Discrimination And Racial Discrimination

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Racial discrimination, that is, abusive behaviour shown to another on the basis of their race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin, or immigrant status, is at the forefront of legal issues in modern Australia. In Australia’s past, apartheid has been practiced, where indigenous Aboriginal people have lost almost all their land and suffered heavy prejudice. The notorious policy that led to the Stolen Generation was also practiced; that is, the institutionalised attempt to prevent Aboriginal children (and thus future generations) from being brought up into the Aboriginal culture. Earlier in Australia’s history, the Australian government also introduced the White Australia Policy, which restricted the emigration to Australia of anyone not of ‘white’ origin through a series of tests specifically designed to fail anyone that was not deemed favourable (e.g. anyone with any skin colour other than white). Although Australia has not had a good background when it comes to laws that act in favour of those discriminated against on the basis of race throughout its history with the persecution of Aboriginal peoples, the White Australia Act, and such, Australian law has come a long way with its subsequent abolition of the White Australia Act, the implementation of the Racial Discrimination Act, and with this, ensuring the right of an individual to not suffer harassment on any level and in particular to not suffer harassment as a result of his or her racial background. Recent proposed changes to this law threaten to undermine the whole point of the law, which is to protect people from discrimination.
According to Section 9 of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cwlth), ‘It is unlawful for a person to do any act involving a distinction, exc...

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...ctions we currently have in existence this [the 2005 Cronulla Riots] will happen again." It also has the staunch opposition of the two most populous states of Australia, NSW and Victoria. NSW Premier, Mike Baird, said, "The concerns across the multicultural communities in this state are saying 'we're worried, we're afraid', and we're standing up for them. We're prepared to stand up for what we think is right." Victoria's Multicultural Affairs Minister, Matthey Guy, also said, "There should be no changes to the federal Racial Discrimination Act and we'll be very, very clear in our submission to say so. The Victorian Government stands very firmly against any changes to the federal act." With two highly influential states taking such a decidedly oppositional approach to this change, it is not going to be quite so easy for this change to be accepted by the wider public.

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