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.
...ndigenous recognition and the removal of racist remarks has been an on-going theme for a vast majority of time. The necessity of Constitutional reform to close the gap on cultural divide as well as support the on-going concept of reconciliation is essential in ensuring Australia continues to improve and nurture its relationship with Indigenous peoples. The process of amendment through referendum has proven to be problematic in the past, with the success rate exceptionally low. Though with key factors such as bi-partisan support, widespread public knowledge and correct management, the alteration to remove racial discrimination and provide recognition for Indigenous persons within the Constitution is highly achievable. If proposed and eventually passed, this will provide assistance in eliminating many of the cultural gaps Indigenous persons face throughout society.
Rice, S (2011) ‘Reflections on reforming discrimination laws in Australia’, Human Rights law Centre, viewed 4 October 2011, .
Cunningham, J. & Paradies, Y.C. 2013, 'Patterns and correlates of self-reported racial discrimination among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, 2008-09: analysis of national survey data', International Journal for Equity in Health, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 47-61.
The rights of Indigenous Australians were restricted by the Government policy of protection and assimilation. The Aboriginal Protection Act was passed in 1869, which gave power over the lives of Aboriginal people to the government, such as where they could live or work. They removed mixed decent Aboriginal children from their families in an attempt to assimilate them into white society. The Child Welfare Act 1939 abandoned this policy and gave Indigenous parents the right to take their children back. But the children were moved far away, and even if they were found and returned, many of them were mistreated and didn’t return the same to their families. This had devastating effects on Indigenous parents, and many white Australians didn’t understand this impact at the time.
Throughout the world, in history and in present day, injustice has affected all of us. Whether it is racial, sexist, discriminatory, being left disadvantaged or worse, injustice surrounds us. Australia is a country that has been plagued by injustice since the day our British ancestors first set foot on Australian soil and claimed the land as theirs. We’ve killed off many of the Indigenous Aboriginal people, and also took Aboriginal children away from their families; this is known as the stolen generation. On the day Australia became a federation in 1901, the first Prime Minister of Australia, Edmund Barton, created the White Australia Policy. This only let people of white skin colour migrate to the country. Even though Australia was the first country to let women vote, women didn’t stand in Parliament until 1943 as many of us didn’t support female candidates, this was 40 years after they passed the law in Australian Parliament for women to stand in elections. After the events of World War Two, we have made an effort to make a stop to these issues here in Australia.
The Race Relations Act 1976 was established to prevent any form of discrimination occurring on the grounds of race. Under this act individuals are protected and shielded on the basis of colour, race, nationality etc. This Act also includes the rights for an individual who is treated less favourably because of someone’s race. The Race Relations Act 1976 makes race discrimination unlawful in employment, education, training and provision of goods, facilities and services. The Race Relations Act 1976 defines discrimination as direct, indirect and victimisation. The Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 came into force on the 2nd of April 2001. This Act requires all public authorities to make the promotion of racial equality central. This allows public
In the world, Australia has a special status. This status is difficult to convey on the grounds that on the one side, Australia needs to regard the human rights and on the other side, it needs to control the movement. A century back, Australia began to frame its own particular government. Thus, the Australia, out of nine unique states and regions got to be one country. Nevertheless, this country needed to figure out how to get on well with the Aboriginal people, which ended up being an incredible issue for the whites. The youthful recently shaped government chose to adapt the blended blooded children into their new and free country, not realizing that this would be the start of the Stolen Generations and would separate the nation into half
The assimilation policy was a policy that existed between the 1940’s and the 1970’s, and replaced that of protectionism. Its purpose was to have all persons of aboriginal blood and mixed blood living like ‘white’ Australians, this established practice of removing Aboriginal children (generally half-bloods) from their homes was to bring them up without their culture, and they were encouraged to forget their aboriginal heritage. Children were placed in institutions where they could be 'trained' to take their place in white society. During the time of assimilation Aboriginal people were to be educated for full citizenship, and have access to public education, housing and services. However, most commonly aboriginal people did not receive equal rights and opportunities, for example, their wages were usually less than that paid to the white workers and they often did not receive recognition for the roles they played in the defence of Australia and their contribution to the cattle industry. It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that expendi...
Sex is one of the most central themes in society today, with generally everybody in the world, adults and children, either seeing it in the mass media or taking part in it, whether it be for their career, for reproductive reasons, or for pleasure. Because of its predominance, sexuality plays an important, if not the most important, role in social inequality, causing double standards, violence and internal self-worth issues for minorities. Factors such as pornography, prostitution, and the way people view homosexuality and intersexuality as repugnant all influence the prejudice ways in which society views and treats women, homosexuals, and intersexuals.
The perpetrators referred to the employee and other customers as being ‘curry munchers’ or ‘boat people’. Disputation aroused when the company declined the employee’s claims, with relying on investigation by a WorkSafe insurer that rejected worker’s compensation on the basis of management acted “rationally”. Luckily, the RDA has a legal procedure to prevent racial discrimination – contacting the Australian Human Rights Commission, furthermore the political right racism victims have is a solicitor, advocate or trade union, which may protest on the victims’ behalf. To lodge a complaint, firstly, fulfilling a remonstrance document via online or hardcopy, for those whom English isn’t a first language a translator is available. Conversely, Anti-racism gambits were required across Australia, as racial bigotry can be seen as a mounting culture that is urgently mandatory to be controlled. This is a prime sample of racism in Australia and how it’s still a prominent concern for many citizens. Additional awareness and fortification should be provided for everyone in contradiction of discrimination. Contrastingly, many Muslim Australians also experience discrimination and racial abuse, from a report comprised from Australian Human Rights Commission, the RDA
Discrimination is the denying of services and fair treatment to a single person, group of people, and or nation based on their nationality, gender, sex, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. Prejudice is a feeling or opinion about a person or group prior to receiving knowledge about this person or group. When I think of discrimination, the first things that pop into my mind is slavery and the holocaust. Slavery has occurred throughout the whole world but slavery in the U.S. is what we first think of when we hear the word slavery. The African American people were brought to the U.S. to work for the white American's for free and where undernourished, whipped, separated from their families and sometimes killed. The life of slaves varied based on their duties, master, and location. Slaves working in the field worked sun up to sun down 6 days a week and were sometimes fed food that was not even fit for animals to eat.
In many cultures finding your identity is hard. It is even harder to not be labeled for what you look like in society. Currently, people have changed the way that they judge each other and are judging everyone based on the idea of their ethnicity. As I grew up, who I was as a person did not matter because everyone did not bully me based on the color of my skin. I assumed I was just like everyone else. Although when I became a teen things changed. After 9/11, my race and ethnicity mattered more and people treated me differently because I was labeled as a Muslim.
Prejudice refers to one’s biased opinions and ideas of others, based on secondary information. Hence, the internalized ideas concerning the prejudiced members in society does not result from personal experiences, but information from third parties. Where prejudice is prevalent, the social relationships between the concerned individuals become strained and unmanageable. The existence of equality in society discourages the frequency of prejudice on racial grounds. The content of this discussion explores the concept of prejudice, as it relates to racial inequality and discrimination. The discussion features the Emmanuel AME Church shooting scenario, which characterizes racial discrimination and inequality. The discussion further examines the role
"KAFFIR". When you see or hear this word, what runs through your mind? Do you
Unfortunately due to our past history, discrimination had been among us from since decades. Discrimination and prejudice would probably be among us until the end of the world. Prejudice and discrimination is an action that treats people unfairly because of their membership in a particular social group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs to rather on that individual. It is an unfair treatment to a person, racial group, and minority. It is an action based on prejudice.