Goal 1: Racist attitudes, behaviours and beliefs are recognised, challenged and rejected

Every Victorian must understand that discriminating against people based on race or religion is against the law. All of us are responsible for eliminating racist behaviours. It should not be left to the people who have experienced racism. This must be reflected in all areas of society.

To achieve this, we will focus on:

community-driven initiatives to shift attitudes and behaviour at the local (grassroots) level

strengthening community understanding of racism and addressing racism in areas such as sport

groundbreaking legislative reforms and community-driven action to address racism and vilification in Victoria, improving protections for all Victorians.

Challenging and changing behaviour is the most effective way to shift attitudes over time.

Guided by the lived experiences of our community, we will work to ensure race discrimination and vilification are no longer tolerated in Victoria and lead a path to anti-racism.

Education and action needs to come from people of all walks of life. Developing anti-racism strategies and educating others should not be the sole responsibility of people from multicultural backgrounds. We can all better educate the people in our lives to not be racist and how to better support people who are victims of racial abuse.
– Survey respondent

Key areas for action

Community-driven initiatives to shift attitudes and behaviour at the grassroots level

Support First Peoples, multicultural and multifaith communities affected by racism to create local solutions driven by lived experience.

Anti-racism campaigns to drive behaviour change, increase awareness of rights and build accountability

Strengthen community understanding of racism and address racist behaviours in sport.

Groundbreaking reforms and community-driven action to address racism and vilification in Victoria

Strengthen Victoria’s anti-vilification laws as part of the response to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Anti-Vilification Protections including:

increasing protections for all Victorians

banning the Nazi salute.

Deliver grassroots community campaigns to tackle antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Future priority areas

Support education initiatives to challenge racist attitudes and create a more inclusive education system.

Amplify First Peoples, multicultural and multifaith voices in the media.

Goal 1 case studies

Levels of racism in regional and rural Victoria are generally the same as in urban areas.[128] However, a lack of access to culturally safe and targeted supports and services in regional Victoria can make the effects of racism and discrimination worse.[129]
Regional Victorians told us that racism leads people to withdraw from the community. This increases feelings of not belonging and affects health and wellbeing.
They also told us that people who experience racism in regional areas often do not report it. This can be because of a lack of access to services or a lack knowledge about reporting. It can also be because in a small community – where everybody knows everybody – there is a fear that filing a report will lead to social exclusion.
In 2021 the Victorian Government funded 42 organisations through the LARI grants program to help local organisations empower communities to tackle racism.
LARI reached more than 23,200 people directly and millions more online. A number of LARI grants targeted regional and rural Victoria, including $450,000 to 4 local community organisations to tackle racism in Greater Shepparton:
- Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District Inc ran training for large regional organisations to build cultural competency and cultural awareness among staff. The sessions, which were led by First Peoples and multicultural and multifaith trainers, reached 140 senior staff from large regional organisations and service providers. The participants reported positive organisational changes from taking part in the training program.
- Greater Shepparton Lighthouse created an anti-racism leadership program focusing on Year 5 and 6 students at primary schools in the region. More than 800 students took part in the program. The program helped students identify racism and turn what they had learned during the workshop sessions into actions.
- Know Your Roots worked with Greater Shepparton Secondary College and several community and sports organisations to support First Peoples, refugee and migrant community members to identify and report incidents of racism and build a sense of belonging. Almost 1,500 people took part in the project, of which more than 500 were young people. The Know Your Roots workshops were run by trainers from First Peoples and refugee and migrant backgrounds. The workshops helped build connections and respect between First Peoples and multicultural and multifaith communities in the region.
- Rumbalara Football and Netball Club Inc, with Kaiela Institute and the University of Melbourne, created a Yorta Yorta–led Anti-racism in sport program for local sporting clubs in Greater Shepparton and the Goulburn Murray region. Involving almost 180 participants, the program increased the community’s understanding of racism in sport and its impact on people’s lives
The presence of Aboriginal and migrant project officers working together has created opportunities for intercultural exchange and promoted greater respect and understanding among young people from different backgrounds. This unexpected outcome highlights the importance of diversity and the value of creating opportunities for different cultural groups to work together and learn from each other.
– Know Your Roots
To combat antisemitism, the Victorian Government has delivered a range of measures to send a clear message that Nazi ideology and the hatred it spreads is not tolerated in Victoria. This includes:
- undertaking law reforms to prevent harm caused by Nazi symbols and gestures, including strengthening the Summary Offences Act 1966 to ban the public display of the Nazi Hakenkreuz symbol and the public display and performance of the Nazi salute
- expanding Holocaust education professional learning opportunities for Victorian government secondary school teachers
- making sure that Holocaust education is included in the Year 9 history curriculum in all Victorian government schools.
The education programs build on community programs such as Courage to Care’s Upstander programs. The Upstander programs empower participants to act, giving them practical tools to stand up against racism, bullying and prejudice in the schoolyard, workplace and community.
Change usually occurs at grassroot levels … when communities are empowered and educated, they can make meaningful changes that permeate the wider society. Those small organisations and individuals making a difference need help.
– Survey respondent
Schools Standing Up to Racism(opens in a new window) is a collaboration between the Centre for Multicultural Youth and the Victorian Department of Education. It offers a range of resources to support schools to address racism and discrimination in their school environment.
Resources include:
- an action plan(opens in a new window) for creating inclusive school communities (a step-by-step anti-racism approach for schools at any stage of their journey)
- an anti-racism policy template(opens in a new window) that schools can adapt for their context
- an anti-racism conversation guide(opens in a new window) for teachers and school leaders
- reflection tools(opens in a new window) for staff and students
- lesson plans(opens in a new window) for primary and secondary students
- a supporting resource(opens in a new window) on family engagement.
The resources aim to support schools to create safe spaces in which to build the intercultural awareness and understanding needed to prevent and address racism and discrimination.
Schools Standing Up to Racism encourages a whole-of-school approach and actively promotes student voice to create meaningful and sustainable change

Measuring our progress: signs of impact

We will know we are on track for success when:

more Victorians understand that they have a role to play in combatting and preventing racism
First Peoples, multicultural and multifaith communities feel safer in their everyday lives, including seeing a reduction in the national level of racism so that:
- fewer Australians experience discrimination based on skin colour, ethnic origin or religion (down from 18%)[130]
- fewer First Peoples experience racism (down from 60%)[131]
there is more social cohesion in the state, including seeing a reduction in the number of Victorians who feel that multiculturalism does not make life in their area better (down from 6.7%)[132]
community-led organisations have increased capacity to address and respond to racism
community sports organisations are actively practising anti-racism activities.

[128] O’Donnell, Mapping social cohesion 2023

[129] Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), Bright Futures: rural and regional report, Victorian Government, 2018

[130] O’Donnell, Mapping social cohesion 2023

[131] Polity Research and Consulting, 2022 Australian Reconciliation Barometer

[132] Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI), Victorian Population Health Survey 2020 – Dashboards, VAHI, 2020

Updated 27 November 2024