Reporting Racism Clearing House
Here you can find information about how to report racism or racial discrimination in Australia.
If you have experienced or witnessed racism, you may wish to report it to ensure your experience is acknowledged, to seek justice, or for many other reasons.
Did you experience or witness racism?
I experienced racism
If you have experienced racism very recently, you may wish to read the information about Self Care first.
However if you want information about to make a complaint now, you’re on the right page!
This website covers information about reporting racism that occurred in locations where people are most likely to be racially discriminated against in Australia. Some of these locations are specifically referred to by Australian anti-discrimination laws, while others were identified as areas of concern by All Together Now. These links will take you to more information about how to make a complaint:
- Advertising
- Airport
- Employment
- Education
- Health Care
- Land, Housing and Other Accommodation
- Media
- Police
- Public Transport
- Shops, Shopping Centres and Other Services
- Social Media
- Sporting Events
When we talk about racial discrimination on this website, we are referring to both direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. These terms are defined by the Australian Human Rights Commission as follows:
Direct discrimination – this happens when a person, or a group of people, is treated less favourably than another person or group because of their background or certain personal characteristics e.g. where an Indian applicant is not offered a job interview because they have a traditionally Indian name and/or they were born in India.
Indirect discrimination – this occurs when there is an unreasonable rule or policy that is the same for everyone but has an unfair effect on people who share a particular attribute, e.g. where a company’s policy states that employees are not allowed to wear hats or other items on their head — this would discriminate against anybody who chooses to do this for religious reasons including Sikhs, Muslims, and Jews.
I witnessed racism
One of the main challenges for targets of racism to report their experience to authorities is proving it took place.
Many people will feel discouraged to report an incident when they know the whole process will depend on the institution they are reporting the discriminatory act to believing their testimony.
This is why it is essential that witnesses identify themselves to the target at the time the incident takes place and agree to provide a written or oral statement in support of any action the target might choose to take. Not only will this encourage the target to take action, but it might also be essential in helping them get redress.
For example, in cases that involve a crime, such as vilification, a person will only be convicted when it is believed beyond reasonable doubt that they committed the criminal act. As a witness, your testimony and any evidence that you collected during the incident (such as a photo, video or audio recording) can strongly support the target’s case. For example, video evidence enabled the conviction of white supremacists who perpetrated racially-motivated crimes in Charlottesville in the USA.
Besides supporting the target and making yourself available to them, there are other actions you can take as a witness to help challenge racism.
Speaking up against racism
It can be difficult to talk to people who have a different opinion to you about racism – particularly if you feel strongly about your beliefs. Our tip for avoiding an argument is to never call somebody a racist. If you do this, the person will become defensive and not listen to anything else you say. Instead, you should tell them that you disagree with what they have said, and explain why. You should only criticise the comment, not the person.
The Challenging Racism Project (CRP) provides a series of videos about how to speak up when you witness racism. CRP also provides a list of actions you can consider taking when you witness racism:
- Confronting or disagreeing with the perpetrator
- Calling it “racism” or “discrimination” (if it is safe or productive to do so)
- Interrupting or distracting perpetrator
- Comforting the person(s) targeted
- Expressing upset feelings
- Seeking assistance from friend, teacher, manager, coach etc.
- Reporting the incident to authorities
Ask an open-ended question
If you feel that your attempt to challenge the perpetrator is turning into an argument, stop and take a breath. If you become emotional it will be more difficult for you to respond, so it is best to try and stay calm. Continue the conversation by asking the person an open-ended question, like:
- “why do you think that?”
- “why do you think that’s funny?”
- “why did you say that?”
Sharing how you feel about what they have said may also help:
- “It makes me uncomfortable to hear that, what did you really mean?”
- “That comment offended me, why did you say that?”
- “I always considered you to be a fair-minded person, why do you think that‘s funny?”
You may be able to use their response to continue the conversation constructively because their answer might reveal that their prejudice is based on an assumption or incorrect fact that you can put right.
Stay safe!
You must always stay safe (emotionally and physically). If the person responds with an aggressive or angry answer, it might feel safer to nod and finish the conversation quickly. While you cannot change the way this person thinks on the spot, they may go away and self-analyse their comment later. Try not to become discouraged, because some people will take longer than others to understand the impacts of racism. It may also be useful for you to ‘debrief’ about these situations with like-minded people so you can better prepare for them in the future.
Self Care
There’s lots of evidence that racism can affect your wellbeing, and so you may want to consider the following soon after a racist incident:
- If you are ever in immediate physical or emotional danger, try to get to a place where you feel safe.
- It is possible that you will ruminate (replay the incident over and over again in your head) after the incident. This is normal, however it can also lead to other symptoms if it persists, such as stress or depression. For this reason it may be good to debrief with others soon after the incident, such as supportive friends, family and/or a counsellor.
- You may also feel a wide range of emotions e.g. angry, upset, afraid. Again, this is normal and talking to supportive friends, family and/or a counsellor may help you to process the incident.
- While the incident is fresh in your mind, consider making a note of the details you might need when making a report, such as dates, times, words used, and a description of the perpetrator.
- Consider whether or not you would like to report the incident. If you decide to report the incident, you can refer to the options provided on this website to determine where you would like to send your report.
- Were there any witnesses and do you have their contact details? If you are able to contact the witnesses, talk to them about what happened. Ask them if they would be willing to provide a witness statement and whether they recorded any evidence of the incident, like a photo, video, or audio recording that they would be willing to provide as evidence in a statement.
Counselling
While All Together Now cannot offer counselling, we have listed a few services below that might be able to help:
- The Ethics Centre offers Ethi-call, a free, private, anonymous one-hour call with an ethics counsellor, who takes you through a series of questions that help shine a light on any dilemma (such as whether or not you should report the incident).
- Lifeline provides free crisis support 24 hours over the phone as well as online counselling from 7am to midnight.
- For young people aged 25 or less, eHeadspace and Kids Helpline will offer free counselling online or over the phone.
- Beyondblue has compiled a list of counselling services available throughout the country.
You can also look for a counsellor near you at the Australian Counselling Association.
Dispute Resolution
If a discriminatory action has created a conflict between you and another party, there are different ways and mechanisms to try and resolve the situation. There are two main options available to settle a dispute:
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are processes in which a third, impartial party (who is not a judge or a magistrate) helps people to resolve their disputes. These methods can be used to solve civil disputes (not criminal matters) and will often be faster, cheaper and more flexible than court procedures. You can chose to use an alternative dispute resolution method at any time during the dispute.
The main forms of alternative dispute resolution are mediation, conciliation and arbitration.
Mediation
Mediation is the process through which an independent third party, the mediator, assists the parties in dispute to identify the disputed issues, develop options, consider alternatives and try to reach an agreement. The mediator is not an advice-giver or decision-maker. This means he or she will not give an opinion about the issue/dispute or propose a solution. His or her role is to facilitate open dialogue between the parties, so that they can reach a solution.
Conciliation
Conciliation is the process through which an independent third party, the conciliator, assists the parties in dispute to identify the disputed issues, develop options, consider alternatives and try to reach an agreement. The conciliator may have professional expertise on the matter being discussed and, therefore, may give his or her opinion or advice on the issue. However, s/he will not provide a solution to the parties.
Arbitration
Arbitration is the process through which the parties to a dispute present arguments and evidence to an independent third party, the arbitrator, who makes a determination on the matter. In this regard, arbitration is closer to a court proceeding, as by the end of the process the arbitrator will make a decision that the parties must follow.
Service providers
There are many different service providers and professionals that offer alternative dispute resolution services throughout Australia. Below, we list a few websites that can help you better understand how ADR works and where to find an ADR service provider next to you. If after consulting these websites you are still unsure about ADR, you can always seek legal aid to get further assistance on these processes.
ACT:
List of mediators (Supreme Court of the ACT)
NSW:
Alternative Dispute Resolution (NSW Government)
ADR Service Providers (NSW Government)
Community Justice Centres (CJC)
NT:
Resolving disputes without going to court (NT Government)
QLD:
Alternative Dispute Resolution (Queensland Courts)
Find an approved mediator (Queensland Law Society)
SA:
Mediation (Courts Administration Authority of South Australia)
Find an accredited mediator (Note: this is not an official SA court link)
VIC:
Mediation / Finding an accredited mediator (County Courts Victoria)
TAS:
Mediation services (Legal aid commission of Tasmania)
Mediation and dispute resolution (Department of Justice)
Conciliation conferences (Magistrates Court of Tasmania)
WA:
Mediation (Supreme Court of WA)
Mediation and dispute resolution (Legal aid WA)
Formal Dispute Resolution
There are national and international mechanisms available to solve disputes that arise due to a discriminatory act. However, there are different requirements to access them. In this section, we explain these mechanisms and how to take your case to them:
- National and State Mechanisms
- International Mechanisms
Legal Framework
Australia does not have one specific law or act regulating all matters related to racial discrimination. Instead, racial discrimination is regulated by many different pieces of legislation in the federal and state spheres.
Australia’s constitution provides no protection against racial discrimination and Australia does not have a national bill of rights or human rights act to address this issue. Furthermore, the federal Racial Discrimination Act does not have primacy over other legislation and criminal law is very scarce on the subject.
Therefore, while the legal framework regulating racial discrimination in Australia is broad, it is also limited. On this website we provide information on three areas:
Public International Law
There are many international treaties that address racial discrimination. Australia has ratified most of these treaties and, therefore, is bound by a series of international obligations established by them.
The main international treaty on this subject is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which was ratified by Australia in 1975. By ratifying this treaty, Australia has accepted that individuals can make complaints related to racial discrimination against Australia to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD). Australia has also committed to submit periodic reports about the national implementation of the convention for evaluation by the Committee.
Besides the ICERD, Australia has also ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both of which state that all rights prescribed in the treaty must be applied by states-parties without any discrimination.
Australia in the international field
After receiving Australia’s most recent report in February 2016, the UNCERD expressed concern about several issues related to racial discrimination in Australia, including “that expressions of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, including in the public sphere, in political debates and in the media, are on the rise. The Committee also expresses concern that migrants, notably Arabs and Muslims, asylum seekers and refugees, as well as Africans and people of African descent, South Asians and indigenous peoples, are particularly affected by racist hate speech and violence.” Based on its observations, the Committee made recommendations to Australia on how to improve the situation in the country in order to fully comply with the obligations contained in the ICERD.
Australia also received recommendations from the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (SR Racism) after his visit to Australia, which took place from 28 November to 5 December 2016. Among the many recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur, is the recommendation “to adopt a fundamental bill of rights, with a clause therein to establish its precedence over all other legislation.“
This visit was followed by a visit of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples (SRIPeoples), which took place between 20 March and 3 April 2017. In her report published after the visit, the Special Rapporteur “found deeply disturbing the numerous reports on the prevalence of racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Racism manifests itself in different ways, ranging from public stereotyped portrayals as violent criminals, welfare profiteers and poor parents, to discrimination in the administration of justice.”
Australian Federal Law
Racial Discrimination
Australian federal laws apply to everyone in Australia. In regards to racial discrimination, the most relevant federal act is the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. This act makes it unlawful for a person to deny someone (or limit the access to) a right enjoyed by everyone else because of their race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin in any field of public life, especially in matters relating to: access to places and facilities; land, housing and other accommodation; provision of goods and services; right to join trade unions; and employment. The Act further makes it unlawful for a person to incite the doing of an unlawful discriminatory action.
It is important to note, however, that unlawful acts do not necessarily mean criminal offences. While the discriminatory actions mentioned in the Racial Discrimination Act are unlawful and entitle targets to seek redress, not all of them constitute a criminal offence. What the Act does consider a criminal offence is for a person to refuse to employ, dismiss from employment or in any way threaten or prejudice a person in his or her work environment because that person has made or intends to make a complaint related to racial discrimination to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHCR) or in any other way contributed to the work of this Commission on matters relating to racial discrimination.
In addition to the Act, the Criminal Code Act 1995 criminalises the act of urging a person or group to use force against a specific racial, religious, national or ethnic group or the members thereof (Chapter 5, Subdivision C, 80.2A and 80.2B).
Discrimination on other grounds
If someone experiences discrimination on multiple grounds (e.g. race and gender based discrimination simultaneously), there are other acts that can provide protection. In Australia, the following federal acts offer protection against discrimination based on age, disability and gender and sexual orientation.
Australian State and Territory Law
The state parliaments have the power to legislate on any matter, including matters that are regulated by federal acts, as long as the state law is not inconsistent with the federal act dealing with the same issue. Australian territories have similar powers to enact laws under their self-governing powers. Therefore, despite the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA), all states and territories have enacted anti-discrimination acts, which are applicable to their own state or territory. These acts usually cover discrimination based on several grounds and not only racial discrimination. Although federal and state or territory law mostly cover the same areas of discrimination, there are some differences between them. For example, all state or territory anti-discrimination acts address discrimination in education, an area that is not covered in the federal RDA.
Much like the RDA, most state or territory acts consider a great deal of discriminatory acts unlawful and give targets the right to seek redress, but prescribe very few criminal offences. As mentioned above, states and territories can legislate on all matters, including those dealt with in the federal sphere. This means that besides having to respect the federal Criminal Code Act 1995, states and territories also have their own criminal codes, which may include offences not covered by the Criminal Code Act. Therefore, state or territory anti-discrimination acts can prescribe criminal offences that do not exist federally and will only apply in the state or territory concerned.
The state or territory acts on discrimination are:
- Australian Capital Territory – Discrimination Act 1991
- New South Wales – Anti-Discrimination Act 1977
- Northern Territory – Anti-Discrimination Act 1992
- Queensland – Anti-Discrimination Act 1991
- South Australia – Equal Opportunity Act 1984
- Tasmania – Anti-Discrimination Act 1998
- Victoria – Equal Opportunity Act 2010
- Western Australia – Equal Opportunity Act 1984
Information for Witnesses
One of the main challenges for targets of racism to report their experience to authorities is proving it took place.
Many people will feel discouraged to report an incident when they know the whole process will depend on the institution they are reporting the discriminatory act to believing their testimony.
This is why it is essential that witnesses identify themselves to the target at the time the incident takes place and agree to provide a written or oral statement in support of any action the target might choose to take. Not only will this encourage the target to take action, but it might also be essential in helping them get redress.
For example, in cases that involve a crime, such as vilification, a person will only be convicted when it is believed beyond reasonable doubt that they committed the criminal act. As a witness, your testimony and any evidence that you collected during the incident (such as a photo, video or audio recording) can strongly support the target’s case. For example, video evidence enabled the conviction of white supremacists who perpetrated racially-motivated crimes in Charlottesville in the USA.
Besides supporting the target and making yourself available to them, there are other actions you can take as a witness to help challenge racism.
Speaking up against racism
It can be difficult to talk to people who have a different opinion to you about racism – particularly if you feel strongly about your beliefs. Our tip for avoiding an argument is to never call somebody a racist. If you do this, the person will become defensive and not listen to anything else you say. Instead, you should tell them that you disagree with what they have said, and explain why. You should only criticise the comment, not the person.
The Challenging Racism Project (CRP) provides a series of videos about how to speak up when you witness racism. CRP also provides a list of actions you can consider taking when you witness racism:
- Confronting or disagreeing with the perpetrator
- Calling it “racism” or “discrimination” (if it is safe or productive to do so)
- Interrupting or distracting perpetrator
- Comforting the person(s) targeted
- Expressing upset feelings
- Seeking assistance from friend, teacher, manager, coach etc.
- Reporting the incident to authorities
Ask an open-ended question
If you feel that your attempt to challenge the perpetrator is turning into an argument, stop and take a breath. If you become emotional it will be more difficult for you to respond, so it is best to try and stay calm. Continue the conversation by asking the person an open-ended question, like:
- “why do you think that?”
- “why do you think that’s funny?”
- “why did you say that?”
Sharing how you feel about what they have said may also help:
- “It makes me uncomfortable to hear that, what did you really mean?”
- “That comment offended me, why did you say that?”
- “I always considered you to be a fair-minded person, why do you think that‘s funny?”
You may be able to use their response to continue the conversation constructively because their answer might reveal that their prejudice is based on an assumption or incorrect fact that you can put right.
Stay safe!
You must always stay safe (emotionally and physically). If the person responds with an aggressive or angry answer, it might feel safer to nod and finish the conversation quickly. While you cannot change the way this person thinks on the spot, they may go away and self-analyse their comment later. Try not to become discouraged, because some people will take longer than others to understand the impacts of racism. It may also be useful for you to ‘debrief’ about these situations with like-minded people so you can better prepare for them in the future.
