Introduction
We must ask ourselves, as a State do we have a State-wide anti-racism initiative that focuses on how racism impacts on the individual, affects broader outcomes of productivity, belonging, commitment and economic growth? The simple answer is no. We must also ask ourselves, do we have a State strategy, with practical and measurable outcomes that treats racism as a serious threat to social cohesion, human rights and democracy itself? The simple answer is again, no.
At Sherlock & Dutta Consulting we believe that communities are rapidly changing. Sherlock & Dutta Consulting is a company that focuses on taking an educative response to working alongside all levels of government, companies, organisations and institutions to make noticeable differences within Tasmania, by taking practical steps to address the impacts of racism.
Statistics and Scholarship on Racism in Australia
Racism has been identified as a major source of injustice and a health burden in Australia and across the world. [1] In 2023, a report released by the ACT Human Rights Commission, highlighted a perceived lack of action from adults, in particular school officials and sporting bodies, urging institutions to develop and implement anti-racism policies and procedures. The report also requested that institutions develop comprehensive and age-appropriate classroom resources, and encourage sporting bodies to ensure that coaches, referees and other volunteers have appropriate resources, knowledge and skill to identify racism and respond appropriately.
In 2021, the Scanlon report found an unprecedented rise in respondents’ answers to the question “how big a problem is racism in Australia?”. Some 60% of survey respondents indicated it was a “very big” or “fairly big problem” as opposed to 40% in 2020.
Furthermore, in March 2022, the Diversity Council report found 43% of non-white Australian employees commonly experience racism at work, while only 18% of “racially privileged” workers reported racism as a problem. These statistics not only highlight how widespread racism remains, but how often it is dismissed by those benefiting from levels of privilege. In 2021, Amanuel Elias, Fethi Mansouri and Yin Paradies released their book ‘Racism in Australia Today.’[2] The book discusses the nature of contemporary racism and the spectrum of its complex manifestations – e.g., institutional, structural and interpersonal—drawing on empirical research undertaken over more than fifteen years. The book discusses institutional racism and its social costs – investigating ‘whether and to what extent there are structural and systemic barriers in Australia that preclude racial and ethnic minorities from attaining racial equality across multiple domains (e.g. law, political representation, education, employment, health and business).’ It notes that Australian society remains largely dominated by the Anglo-European population with minorities frequently experiencing disadvantage, discrimination, social exclusion and less social, political and economic representation. The authors highlight that researchers and social policy practitioners postulate that the socioeconomic circumstances and political underrepresentation of minority groups, points to ongoing systematic and structural racial inequality and injustice.
The book also discusses the social and economic impacts of racism by drawing on current national and local empirical research, it discusses how racism across wide-ranging settings affects minority groups as well as the wider Australian society. The research indicates that racism results in ‘avoidable inequalities that affect minority racial groups disproportionately.’ It notes that research has widely ‘shown that exposure to racism is a stressor for racial minorities. Experiences of racism have strong associations with mental and physical health, labour market and educational outcomes, socioeconomic status and economic inequalities.’ Exposure to racism, in combination with other adverse factors has a profound impact on an individual’s ability to meaningfully and productively contribute to the society in which they live.
The research is clear that:
1. Australia has a ‘big problem’ with racism; and
2. The influence of racism on individuals has impacts on social and economic outcomes, within the community and broadly on society. With the impact of racism on the individual at the forefront – and how this, in turn impacts the broader community – this project proposal seeks to address issues in a practical and educative manner – at an institutional, structural and interpersonal level.
[1] Ben, J., Elias, A., Issaka, A. et al. Racism in Australia: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Syst Rev 11, 47 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-022-01919-2
[2] Elias, A., Mansouri, F. & Paradies. Y. Racism in Australia Today. Palgrave Macmillan Singapore (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2137-6
Stage 1: ‘Racism Hurts Me’ Initiative – Raising Awareness
Rationale
As a State we do not have a coordinated state-wide anti-racism initiative and strategy that addresses racism at institutional, structural and interpersonal levels. Research indicates that incidents of racism are on the rise. Having a uniquely Tasmanian anti-racism initiative and strategy could foster social cohesion.
Government, sporting, professional and education institutions are an integral part of daily life, but within the daily routines of life, many in our community face the ongoing barrage of racism. Creating awareness around the impacts of racism on the wellbeing of an individual, has the potential to empower these individuals, which creates a positive outcome for communities, and society on the whole. As such, we seek support and ask the State Government to take leadership in an area that is impacting the mental health, productivity, safety, security, and sense of belonging of many individuals who are committed to this beautiful and multicultural state.
More often than not, those receiving racism are advised to ‘move on’, ‘let it go’, ‘don’t let it impact you’ – and many other phrases that place the onus on those impacted by racism, instead of taking a proactive, education-based approach regarding the impacts of racism on the wellbeing of the individual. Sherlock & Dutta Consulting is of the opinion that utilising the 3 E’s approach: education, exposure and experience, is an effective way of addressing this. Education can start within the education system, as early as primary school (if not sooner) – but essentially must also come from taking a proactive approach to educating our communities. Education can be the catalyst for reducing ignorance, it is the foundation that drives exposure and experience, and education potentially limits breaches of anti-discrimination legislation. A initiative that is uniquely Tasmanian.
Who Is The Initiative For?
Exposure can be curated through the different levels of education, government, various modes of services (police, health, fitness centres etc.), organisations, sports clubs, community events, presentations and productions. Exposure is not just about food and culture, but about the opportunity to expose individuals to accounts of the racism that is experienced within the daily life of many. It is about exposing and exploring the well-meaning, but often misguided unconscious behaviours that facilitate racism within the all domains of intercultural interaction. It is about exploring the unconscious biases and assumptions that live within us.
Experience is cultivated by giving an individual the opportunity to stand in the shoes of someone who has received racism. Whilst it is well established that those who have experienced racism understand its sting, it is potentially harder for individuals to understand something that they have not experienced themselves. Creating secure settings (working-groups, workshops etc.) that provide real life and real time understandings of the impacts of racism through experiencing and addressing racism, enforces and spotlights the deep feelings felt by others, and in doing so builds understanding and greater empathy.
Essentially, there needs to be proactive actions that aim to reduce such behaviours – from all levels of leadership, within government, NGO’s, sporting clubs, organisations, schools and other institutions. Sherlock & Dutta Consulting are cognisant of the fact that we may never fully address racism, but we can certainly aim to implement strategies that distils awareness of racism – in the hope of reducing accounts of it. We believe this starts with a strategic and planned staged process of educating our community through the development and sharing of knowledge.
What Does This Initiative Aim to Achieve?
Stage one aims to educate and expose our community to the impacts of racism. This stage includes developing a directed advertising initiative focusing on the hurt and mental health impacts felt by those in the multicultural community who receive racism. The Racism Hurts Me Initiative will:
• Work with local artists, photographers, digital creators, and models to create advertising material that showcases individuals from a variety of different age groups and backgrounds, with a focus on the individual and the impacts of racism on one’s wellbeing. Advertising material will be developed in collaboration with individuals who are linked to various government, educational, sporting and community institutions.
• Create testimonials from individuals who have experienced racism and how it impacts their mental wellbeing in a format that can be hosted on an appropriate website and through a variety of social media channels.
• Create testimonials from individuals who rarely face racism, but have come to understand its impacts, sharing their thoughts on what individuals and the community can do to assist those feeling the impacts of racism.
Stage 2: Anti-Racism Strategy – Taking Action
Rationale
The approach of diversity and inclusion training, while important, often appears to cement conceptual realities instead of incorporating a solutions-based approach with practical deliverables. This second stage adopts an approach from academic research, grounded in principles of equity. The proposal initially scaffolds awareness through the ‘Racism Hurts Me’ Initiative (Stage 1) and then introduces the Anti-racism Strategy (Stage 2), with the aim of achieving tangible outcomes. It aims to focus on community and individual hurt and the crippling anxiety and depression caused by racism, while introducing methods that can be implemented to help reduce accounts of racism. It will focus on de-stigmatising conversations about the impacts of racism and provide the opportunity to positively share experiences of racism in the workplace.
Who Is The Strategy For?
The second stage aims to focus on the individual and organisations. Firstly, it aspires to help individuals to connect with other support mechanisms within our community. Secondly, it aims to deliver training, forums and reviews on policy positions and development, to organisations. The second stage incorporates the education and training aspect from an equitable – rather than equality framework. The equity approach is a new way forward – undertaken by current research on anti-racism strategies, as it seeks to develop methods of how to incorporate equitable methods to training modules and policy adaption strategies that account for racism. These modules are intended for all levels including: employees, management, board members, ministers, volunteers, coaches and others within the target organisation.
What Does This Strategy Aim To Achieve?
The second stage of this anti-racism proposal aims to develop an educational package, forums and review process stemming from the initiative, and aims to:
• Consult with Department of Education staff to introduce learning and teaching within schools on the impacts of racism. Scaffold staff and student learning through curating opportunities to hear, discuss and openly challenge concepts of racism in a supported environment.
• Develop a structured educational package and forum program for organisations that can be delivered to management, administrative staff, ministers, board members, teachers, coaches etc., across the State, which focuses on the mental health impacts of racism in our community.
• Create, design and implement cultural and communication awareness modules and ‘upstander’ training. Upstander action refers to the intervention and support that ‘bystanders’ can give to victims of racism. This training will tailor its approach to similar pathways established by Western Sydney University’s Bystander Anti-Racism Project.
• Create material to address the root causes of racism: video interviews from sport and civic leaders, psychologists, therapists and social workers on how to address ignorance and issues of racism impacting those in the sporting arena. Leaders across various levels of community shall be asked to be involved in these videos.
This stage aims to focus on the individual. It aspires to help individuals to connect with other support mechanisms within our community. It aims to focus on community and individual hurt and the crippling anxiety and depression caused by racism. It will focus on de-stigmatising conversations about the impacts of racism in our society by drawing strength from reputable mental health and wellbeing organisations and community leaders. The central focus would be to get all levels of society together to talk about what racism feels like, conversations from these members regarding facing racism during their lifetime, what can be done to support others and creating dialogue and community ownership of tackling issues of ignorance, gain knowledge and sharing. It would provide the opportunity to positively experience racism in a safe and comfortable space. The Racism Hurts Me Initiative will:
• Collaborate with mental health professionals, Men’s Sheds, other agencies and not-for-profit organisations such as the Black Dog Institute, Stay Chatty, Mental Health Councils, Youth Task Force, etc. to develop an educational package and forum programs that highlight the negative impacts of racism on mental health and wellbeing. Seek to develop relationships and foster workshops together to support and create understanding around racism in our communities.
• Engage with a wide range of community and service organisations such as RSL clubs, Rotary clubs, sporting clubs, community organisations, community halls, etc. to include the educational forum into their programs through community nights or similar events.
• Engage with Government Departments, Colleges, the University, businesses and organisations to take proactive steps within the workplace to introduce an educational package and workshop opportunities in workplaces, and curate secure spaces to express the impacts of racism.
