Key findings
The Commission heard from participants on a range of issues concerning data, education, public
awareness, and cultural safety. Participants also identified legal protections, justice, and media
regulations and standards as other areas of concern.
Data
Participants stressed the need for comprehensive, national data on the prevalence, nature, and
impacts of racism. Many criticised Australia’s current approach to data collection for anti-racism
purposes. Data was highlighted as an important means of raising awareness about the extent of
racism and racial inequity and as an important means of securing the appropriate resources and
funding to address racism. Establishing mechanisms to collect data on cultural diversity broadly
and across institutions and services was a main priority, as well as ensuring ethical approaches
and processes around data collection that would protect communities from unethical data
collection, management, and reporting that often results in deficit characterisations of First
Nations peoples and people from migrant, refugee, and faith-based backgrounds.
Education and public awareness
Education and public awareness raising were priorities for participants. Improving
understanding about race and racism in Australia was identified as an opportunity to connect
people through common understandings and build momentum for change, including through
anti-racism initiatives and actions. Participants advocated for anti-racism initiatives within
educational institutions to improve racial literacy. This includes truth-telling about Australia’s
colonial and migration history, and anti-racism training and education for students and teachers.
Cultural safety
Cultural safety was identified by many participants as a best-practice approach to addressing
race-based barriers and harms experienced in relation to job-seeking, and especially within the
workplace. Cultural safety was also offered as a solution to what was described as the
ineffectiveness and limits of workplace diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Cultural awareness and cultural competence training for staff was recommended as being
essential to building a respectful and inclusive workplace. Participants described how culturally
safe workplaces provide a foundation for culturally safe service provision and identified
community-controlled service provision, trauma-informed and healing approaches to service
delivery, anti-racist competencies that underpin service delivery, and accountability mechanisms
to protect these principles as strategies to build upon this foundation.
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