Melaleuca is very proud to have witnessed the official launch of the Anti-Racism Framework: experiences and perspectives of multicultural Australia by the Race Discrimination Commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman at the FECCA Conference in Brisbane this week. Melaleuca CEO Kwame Selormey said the framework reflects a significant amount of work that will change multiculturalism in Australia for the better, while reducing racism nationally. FECCA (Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia)
This morning, the Commission released the findings of nationwide consultations with people with lived experience of racism. The report, 'An Anti-Racism Framework: The Experiences and Perspectives of Multicultural Australia', was commissioned by the AHRC and conducted by the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA). Among the key findings was that, despite the diversity of people’s backgrounds – including location, age, disability, sexuality, faith and cultural background – racism was prevalent throughout the country and entrenched in society. It also found governments and the media are culpable in further marginalising people through a culture of silence which either ignores or minimises incidents of racism, or stokes divisions through sensationalist rhetoric. Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman will release the report today at the FECCA Conference in Brisbane, where he will deliver a keynote address. “These powerful and at times heartbreaking first-hand accounts reaffirm the fact that racism in Australia is ubiquitous, insidious and profoundly damaging," he said. “People spoke of how they felt they had to lose their identity to fit in, their experience of subtle acts of discrimination or alienation at school, work or their communities, and biases they felt in dealing with those in power. Sadly, people not feeling safe because of their race is widespread.” Read the statement in full: https://loom.ly/ywBWK8Y Read the report here: https://loom.ly/PtiXxKw