Racism in Australia

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www.spinneypress.com.au/180_book_desc.html
Editor: Justin Healey
ISBN 1 876811 89 7
Year 2003
Price: $18.95
Racism in Australia
Volume 180, Issues in Society

Although Australians generally pride themselves on living in a tolerant,
multicultural country, racial tensions are often never far from the surface.
This book explores racial discrimination and the law in Australia; ways of
moving beyond racial tolerance to understanding; community attitudes to
immigrants and asylum seekers; the media's representation of particular
ethnic groups; and recognising and eradicating racism in schools.






Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Racial Discrimination and the Law — Racial discrimination:
Commonwealth of Australia laws and policies; The Racial Discrimination Act;
Racial Hatred Act; State and territory legislation; The International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Chapter 2: Racism: Beyond Tolerance — A fair go; Racism in Australia: a
potted history; Racial discrimination in Australia: a UN report; Moving
beyond tolerance towards the elimination of racial discrimination in
Australia; Unity in diversity?; Tolerance isn't always a virtue; Let
Australia aim higher than tolerance; Why racism is part of the Australian
way; What happened to the country than once welcomed me?; You will be
assimilated; Home of intolerance; Migrants say we're not racist; From anti-
racism to interracial trust: a cultural perspective; Racism: how can white
Australians respond?; Countering racism in schools; Recognising racism in
schools; Cancelling out racism.

Glossary; Facts and Figures; Further Resources; Index.

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Facts & Figures
• The Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) gives effect to Australia's obligations
under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination. The RDA aims to ensure that all Australians can enjoy their
human rights and freedoms in full equality regardless of their race, colour,
descent, or national or ethnic origin, being an immigrant (in some
circumstances) or being a relative or associate of someone of a particular
ethnicity or other status. (p.1)

• Under the RDA, racial discrimination is unlawful whenever it impairs a
person's equal enjoyment of his or her human rights and fundamental freedoms as
set out in Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination. In addition, the RDA has specific provisions
making it unlawful to discriminate in areas such as employment; land; housing
and accommodation; provision of goods and services; access to places and
facilities for use by the public; advertising and joining a trade union. The
RDA also makes indirect racial discrimination unlawful. (p.1)

• The Racial Hatred Act extends the coverage of the Racial Discrimination Act
to allow people to complain about racially offensive or abusive behaviour. In
1995, the Racial Hatred Act amended the RDA by adding in new laws specifically
dealing with racial vilification. The Racial Hatred Act gives effect to some of
Australia's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination. The Racial Hatred Act aims to strike a balance between
two valued rights — the right to communicate freely and the right to live free
from vilification. (p.2)

• It is racial discrimination to treat someone less favourably because of his
or her race, colour, descent, national origin or ethnic origin than someone of
a different 'race' would be treated in a similar situation. This is known
as 'direct discrimination'. (p.3)

• It is also racial discrimination to make everyone satisfy the same criterion
when the effect is that a higher proportion of people of one 'race' cannot
satisfy it, unless the criterion is reasonable and relevant to the particular
circumstances. This is known as 'indirect discrimination'. Unlike direct
discrimination, indirect discrimination may be able to justified. (p.3)

• The State and Territory anti-discrimination laws are administered by
specialist commissions that investigate complaints and try to resolve them by
conciliation. Where the complaints cannot be resolved by conciliation, they are
referred to specialist tribunals that hold hearings into the complaints. This
involves all the relevant people giving evidence in the tribunal and the
tribunal then makes a decision about the complaint. (p.6)

• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination 1966 was one of the first human rights treaties to be adopted by
the United Nations (UN). The Convention is widely supported, with more than 156
countries (four-fifths of the membership of the UN) having ratified it.
Australia ratified the Convention on 30 September 1975. (p.7)

• Racism is not only reflected in personal attitudes and behaviours, it can be
expressed in the values, presumptions, structures and processes of social,
economic, cultural and political institutions. Such institutional racism is
less direct and harder to identify for what it is than personal attitudes and
behaviour. Structures and processes may appear to be non-discriminatory but in
fact operate to systematically advantage or value some groups over others. (p.9)

• Racism and xenophobia are closely related and often overlap. Xenophobia is
generally understood as a fear of, or hostility towards foreigners, or people
who are considered outsiders to the community or nation. At its heart it
includes attitudes, prejudices and behaviour that exclude and vilify and reject
individuals by drawing a boundary between those who are accepted and those who
are outsiders or foreigners to community, society or national identity. (p.10)

• Racism is an attack on the very notion of human rights. It systematically
denies certain people their full human rights just because of their race,
colour, descent, ethnicity, caste or national origin. It is an assault on the
fundamental principle underlying the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) – that human rights are everyone's birthright and apply to all without
distinction. (p.10)

• While the process of reconciliation has helped many non-Indigenous
Australians to be more aware of the experiences and perspectives of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people, much remains to be done. As the United
Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has pointed out
in March 2000, institutional factors such as some processes, laws and
administrative practices still operate to the systematic disadvantage of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people today. (p.11)

• Many immigrants to Australia have experienced racial discrimination. Our
migration policy has only relatively recently, and perhaps not completely,
shaken off the racist attitudes of the nineteenth century, which led to the
White Australia policy. Even today, there are those in Australian society who
disparage and abuse those who have immigrated here or have fled their homeland
seeking protection from persecution. (p.11)

• The 1970s saw the end of the White Australia policy and the re-emergence of
the multicultural character of Australia that had been suppressed for a century
or more. Racism, xenophobia and intolerance continue to be forces operating in
modern Australia. (p.12)

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