that prevented racist behaviour, and to look at current reporting mechanisms.
Mrs Jones told Canberra Daily last year that she had been approached by representatives of Aboriginal, Chinese, Indian, African, Muslim, and European communities, concerned that verbal racial abuse had spiked during lockdown, and that their communities were being vilified for having COVID.
- Racism is on the rise in the ACT – and we must talk about it (1 October 2021)
- Racism is not tolerated in the ACT: Tara Cheyne (2 October 2021)
- Reporting racism must be easier, Giulia Jones tells Human Rights Commission (15 October 2021)
- Inquiry into racism in Canberra begins (12 November 2021)
- Survey: Canberra children affected by racism(5 August 2022)
The Inquiry was informed by eight submissions and two public hearings, and makes 16 recommendations.
The ACT Government will develop an anti-racism strategy for the ACT in consultation with racially diverse members of the community; promote anti-racism where it provides services; fund a comprehensive public anti-racism campaign; and adopt the #RacismNOTWelcome Campaign.
The government will engage a local university to research children and young people’s experiences of racism, in consultation with the Office of the Children and Young People Commissioner.
It will provide intensive support through organisations led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to ensure that removal of children from their families is an absolute last resort. The government will prioritise funding to organisations controlled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to provide relevant services. It will establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled housing organisation as a priority.
All members of ACT Policing, ACT Corrective Services, Child and Youth Protection Services, and Housing ACT will undertake a comprehensive training program to prevent racial vilification and enhance cultural safety.
The government will clarify the jurisdiction of the ACT Supreme Court in the Human Rights Act 2004 in addressing police misdemeanours, and, if necessary, amend the Act to ensure the authority of the Court in this regard. The government will introduce a bill to amend the Discrimination Act 1991 so that it also applies to ACT Policing.
The government will provide information about how to lodge a racial discrimination complaint so that it targets racial sub-sectors of the community, including international students; is available in a range of languages; provides facts about potential outcomes and options for redress; and is widely promoted.
The ACT Human Rights Commission will review the functionality of the online reporting tool to ensure it is accessible for people who speak languages other than English, the interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, and to optimise data collection. Mrs Jones had said the Human Rights Commission’s complaints process was difficult to navigate for non-native English speakers.
The ACT Ombudsman will remove the requirement that complainants use internal avenues to resolve complaints concerning racial vilification.
The Office of the Children and Young People Commissioner will be promoted in racially-diverse communities and ACT public schools.
ACTCOSS response
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) welcomed the Committee’s recommendations, which CEO Dr Emma Campbell said reflected ongoing advocacy by ACTCOSS, Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services, and the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum, and the community sector on systemic bias and discrimination in government institutions and on many Canberrans’ daily experience of racism.
“The ACT Government and ACT Policing must increase its efforts to remove racism and discrimination if we are serious about creating a community that is inclusive, just, and fair,” Dr Campbell said.
However, ACTCOSS said that the Committee had missed an opportunity to recommend ongoing funding for a peak body to represent Canberrans from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
“The ACT Government must commit to implementing and funding strategies that can tackle overt, systemic, or unconscious discrimination in the Canberra community,” Dr Campbell said.
“This must include additional resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, and permanent and sufficient funding for a peak body advocating on behalf of the ACT’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
“ACTCOSS will be working closely with our partners and the ACT Government to ensure these important recommendations are funded and implemented so that we can achieve a more just and inclusive community for all Canberrans that is free of racism and discrimination.”
