Responding to racism
We are excited to have kicked off 2023 with renewed funding and ongoing support from our partners and supporters. Read on for information about the campaign, promotional offers and ways to get involved.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
March 21st will mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD). This observes the day in 1960 that police opened fire on a peaceful anti-apartheid demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, killing 69 people.
In Australia, this day is sometimes referred to as ‘Harmony Day,’ after being rebranded in 1999. While the political approach of recent decades has often been to promote harmony and inclusion, in the words of QLD Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall, this “can’t be the broom we use to sweep Australia’s ongoing and deeply ingrained racism under the rug”. Therefore, this IDERD, we encourage you to meaningfully acknowledge the harms caused by racial discrimination and strategise for change.
We are preparing a standalone newsletter dedicated to IDERD for our Racism. It Stops With Me supporters. It will include downloadable, informative assets and suggested copy for you to use in your own communications to promote awareness with your respective audience, or to promote organisational events or initiatives you may be running on, or around, IDERD.
In the meantime, if you’d like to discuss how we can work together to amplify the message of this important day, please contact antiracismsecretariat@humanrights.gov.au
Note- If you'd like to sign up to receive these Racism. It Stops With Me supporter updates via direct email, please scroll down to the very bottom of the page and enter your details in the 'Sign up for updates' section.
Spectator Racism resources win gold!
The Campaign Team is thrilled to announce that anti-racism resources created for the Spectator Racism Project have won GOLD at the 2023 Australian Design Awards.
Released in 2021 in partnership with sporting organisations, anti-racism experts and our creative partners at Creatik Design, the Spectator Racism Project aims to support Australian sporting organisations to prevent and respond to incidents of spectator racism. Resources include guidelines, policy templates, posters, social media tiles and more, and are available for download here.
Shout out to design partner Creatik Design for their incredible design contributions to this work! .
Racism. It Stops With Me evaluation and next steps
Sincere thanks to all those who recently participated in the 2022 Racism. It Stops With Me relaunch evaluation survey. It was incredible to receive so much feedback from so many supporters, including 399 of you!
This feedback is already playing a central role in helping us evaluate the campaign and strategically plan next steps to support increased racial literacy and anti-racist action across Australia.
The Campaign Team is currently working with key stakeholders to identify activities for the coming year. This will include new campaign content, resources, promotions and more. Stay tuned for further updates in the coming months.
Update: National Anti-Racism Framework
Community Guide
The Commission has been working on a community guide version of the National Anti-Racism Framework Scoping Report, tailored for individuals and community-based organisations. This is intended to be an accessible overview, communicating the findings to date and next steps in progressing the development of a national anti-racism framework. The community guide will be released within the coming months, so be sure to keep a look out!
LinkedIn carousels
Since the release of the scoping report in December 2022, we've been elevating key themes and priority areas highlighted in consultations and submissions on the scope and vision for Australia's first national anti-racism framework through educative carousels posted to the Australian Human Rights Commission's LinkedIn page. We invite you to scroll through the carousels to learn more about these key findings.
In the news
The Racism. It Stops With Me campaign team welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement to provide a pathway to permanency for people who hold a Temporary Protection Visa or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (TPV or SHEV).
If this applies to you and you need assistance with the process of applying for a permanent visa, we encourage you to attend one of the community information sessions hosted by the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS). To access this service, simply register for a community information session in the language of your choice via this page of the RACS website.
The RACS fact sheet on permanent Visas for TPV/SHEV Holders is available for download here.
Sign up your organisation as a supporter of the campaign
To find out more about our organisational supporter program or to sign up your organisation, visit the ‘Support the Campaign’ section of the campaign website.
Note- If you'd like to sign up to receive these Racism. It Stops With Me supporter updates via direct email, please scroll down to the very bottom of the page and enter your details in the 'Sign up for updates' section.