Anti-Asian Racism Resources

The importance of truth-telling in anti-racism

To effectively combat racism, it is important to tell the truth about Australia's history of settler colonialism and migration, and the lasting effects of unfair policies. In its community consultations, the Commission heard that in particular, anti-racism efforts must acknowledge ongoing harm caused by settler colonialism to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Efforts to understand and define racism must be systemic, intersectional, and focused on the communities that experience it.

Truth-telling and anti-Asian racism

To better understand Australia's migration history and its continuing effects, including the rise in anti-Asian racism since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission commissioned research by Griffith University in June 2023. The research looked at the history and changes of anti-Asian racism in Australia, and highlighted community-led research, advocacy, and education efforts in overcome it.

About these resources

The Commission has created eight resources about anti-Asian racism based on the research by Griffith University. These include an introduction to key concepts and terms for understanding anti-Asian racism in Australia. Other resources cover historical events, contemporary examples of anti-Asian racism in media, politics, and workplaces, and solutions through anti-racist support services and education. These materials aim to improve understanding of Australia's settler colonial and migration history and how systemic racism works.

These resources focus on the experiences and views of Asian and Asian Australian communities. The Commission hopes they provide a framework for understanding these experiences and exploring solutions to anti-Asian racism within the context of settler colonialism. For policymakers, service providers, and others working with these communities, these resources should help understand how racism appears in various systems and institutions and highlight the need for and ways to address anti-Asian racism in a systemic, strengths-based, and community-focused manner.

Downloads

• Introduction: Key concepts, frameworks, and contexts for understanding anti-Asian racism in Australia [PDF 1.82 MB]

• A historical timeline. Mapping the emergence and transitions of anti-Asian racism in Australia [PDF 606 KB]

• Addressing anti-Asian racism in screen representation [PDF 1.64 MB]

• Addressing anti-Asian racism in news reporting [PDF 1.61 MB]

• Addressing anti-Asian racism in the political sphere [PDF 1.29 MB]

• Addressing anti-Asian racism in the workplace [PDF 2.1 MB]

• Addressing the impacts of anti-Asian racism through culturally safe mental health service provision [PDF 1.61 MB]

• Addressing racism through education: examples from Asian and Asian Australian communities [PDF 1.79 MB]

Content warning: The resources contain descriptions of experiences of racism that could be distressing and traumatic for some people, particularly people with lived experience of racism. If needed, you may want to seek support from formal support services here. Please note that we have occasionally reproduced language from research sources that describe people in derogatory and offensive ways that are recognised as unacceptable today. We included such terms to demonstrate and dissect the language and thinking of the time, and we apologise for any offence or distress that reading such language might cause.

Resources developed based on advice from the Griffith University research team consisting of Dr Ubayasiri, Dr Willing, Dr Teo, Dr Anacin, and Ms Chew. Designs by Bree Buttenshaw for Saltwater People (2024). Layout by Miranda Douglas.