National Anti-Racism Framework

The experiences of First Peoples must be central to all anti-racism action. Communities across the country told us that governments need to commit to transformative changes to achieve equity for First Nations peoples.

These include:

• integrating the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Australian laws.
• including First Peoples focused anti-racism content in school curricula
• supporting formal partnerships between governments and First Peoples community-controlled organisations

implementing strategies to address racism experienced by First Peoples in workplaces.

Communities told us that the government needs to improve the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (the Act).  

The Framework recommends the Act is amended to include a positive duty which requires businesses and organisationsto take ‘reasonable and proportionate measures' to eliminate unlawful behaviours.

Racism is deeply embedded in the justice system and it harms First Nations peoples more than others.

Recommendations include:

• conducting anti-racism training for police and other workers in the justice system
• ensuring all places of detention and the duration of detention comply with international human rights standards
• supporting more community-controlled legal and support services
• investing in diversion and rehabilitation programs for people in contact with the justice system.

Schools and universities are important places to teach people how to prevent racism, starting from early childhood.

Recommendations include:

• introducing nationally consistent anti-racism content in school curricula
• holistic cultural safety review of education provision in primary and secondary schools.

Ongoing funding for national education campaigns about preventing racism is also recommended.

Racism in the health sector can have harmful and serious impacts on an individual's health and wellbeing.

Recommendations include:

• promoting cultural safety education for all health care providers
• providing adequate resources to health care providers, particularly those which are community controlled to integrate trauma-informed practices.

A healthy, respectful and anti-racist workplace culture is vital for a productive workforce.

Recommendations include:

• providing mandatory cultural safety and anti-racism training to all employees
• promoting national standards for reporting racism in workplaces

implementing strategies for recruiting and retaining staff from First Nations and other negatively racialised backgrounds, particularly in senior roles.

The Framework calls for stronger regulation of how:

• the media reports on First Nations and other negatively racialised communities
• digital media allows users to report and remove racist content.

Data on racism in Australia is limited, inconsistent across jurisdictions, and often ad-hoc. We are recommending the development of a National Anti-Racism Data Plan.