This report enhances the Australian Human Rights Commission’s understanding of how Australia's national, state, territory and local governments engage in anti-racism work. It describes the nature and scope of their policies and programs over the past five years. This is important because it helps identify opportunities to expand and build on existing anti-racism work done by governments. It also helps to identify where the gaps are, and what can be done to address racism across all three tiers of government.

The Commission is currently developing a model for a National Anti-Racism Framework. The Framework will be a whole-of-society approach to addressing racism and will coordinate anti-racism efforts across Australian governments and sectors including business, education, health, justice, and others.

This report will inform the Commission’s development of a National Anti-Racism Framework. The Commission has also conducted extensive consultations as part of this work, including with First Nations and other negatively racialised communities.

Key findings

• Existing anti-racism work fails to enter public awareness, and has limited or no monitoring and evaluation or impact assessment.
• The burden to address racism is still predominantly borne by people and communities who experience racism, rather than the systems, structures, and institutions that perpetuate it.
• Policy approaches lead to negatively racialised communities having to compete with each other for funding.
• Government work at all levels appears to be ad-hoc, disjointed, and reactive.

Key recommendations

• Establish a National Anti-Racism Council that brings together First Nations and CALD leaders and experts for the first time to advise government on strategic directions for policy and programs.
• Develop a clear, whole-of-government strategic approach to addressing racism and racist behaviours in Australian society.
• Address racism in schools to ensure victims do not leave education facing lifelong disadvantage, and perpetrators do not enter adulthood believing racist behaviours are acceptable and do not attract accountability.