Fragmented data conceals extent of racism in Australia

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 27 Oct, 20:32 · Archive

Australia's human rights watchdog says inadequate data collection is erasing people's experiences of racism, making the critical problem harder to tackle.

Australia's human rights watchdog says people's experiences of racism are being erased because data on race and racism in the nation is fragmented or collected inconsistently. Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman told media that under-counting made the 'critical problem' harder to tackle. 'We're missing so much of the picture at the moment,' he said. 'Racist violence is on our streets in the worst possible way. Yet we still don't have good means of collecting data on where racism is occurring, who it is affecting, and what solutions will work best.'

Data is gathered in a piecemeal way from police reports, community organisations and complaints to the commission. Mr Sivaraman said barriers to reporting included fear of retaliation. 'In my experience, it's often the case that the person that reports racism or makes a complaint suffers far more than the perpetrator,' he added. He noted that people often believed nothing would happen if they reported racism.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has called for a national anti-racism plan involving an advisory group with First Nations representatives and those from other communities. This would ensure these groups had agency over how their data was collected and used. Mr Sivaraman said Australia had a troubled history of data collection, particularly regarding Indigenous people, noting that 'data on First Peoples was collected to remove Aboriginal children from families'.

How it is being reported

• Missing data hides true reality of deep racism problemsPeople's experiences of racism in Australia are being erased as a result of unsatisfactory data collection, making the "critical problem" harder to tackle.The West Australian · 27 Oct, 20:02
• Missing data hides true reality of deep racism problemsPeople's experiences of racism in Australia are being erased as a result of unsatisfactory data collection, making the "critical problem" harder to tackle.Perth Now · 27 Oct, 20:02

In this story: Australian Human Rights Commission · Giridharan Sivaraman · Australia

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