CEO message: November
It has been a busy end to the month of November, with the launch of Victoria’s first Anti-Racism Strategy, as well as the National Anti-Racism Framework released by the Australian Human Rights Commission.
CMY welcomes the release of Victoria’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2029, which recognises the significant and lasting impacts of racism on our community, and the urgent need for action. It represents a five-year plan to tackle racism and discrimination in Victoria, and build a safer, fairer and more inclusive state.
We support the Victorian Government’s focus on:
- Reducing racism and discrimination in policing,
- Strengthening appropriate and culturally safe supports for people who experience racism and discrimination,
- Building the capability of organisations to be anti-racist,
- Building the capability of complaint and oversight bodies to better respond to reports of racism, and
- Delivering anti-racism campaigns in sport to drive behaviour change.
I attended the launch on Wednesday and endorse the prioritisation on tackling systems issues to address racism but at the same time, it was disappointing to note that education initiatives are not being prioritised and addressed immediately, and funding of $4 million for initiatives is inadequate to meet the need. Read more.
The launch of the Strategy coincides with proposed changes to anti-vilification legislation in Victoria, introduced to Parliament on Tuesday. CMY welcomes these critical and long-awaited reforms, which aim to protect more Victorians from hate and vilification, and strengthen social cohesion. Read more.
The launch also follows the release of the National Anti-Racism Framework, developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission. The framework sets out a roadmap to eliminate racism in Australia, with 63 recommendations for the Government to implement.
Our colleagues at the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (MYAN) have advocated for a comprehensive national plan to address racism over many years. They actively contributed to the development of the framework, providing input and insights from national consultations with multicultural young people, which were pivotal in shaping the framework.
Carmel Guerra OAM
CMY CEO