26 November 2024

National AntiRacism Framework

The Australian Human Rights Commission has released its ambitious The National Anti-Racism Framework: A roadmap to eliminating racism in Australia, with 'a call to action for reform across Australia’s systems and structures, including in the justice and legal system, health, education, workplaces, media and the arts, and data'. 

 Recommendations are 

 1. The Australian Government commit to this National Anti-Racism Framework to eliminate racism in Australia. The National Anti-Racism Framework should set out national commitments over a 10-year period, with two 5-year implementation plans created for each of the implementation plans identified below. The National Anti-Racism Framework should: • acknowledge the systemic and structural nature of racism, including the historical and ongoing impacts of settler colonisation on First Nations peoples • be intersectional, community-centric, and recognise racism as a complex and shifting phenomenon • embed truth-telling and self-determination for First Nations peoples • be adequately, appropriately, and sustainably funded • include mechanisms for co-design and participation of First Nations peoples and other negatively racialised communities in the Framework’s operation • set measurable targets as informed by the needs of First Nations and other negatively racialised communities • identify how the Framework interacts with other national frameworks, agreements, and plans, particularly those that address intersecting forms of discrimination • include a monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework with public reporting at regular intervals. 
 
2. The Australian Government establish a National Anti-Racism Taskforce, to be co-chaired by the Race Discrimination Commissioner and a Secretary (representing the Australian Government’s Secretaries Board), with senior government membership from across federal, state and territory jurisdictions, and relevant peak organisations, to oversee and advise on the implementation of the National Anti-Racism Framework. Australian governments fund and work in partnership with the National Anti-Racism Taskforce to develop and implement: a. National Anti-Racism Framework First Nations Implementation Plan and b. National Anti-Racism Framework Implementation Plan. 
 
3. Australian governments, in partnership with the Coalition of Peaks, develop a nationally recognised definition of First Nations cultural safety, with minimum standards, for application across sectors, including health. 
 
4. Australian governments fully implement their commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, including to work in genuine partnership with, and adequately fund, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations to participate in shared decision making across government portfolios. 
 
5. Australian governments prioritise their commitment to building the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector and provide ongoing and adequate funding for the sector and organisations to deliver culturally safe services, particularly for rural and remote communities. 
 
6. Australian governments provide adequate funding to local governments to establish or improve local anti-racism initiatives and programs informed by the Framework. 
 
7. The Australian Government fund the Australian Human Rights Commission to co-design, with communities that experience racism, a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Framework (‘MEL Framework’) that operates for the lifespan of the National Anti-Racism Framework. This MEL Framework should complement accountability mechanisms under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. An independent organisation should then be procured, with guidance from the Race Discrimination Commissioner and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, to undertake the monitoring, evaluation, and learning with insight from First Nations and other negatively racialised communities. 
 
8. The Australian Parliament enact a national Human Rights Act incorporating findings from the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2023 report Free and equal: Revitalising Australia’s commitment to human rights. 
 
9. The Australian Government comprehensively incorporate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into domestic law, including: a. taking steps to implement the UNDRIP into law, policy, and practice b. working in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to create a National Action Plan to implement the UNDRIP c. independently auditing existing laws, policies, and practice for compliance with the UNDRIP. 
 
10. The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 be amended to include a positive duty, to eliminate racial discrimination, a. by an employer, business or undertaking b. in the provision of goods and services, with a particular focus on health, education, retail and hospitality, sport, housing, and financial settings c. in the access to places and facilities d. in the provision of land, housing and other accommodation.  
 
11. The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 be amended to provide powers to the Australian Human Rights Commission to assess compliance with the positive duty in recommendation 10 and for enforcement. This includes providing the Australian Human Rights Commission with the power and funding to: a. undertake assessments of the extent to which an organisation has complied with the duty, and issue compliance notices if it considers that an organisation has failed to comply b. enter into agreements/enforceable undertakings with the organisation c. apply to the Court for an order requiring compliance with the duty. 
 
12. Australian governments introduce effective legal protections against online hate, with particular attention given to regulation and enforcement against, and liability of, digital platforms. These protections should be informed by consultation with First Nations and other negatively racialised communities. 
 
13. The Australian Government take immediate steps to ensure that migration and citizenship laws comply with international human rights law, with particular attention given to inequities experienced by negatively racialised people seeking asylum, and refugees and migrants. 
 
14. The Australian Government consider options for legal reform that are not already addressed with or under recommendations 10-11 on the introduction of a positive duty to eliminate racism, including but not limited to: a. addressing systemic and institutional racism experienced by First Nations and other negatively racialised people b. addressing religious-based discrimination c. addressing intersectional experiences of racism d. eliminating racism as is required under Australia’s obligations under the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 
 
15. The Australian Government review the effectiveness of current protections against exploitation in employment and migration legislation, and develop further strategies to address unlawful arrangements experienced by migrants in precarious work, particularly those on temporary visas including people seeking asylum and international students. 
 
16. The Australian Government establish an independent review of counter-terrorism laws, policies, and practices to investigate potential discriminatory application and effect on different communities and to recommend ways to address it. 
 
17. The Australian Government investigate options for legal protections against caste discrimination, including potential reform of existing legislation. 
 
Workplaces and Employment 
 
18. All employers ensure that senior leadership have responsibility for organisational change on intersecting forms of discrimination, including racism, and that it is not solely placed on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other negatively racialised employees. 
 
19. Medium and large employers in all sectors develop internal workplace anti-racism strategies. Strategies must include measures for preventing and responding to racism in the workplace, as an interim measure until recommendation 10 is implemented. 
 
20. Employers, including governments, commit to the development and implementation of ongoing, mandatory workplace anti-racism training, resources, and educational materials with anti-racism organisations or practitioners. 
 
21. Medium and large employers in all sectors develop an internal cultural safety framework for First Nations staff. This should complement their internal anti-racism strategies for all staff including non-Indigenous staff who experience racism. 
 
22. Medium and large employers in all sectors develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate strategies for hiring, promotion, and retention of staff identifying as First Nations and from other negatively racialised backgrounds to increase representation in the workforce, particularly in leadership and senior roles. 
 
23. Australian governments incorporate cultural safety codes of practice into workplace health and safety legislation. 
 
24. Australian governments establish a cross-sector First Nations Workforce Development Strategy that incorporates data sharing agreements and accountability mechanisms. 
 
25. Australian governments fund the Australian Human Rights Commission to convene a national council of state and territory anti-discrimination and human rights bodies, work, health, and safety agencies, and relevant peak organisations to develop nationally consistent standards for employers and employees to report experiences of racism and racial discrimination in the workplace. 
 
26. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission develop behavioural codes of conduct for all Australian Parliamentarians and staff that take a zero-tolerance approach to racism with appropriate sanctions. Australian Parliamentarians and their staff be required to complete regular anti-racism training that addresses workplace behaviour and prevents racism in all public communications.
 
Education and Public Awareness 
 
27. Australian governments fund a holistic cultural safety and anti-racism review of existing policies and practices that affect staff and students in primary and secondary schools, through consultation with children and young people. The findings must inform the development and implementation of cultural safety and anti-racism reforms. 
 
28. Australian governments commission and fund comprehensive mandatory professional development for primary and secondary school staff (including leadership staff members) to build schools’ capacity to identify, prevent, and manage incidents of racism and develop the skills, tools, and capability to have discussions about racism and its effects in contemporary Australia. 
 
29. Australian governments and education providers (early childhood to tertiary) co-design and incorporate into curricula nationally consistent anti-racism resources and educational materials for staff and students that focus on recognising and rejecting racism: in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and practitioners, including material about the historical and ongoing impacts of settler colonisation. This should be supplemented by local, place-based materials a. b. in partnership with non-Indigenous anti- racism experts from negatively racialised communities, including material about Australia’s migration histories, contemporary forms of racism, and ongoing impacts of discriminatory policies. 
 
30. Australian governments and education providers (early childhood to tertiary) implement curricula reform: a. in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and practitioners to embed First Nations knowledges, scholarship, and texts across all disciplines b. on the advice of other negatively racialised organisations and practitioners to better integrate knowledges, scholarship, and texts authored by non-Indigenous negatively racialised people. 
 
31. Australian governments and education providers (early childhood to tertiary) co- design with community experts, a nationally consistent, effective, comprehensive, and culturally safe mechanism for students, staff, families, and communities to safely and without fear of repercussions, report experiences of racism across educational settings and improve accountability, support, and redress services. 
 
32. Australian governments provide ongoing funding to the Australian Human Rights Commission to develop and maintain its public awareness and education campaigns and materials to improve racial literacy and understandings of intersecting forms of discrimination, in partnership with community-led organisations. 
 
33. Australian governments fund public awareness and education on anti-racism for the community sporting sector, in partnership with the Australian Sports Commission. 
 
34. Australian governments increase funding for research to address gaps in existing research and contribute to the evidence base on the efficacy of anti-racism initiatives and interventions in education settings, including systemic reforms. 
 
Justice 
 
35. Australian governments raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years in all jurisdictions, without exception. 
 
36. The Australian Government establish an independent mechanism to monitor and report on the status of the implementation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. This role should be overseen by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, with adequate funding from the Australian Government. 
 
37. All Australian governments expedite putting into place national preventive mechanisms for all places of detention, consistent with Australia’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
 
38. Australian governments conduct an external audit that investigates systemic racism, including police misconduct and negligence, and develop holistic reforms to institutional practices across all stages of the justice process from initial contact with law enforcement through to post-prison release. 
 
39. Australian governments fund existing, or develop new, community-specific approaches to diversion and rehabilitation for people in contact with the justice system, including community-based approaches to sentencing, alternatives to custody and court processes, and restorative and transformative justice solutions. 
 
40. Australian governments explore and fund community-informed and early intervention solutions beyond civil and criminal penalties to address far-right extremism and white supremacy in communities, particularly as they intersect with other forms of discrimination. These solutions must include centring community wellbeing, providing redress for the harms experienced by targeted individuals and communities, and a focus on atrocity-prevention. 
 
41. Australian governments provide ongoing funding to legal and support services, including community-controlled services, to provide culturally safe and trauma-informed access to justice for First Nations and other negatively racialised people. 
 
42. Australian governments increase funding to community-controlled agencies that support First Nations children and families in order to reduce child protection interventions. 
 
43. Australian governments review the adequacy and effectiveness of any anti- racism and cultural safety training within the justice system, including for police, legal aid providers, first responders, support services, and the courts, and implement mandatory and ongoing anti-racism and First Nations cultural safety training for leadership and staff. 
 
44. Australian governments, alongside police, relevant complaints-handling mechanisms, and non-government organisations, implement co-ordinated strategies to address personal and structural barriers to reporting experiences of racism. 
 
45. Australian governments support comprehensive, community-led data collection consistent with the principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty on interactions with the justice system, including arrests, outcomes of justice, and the experiences of individuals within court processes. This is to be completed alongside work to implement recommendation 59 on a National Anti-Racism Data Plan. Media and the Arts 
 
46. Media organisations adopt guidelines that are grounded in an anti-racist approach to reporting about First Nations and other negatively racialised communities, such as Media Diversity Australia’s Race Reporting Handbook. 
 
47. The Australian Government strengthen regulation of media organisations on reporting related to First Nations and other negatively racialised communities, informed by the Australian Human Rights Commission’s forthcoming research on media regulation and standards. 
 
48. Australian governments and media organisations provide ongoing funding for community media outlets, including for First Nations-controlled media outlets. 
 
49. Digital platforms develop stronger, transparent protocols to allow users to report and remove racist content, including mis- and disinformation. These protocols should be informed by the Commission’s forthcoming research on interventions to address mis- and disinformation and online hate. 
 
50. Australian governments, media and arts organisations, and other private sector organisations fund campaigns, initiatives, and projects that are community-led and take a strengths-based approach to storytelling about First Nations and other negatively racialised communities. 
 
51. Media and arts organisations conduct regular audits of content to assess biases and gaps in the representation of diverse voices, and to collect and publish metrics on workplace representation of First Nations and other negatively racialised communities. This must include an assessment of whether media and arts organisations are meeting content targets and targets to improve the representation of First Nations and other negatively racialised staff. 
 
52. The Australian Government establish a research fund to better understand experiences of racism and effective anti- racism strategies to create a more accessible, diverse, equitable, and representative media and arts landscape in Australia. 
 
Health Data 
 
53. Australian governments identify racism as an urgent national health priority with significant impacts on the physical and mental wellbeing of First Nations and other negatively racialised communities. Solutions should prioritise partnership and shared decision making with at-risk communities, including people with disability and older persons. 
 
54. Australian governments mandate comprehensive cultural safety and anti-racism education throughout all health curricula, and within all workforce practice standards and regulation requirements. 

55. Australian governments fund healthcare providers to partner with First Nations peoples on the integration of traditional healing practices that acknowledge historical trauma into mainstream healthcare systems.  

58. The Australian Government fund a body comprising First Nations experts on Indigenous Data Sovereignty to partner with First Nations communities to embed Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance on a national and state and territory level.   

59. The Australian Government adopt and fund a National Anti-Racism Data Plan (‘the Plan’). This Plan must outline a national approach to collecting, using, and managing data on experiences, reports, and impacts of racism across states and territories and local jurisdictions. To achieve this, the Australian Government resource the Race Discrimination Commissioner to: a. establish an advisory group comprising anti-racism data experts or practitioners from First Nations and other negatively racialised communities, and representatives from government agencies to oversee the Plan 
 
56. Australian governments provide adequate funding to develop targeted programs to address health issues disproportionately affecting at risk-groups within First Nations and other negatively racialised communities, particularly in rural and remote communities. b. inform and develop the substance of the Plan on the advice of the advisory group c. lead consultations with communities, academics, and data experts to inform the priorities, outcomes, and other details of the Plan d. ensure findings and outcomes from recommendations 58 and 60-63 are incorporated into the Plan. 
 
57. Australian governments provide adequate funding for interpreter services to be provided as standard within services, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language interpreters. This funding must also cover training on effective interpreter use and the recruitment of interpreters to meet evolving language needs. 
 
60. The Australian Government and relevant non-government organisations commit to collecting data about experiences of racism, including systemic and structural racism, in ongoing national surveys. The Australian Government provide appropriate funding where necessary to relevant agencies and non- government organisations to collect this data. 
 
61. Australian governments fund the Australian Human Rights Commission, anti-discrimination and human rights bodies, and work, health, and safety agencies to collect intersectional data under their respective mandates. The Australian Human Rights Commission be tasked to work in partnership with these bodies to develop an approach with advice from the body established under recommendation 58 on collecting disaggregated, intersectional data on complaints and reports, particularly as they relate to race/ ethnicity and racism in employment settings. 
 
62. Australian governments commit ongoing and adequate funding to existing or prospective third-party reporting mechanisms that take an anti-racist approach to collecting data about racism as it affects different communities to continue collecting this data and to strengthen or establish initiatives, including providing support services (e.g. psychological and legal support) to targets or witnesses of racism. 
 
63. The Australian Government review the Australian Standards for the Classification for Cultural and Ethnic Groups and the Standards for Statistics on Cultural and Language Diversity and develop new standards on the collection of administrative data about ethnic identity by adequately funding: a. the Australian Human Rights Commission to lead independent consultations on community understandings of race and ethnicity, with supporting research b. the Australian Bureau of Statistics to revise the data standards, informed by the research in (a) and from other relevant stakeholders. Outcomes from these processes should inform whether a question on ethnic identity should be introduced into future Australian Censuses. This may involve the establishment and funding of a Working Group, convened by the Australia Bureau of Statistics and as part of work under the National Anti-Racism Data Plan, to develop a question.