MELBOURNE, 9 December 2022: The concern against all forms of racism in Australian society has been deeply felt and the need for collective action to combat it desired. To address this the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) after extensive consultations and submissions recently submitted a ‘National Anti-Racism Framework Scoping Report 2022’ (NARF). The 176 pages report was uploaded on the AHRC website on 6 December, 2022.
The Commission undertook more than 100 consultations in 48 locations around the nation. 164 public submissions were received nationwide, including a significant portion from individuals. This included a submission from The Humanism Project (THP) and others on the issue of caste (Pages 73 & 74) to be a part of this framework. For the first time in Australia, caste has been included in a framework report. The NARF says it is a reference point to guide actions on anti-racism and equality by government, NGOs, community or maybe anyone.
The NARF quotes from THP’s submission – “We emphasise that casteism is an intersectional system of discrimination which includes but is not reducible separately to either of skin colour, religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality, ancestry/descent, work or occupation. … there is a need to recognise caste as a protected category in anti-discrimination legislation and policy.”
The NARF report says, ” The Commission heard that greater acknowledgement of, education on, and responses to this overlap of casteism and racism, is a key component of recognising the intersectional experiences of caste discrimination within Australia’s multicultural migrant communities.”
“An acknowledgement and recognition of caste discrimination based on research-based evidence by the AHRC in its National Anti Racism Framework Scoping report paves way for wider discussion on the issue of caste practices and casteism, and hopefully Australian organisations and educational institutes will now understand the grave danger caste discrimination poses, and not only take this seriously, but include it within its diversity, equity, and inclusivity policy. We would certainly continue to work in this space to create an awareness, and fight any form of discrimination, especially casteism, ” says Vikrant Kishore, who played a prominent role in framing the THP submission to the AHRC.
In a Tweet ‘Equality Labs’ says “We thank the Australian Human Rights Commission for a landmark consultation on race, including a crucial section on caste discrimination that validates the experiences of caste oppressed people. We look forward to the next steps of this historic document.”
Babu Gogineni , a prominent anti-caste activist talking to SAT, welcomed Australia’s recognition of caste as a form of discrimination a great step in the fight against it whose victims number in the hundreds millions especially in South Asia but which has now spread across the world due to immigration.
In March 2021, the Commission released a proposal for a National Anti-Racism Framework in response to enduring community calls for national action after heightened experiences of racism and racial inequality in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal contained guiding principles, outcomes and strategies to begin a national conversation about anti-racism action.
From March 2021 to April 2022, the Commission consulted with the public, peak and community organisations, experts, service providers, human rights agencies, and government at all levels on the scope and vision for a Framework.
This scoping report provides an initial evidence-based summary of what the Commission heard about a national anti-racism framework from communities, sector organisations, government, scholars, and expert knowledge holders to date.
The report also highlights some of the existing good practice anti-racism solutions being undertaken across the nation.
As the culmination of these consultations and submissions, the scoping report identifies key considerations for the principles that should underpin a framework, three cross-cutting themes consistently raised by participants, and three sector-specific priority areas to guide this work moving forward.
Worldwide the efforts to sensitise Governments and societies to discrimination due to Caste are continuing. It started most prominently in the Durban Conference on Racism connected to the UN. Recently in the US Silicon Valley companies are taking note where class action suits for discrimination are underway. Several years ago the British House of Lords passed a Bill to outlaw discrimination based on Caste but this legislation got stuck with the House of Commons. Nepal has a Dalit Rights Commission.
READ NARF – NATIONAL ANTI-RACISM FRAMEWORK SCOPING REPORT
