Overview
Racism can have a harmful impact on the cultural identity and confidence of Aboriginal Victorians. Research shows that experiences of racism can also have detrimental long-term health effects, both mentally and physically.
Measures under Goal 20 have mixed results
Aboriginal peoples’ experiences of racism has remained steady. Aboriginal people in Australia have also reported that Australia is a less racist county than previous years.
Closing the Gap – Relevant Outcomes and Targets for Goal 20
The National Agreement Priority Reform Three requires that government institutions and agencies identify and eliminate racism. Victoria is pursuing more ambitious and comprehensive goals under the VAAF which are reported on in this chapter and the Data Dashboard.
Closing the Gap - How Victoria is tracking nationally
Not applicable.
Data Note
All measures under this goal are reported on.
20.1 Address and eliminate racism
Measure 20.1.1 Proportion of Aboriginal people who report having experienced racism in the previous 6 months
What does the data say?
In 2024, 18.2 per cent of Aboriginal respondents to the VPHS experienced racism in the last 12 months.
Does the data show improvement or decline?
In 2023, 17.5 per cent of Aboriginal respondents experienced racism. Since 2020 1.7 percentage point more Aboriginal respondents experienced racism in the past 12 months.
With the percentage of Aboriginal respondents experiencing racism increasing over the long-term this means that the results for this measure are declining.
How does this compare with non-Aboriginal results?
In 2024, 7.4 per cent of non-Aboriginal respondents to the VPHS experienced racism. Aboriginal people are 2.5 times more likely to experience racism in the past 12 months than their non-Aboriginal peers.
Measure 20.1.2 Prevalence of racist attitudes against Aboriginal Victorians held by the Victorian community
What does the data say?
In 2024, 56 per cent of Aboriginal respondents to the Australian Reconciliation Barometer agree/strongly agree Australia is a racist country. It should be noted that this data is for all Australia and not only for Victoria.
Does the data show improvement or decline?
Since 2022, fewer Aboriginal people consider Australia a racist country by 1 percentage point. Since 2014, more Aboriginal people consider Australia a racist country by 8 percentage points.
The long-term increase in respondents who agree/strongly agree that Australia is a racist country means that the results for this measure are declining.
How does this compare with non-Aboriginal results?
In 2024, 41 per cent of the general community responded agree/strongly agree that Australia is a racist country.
Goal 20 – Victorian Government Investment and Action
The key Aboriginal Governance Forum for realising outcomes in this Domain is the State-wide Caring for Country Partnership Forum.
The Victorian Anti-Racism Strategy
The Victorian Government is one year into implementing the five-year Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2029, which seeks to prevent and address race and faith-based discrimination in our state, and strengthen outcomes for First Peoples, multicultural and multifaith Victorians.
The strategy aligns with this government's commitment to advancing First Peoples’ self-determination through Truth and Treaty, as well as the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
Through the strategy, the Victorian Government has invested $4.0 million to deliver four flagship actions:
- a Local Anti-Racism Initiatives (LARI) Grants Program to deliver community-led responses to racism, including a dedicated First Peoples stream
- a state-wide anti-racism campaign in sport
- a program to build the capacity of frontline police to take human-rights centred approaches when engaging with First Peoples and multicultural communities
- an anti-racism program for workplaces, led by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, titled 'Better Than That.’
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