Australian Human Rights Commission Australia and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), Shadow report to the CERD Committee – 8 July 2010 123. The report found that the negative effects of these experiences on young African Australians can include low self esteem; reduced motivation; increased delinquency; depression and mental health problems particularly linked with reliance on substance misuse; and a greater likelihood of encountering problems with the law. Recommendation 36: That human rights education modules be incorporated into the National Curriculum for secondary schools and the Australian Government provide a comprehensive package of measures to address commitments under the World Programme for Human Rights Education. 101 7.8 Cyber racism (ICERD Article 2) 124. The Australian Human Rights Commission notes that developing strategies to address contemporary forms and manifestations of racism (such as racist materials promoted through communication technologies) is outlined in paragraph 143 of the Durban Declaration. 125. The Australian Human Rights Commission is concerned about the increasing number of complaints (around 18 percent) received in relation to web based racist content in recent years. 126. On 27 April 2010, the Australian Human Rights Commission and Internet Industry Association hosted a one-day Summit to initiate a dialogue about the issue of cyber-racism and possible solutions. 127. More than 50 people from a wide range of sectors attended the session. This included representatives from federal government agencies, Internet service providers, social networking companies, NGOs, academics, social changers and young people. 128. This cross-sector event marks an important milestone in co-operation on an area of mutual concern to government, industry and the community. All participants benefited from a better understanding of the nature and prevalence of cyber racism, and contributed information, expertise, experiences and ideas about how these issues are currently being handled. 129. Nine themes emerged during the Summit: • While all recognise the positive power of the Internet, it is clear that it can be used inappropriately to convey racist messages which can do harm. This is an important human rights issue and community issue. • While cyber-safety is now on the radar of a wide range of groups in our community – including the groups that participated in the Summit – cyberracism has gathered less attention. The challenge is to incorporate cyberracism within broader cyber-safety strategies and (II) develop new initiatives focussing on cyber-racism itself. 34