Radio Brisvaani
Brisbane, September 23 (MCCQ Newsdesk)
The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) has welcomed the Australian Government’s $2 million commitment to the Call It Out First Nations racism register, while calling for sustained national action to address racism and for an adequately funded anti-racism campaign developed with First Nations and multicultural communities.
The government announced on September 3 that up to $2 million would be provided to Call It Out, which is led by the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney in partnership with the National Justice Project. The funding will support the register and the establishment of an online data dashboard to help inform anti-racism action.
FECCA said the initiative would strengthen efforts to document racism and discrimination experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The organisation said making racism visible through data was an important step, but argued that documentation should be followed by action.
FECCA called for a sustained and properly funded national anti-racism campaign, developed in partnership with First Nations and multicultural communities. It said such a campaign should recognise the different experiences of communities across Australia and provide people, workplaces and institutions with tools to respond to and prevent racism.
The government said Call It Out provides a culturally safe and trauma-informed place for First Nations people and other Australians to report incidents of racism and discrimination. The register is described by the government as the only national, Indigenous-led collection of data on racism against First Nations people.
FECCA also called for action on recommendations from the Multicultural Framework Review and the Australian Human Rights Commission’s National Anti-Racism Framework.
The Human Rights Commission’s framework contains 63 recommendations covering areas including law, justice, health, education, workplaces, media and arts, and data collection.
The Commission has said the framework was developed through extensive engagement with First Nations and multicultural communities and is intended to provide a coordinated approach to addressing racism across Australian society.
FECCA’s position places the Call It Out funding within a broader discussion about how racism is documented and addressed in Australia. The organisation said identifying and documenting racism was important, but the ultimate objective should be action that helps prevent racism and supports communities experiencing it.
The government said the Call It Out investment aligns with Priority Reform Four of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which focuses on shared access to data and information.
