The AHRC Act gives the President of the Commission powers to obtain information when inquiring into complaints of unlawful discrimination and breaches of human rights, and when inquiring into acts or practices that may be inconsistent with human rights. 7 If the President has reason to believe that a person is capable of providing information or producing documents relevant to certain inquiries under the AHRC Act, the President can compel them to do so. 8 Once compelled to give information or produce documents, a person must not refuse or fail to do so, unless they have a ‘reasonable excuse’. 9 The Commission receives complaints of unlawful discrimination under the four federal anti-discrimination statutes. 10 This includes complaints of discrimination, harassment and bullying based on a person’s race. The Commission also has the power to intervene, with leave of the Court, in Court proceedings that involve issues of race, sex, age and disability discrimination, human rights issues and equal opportunity in employment. The power to seek leave to intervene in cases involving issues of race discrimination is contained in s 20(1)(e) of the RDA. When a relevant human rights or discrimination issue arises in a case and the Commission could provide expert assistance that would otherwise not be available to the Court, the Commission may seek leave of the Court to intervene in the proceedings. The Commissioners also have the function of assisting certain Courts as amicus curiae in discrimination matters. (a) Expertise and capability of the Commission to conduct the Study The Commission is uniquely positioned to lead this Study, drawing on its legislative functions, subject matter expertise and stakeholder relationships across the Australian community. Open, respectful dialogue is the cornerstone of the Commission’s community engagement, and the Study will draw on these capabilities to maximise participation in the Study. The Commission’s work strongly focuses on understanding the prevalence and impact of racism to formulate practical solutions. The Commission released the National Anti-Racism Framework in November 2024 and delivers an anti-racism public awareness and education campaign. Recently, the Commission has also commenced a program of community engagement and awareness raising about racism to support Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim and Arab communities through funding from the Department of Home Affairs. These initiatives will be discussed further in Part 2. The Race Discrimination Commissioner has strong, collaborative relationships with stakeholders, spanning the breadth of peak bodies, community groups and individual experts in race discrimination. The Commission has leveraged these networks to conduct initial consultations and will continue consultations and 14