4. Detailed findings and insights 4.1 Federal government Australian government work addressing racism can loosely be traced to the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948 and the role the then Calwell Government played in the Declaration's adoption. However, it took concerted and bipartisan efforts in the decades that followed to enact Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA). This is the foundational federal legislation which sets out the principle of equity for people in Australia regardless of race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status. The RDA enshrines in domestic law Australia’s commitments under the aforementioned Declaration as well as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to which Australia is a signatory. Another key international human rights instrument is the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007 and endorsed by Australia in 2009 (Australia is not yet a signatory). The UNDRIP articulates the right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination, or to have control over their own economic, social, cultural and political destinies. It is also worth noting the recent 2021 Australian Statement for the Interactive Dialogue on Combatting Racism. In addition to the RDA, relevant domestic legislation includes: • The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) Act enacted in 1986. • The Racial Hatred Act 1995 which amended the RDA to allow people to complain about publicly offensive or abusive behaviour based on racial hatred. At a policy level, the Federal Government currently has an Australian Multicultural Council (AMC), a ministerially appointed body under the Department of Home Affairs which provides advice to government on multicultural affairs, social cohesion and integration. In lieu of a national First Nations representative body, the Coalition of Peaks, a representative body of more than 80 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled peak organisations and member bodies formed as an act of selfdetermination to be formal partners with Australian Governments and share in decision-making on Closing the Gap. The research team found a greater stakeholder response rate at the federal level, as well as more published information by Federal Government departments and agencies. A desktop review was undertaken of relevant websites using the search terms ‘racism’, ‘First Nations’, ‘multicultural’ and ‘equity’, and 11 interviews conducted involving 21 Federal Government stakeholders. This section provides a summary of the outcomes of those federal level research activities. 11