Australian Human Rights Commission
Input to 2024 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 47/21
31 March 2024
5. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent published a
report in September 2023, which found that in Australia, people of African
descent experience significant structural racism across areas including
employment, education, health and the legal system. This, along with
experiences of interpersonal racism in everyday life, compounds the
discrimination and harms that people of African descent face, and impacts
their enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. This
leads to racial disparities, which are also evident in many other countries.
6. The Working Group’s report was informed by the findings of the
Commission’s scoping consultations to progress a National Anti-Racism
Framework (the Framework), explored further in the following section.
7. The scoping consultations for the Framework raised several key
manifestations of systemic racism experienced by African Australians and
those of African descent. These were published in the National Anti-Racism
Framework Scoping Report (the Scoping Report) and relate to media
representation, harmful public narratives, racialised policing, lack of
comprehensive data, and challenges across education, employment and
access to services.
8. The Commission has also previously undertaken consultations for past
related projects such as: In our own words - African Australians: A review of
human rights and social inclusion issues; the Racism. It Stops With Me campaign;
and the Sharing the Stories of Australian Muslims project. These consultations
raised similar manifestations of systemic racism experienced specifically by
African Australians and those of African descent were raised. These include:
a)
Media representation: Media reporting about African Australian
communities is often biased and prejudicial. This is amplified in situations
where there is an intersection with religion, particularly in African
Australian Muslim communities. Social media can also be a space where
racism is directed towards African Australians.
b)
Leadership narratives: Political and leader statements can be deficits-based
and perpetuate stereotypes and prejudices. They are also often
intertwined with media narratives, with negative portrayals similarly
amplified when it intersects with religion.
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