An Anti-Racism Framework: Experiences and Perspectives of Multicultural Australia The Community Consultation Process An Anti-Racism Framework: Experiences and Perspectives of Multicultural Australia The consultations were designed to ensure a wide spectrum of participation across locations. Consistent with the Commission’s scoping report, nine groups were identified as those that were more likely to face racism overlapping with other forms of discrimination. These groups included: For the delivery of the consultations, FECCA engaged eighteen organisations to consult with diverse multicultural communities across the country (for a detailed description of the consultation process, see Attachment A). A total of 44 consultations sessions were undertaken between November 2023 and May 2024, covering all states and territories, and including over 860 participants. • Refugees and asylum seekers • Women • LGBTQIA+ multicultural groups • Young people • Older people • People with disability From the outset, FECCA acknowledged the challenges of holding safe conversations about racism with people and communities with lived experience of racism. As guidance for consultations, the following principles were adopted: • People and communities of faith • New and emerging communities • Communities with prominent caste systems • Trauma-informed, recognising the need to ensure safe spaces for individuals to share and to exercise choice throughout the consultations, as well as the importance of validation of their experiences and acknowledgment of their strengths and views. In addition to the above groups, one consultation was conducted with members of multicultural community media, given the importance of media in reflecting presentday society and shaping public opinion. Parallel to the consultations, a short online survey was distributed. • Strength-based, centring the diverse knowledge of people with lived experience of racism in the definition, understanding and identification of recommendations to address racism. • Intersectional lens, recognising overlapping forms and systems of discrimination that are associated with a range of individual and community characteristics, and which require a more nuanced understanding of how racism is experienced together with other forms of discrimination. Upon completion of the consultation process, participating organisations were provided with the opportunity to apply for a small grant to implement community-based activities of their choice, to support a greater understanding of racism as well as initiatives to address and prevent it. This step was built into the design of the consultations from the beginning, as a mechanism to avoid the one-sided extraction of information, and to offer communities a small opportunity for action. • Approach to Data Analysis All entries were reviewed, and the most common themes included: The variety and complexity of lived experiences with racism shared by the participants made the task of summarising them into a report quite challenging. Unlike quantitative data, qualitative data reveals nuances, contexts, personal and interpersonal aspects that are central to understand racism. Our analysis identified general thematic categories, whilst incorporating unique and specific insights to remain closer to the voices on the ground. The consultation reports were prepared by the organisations that ran the consultations. Not all organisations provided full transcripts, but they all included quotes from participants in their reports. The quotes used here were drawn from those reports, and apart from minor punctuation changes, were not edited. This aimed to keep readers closer to the voices of the participants. In addition to the consultations, 465 people replied to the survey, with 411 valid responses.17 The analysis of the survey data was restricted to the valid responses. In addition to demographic characteristics, the survey proposed the following question: Systemic racism • Education and training • Participation and representation • Justice and the legal system • Racism against First Nations people The analysis privileges an intersectional lens to racism, and institutional racism and systemic racism, as opposed to interpersonal racism. This aims to contribute to education about what racism is, going beyond the misconception of racism as a matter of individual beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that individuals ‘have’ or ‘do not have.’ An anti-racism framework must make visible and address the institutional norms and the broader systems that sustain racism beyond individual interactions.18 The writers of the report acknowledge that many other personal stories shared with generosity in consultations, deserved to be mentioned and might not have been included as examples. This is a limitation which hopefully will be compensated by bringing to the public not only cases of racism but the proposals those with lived experience have to inform Australia’s anti-racism agenda. What do you want to tell the Australian Government about racism in Australia, and how it can be addressed? Community-led, recognising the importance of trusting relationships and more direct connections to communities to conduct this type of work. 17 10 • Some participants submitted some demographic data but they either provided incomplete answers that did not allow a proper understanding, or did not answer the survey question. 18 See Racism. It stops with me campaign website, https://itstopswithme. humanrights.gov.au/resourcehub/5-common-myths-andmisconceptions-about-racism-self-reflection-and-education-guide 11