Darwin Community Consultation Report
Racism and civil society: A community consultation held at NT House, Darwin NT, on 25 June 2001
Speakers:
- Tom Stodulka,
Northern Territory Anti Discrimination Commissioner (Chair)
- Dr William Jonas, Race Discrimination Commissioner and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, HREOC
Theme 2: Victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Theme 1: Sources, causes, forms and contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
The participants agreed that racism is a huge problem in the NT. It exists at all levels of society. Not only do individuals practice racist behaviour, some overtly, some subtly, but that racism and racial discrimination occur at a systematic and institutionalised level. It is this kind of racism that is harder to see and more shrewdly practiced.
The group spoke about the more obvious incidents of racism. For example, the treatment of Aboriginal people in shopping centres - being searched and generally harassed is common.
Aboriginal people experience racism every day. Aboriginal people experience refusal of service in pubs and by shopkeepers serving other customers first. Aboriginal people are often harassed and asked to move on when gathered in a public space like a park or a mall, even though they are just sitting around and talking. Their behaviour is deemed 'anti-social', while backpackers and groups of non-Indigenous youths are not subject to this kind of attention even though they also gather in these public spaces.
A non-Indigenous participant's young son, whilst in a popular Darwin department store with his mother, witnessed an Aboriginal family with baby in a pram, being searched by the store security guard. The only reason for the search, it appeared, was the family speaking and laughing loudly with each other while waiting at the checkout. The participant's wife and son who were waiting behind the family at the checkout were not searched. Upon leaving the store the son commented to his mother that what had happened to the family was racist. At 6 years old he could recognise racial discrimination.
The group agreed that was a general acceptance of a lesser standard of housing (public and private rental) available for Aboriginal people.
There was a discussion about identity issues. One participant raised the issue of how people who are not full blood Aboriginals, or those Aborigines who have fairer complexions and have a mixed ancestry, experience racism from both outside and inside the Aboriginal community. This type of discrimination is rife in the Northern Territory where Aborigines are expected to be 'very black'. It was stated by one participant that it was good that some high profile Aborigines were 'fairer' as this has challenged the assumption that to be an Indigenous Australian you have to have very dark skin. The discussion raised questions of authenticity and challenges to the romantic imagery that non-Indigenous Australia has about Indigenous Australians.
The Land Rights Act discriminates against "fairer" Aboriginals - if you look white you can't be an Aboriginal and certainly not deemed to hold traditional values.
The [former] Northern Territory Chief Minister's recent remarks concerning the temporary closure of Uluru, due to the death of an Elder from the Mutijulu community, were blatantly racist, and showed a clear lack of understanding of and respect for the cultural practices of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankuntjatjara peoples who are the traditional owners of Uluru.
Contributing to racism and racial discrimination is the complicity and inaction of fellow citizens who do not speak out when witnessing racist behaviour and acts of racism.
People know what racism is, but feel they cannot speak out or do anything about it, people do not want to interfere. This is especially so if the recipient of the racism does not say anything themselves. By doing so it may make the situation worse.
The media portrays asylum seekers and refugees as illegal immigrants and this is reflected in the way they are treated by the community. This is especially so for refugees coming from Middle Eastern countries. Perhaps this is a reason why refugees from Middle East when resettled in Darwin generally tend to relocate to Sydney or Melbourne shortly after.
The Minister for Immigration, Philip Ruddock does little to dispel these ideas of illegality and queue jumping. His rhetoric includes images of refugees 'flooding' Australia, as well as the ill-perceived notion of bringing "their troubles with them" by not leaving the conflict with their enemies behind (and sadly to some, confirmed by the recent riots in detention centres). This deliberate promulgation of misinformation by Minister Ruddock contributes to the general assumption that most asylum seekers and refugees, especially those from the Middle East, are violent criminals.
However people from East Timor are treated differently, perhaps because they are perceived as neighbours. When East Timorese people fled to Darwin following the violence which erupted in response to the Vote for Independence, they were treated with kindness. A tent city was erected to provide accommodation for people fleeing the violence that had broken out in East Timor. This was considered a good experience for Darwin, the community really rallied around.
People from East Timor and Africa in fact are treated better than Aboriginal people, with compassion and empathy.
Parallels can be made about with the Katherine floods: the Darwin community rallied around and supported the people from Katherine who were affected by the floods. However two years later during the Daguragu and Kalkirindji floods, which affected mainly Aboriginal communities, the same support was not generated. The State Emergency Service was accused of being slow to act when people were left for days without food and clean drinking water. There was general suspicion, echoed in the media, about the amount of goods received and the cost of replacing things like white goods and carpets. There was also a general notion that while the people in Katherine and East Timor were 'deserving' of public support and donations, Aboriginal people were somehow less deserving and donations became 'handouts'.
Concerns about the media emphasising identity of Aboriginal or Asian persons, especially if crime committed, but persons are not identified if white. This kind of reporting promulgates negative perceptions of Aborigines. Aboriginal people are always perceived to be at a certain socio-economic level.
The media still distinguishes between town ("urban") and rural ("traditional") blacks emphasizing a difference between peoples.
A discussion developed about whether the mandatory sentencing regime in the Northern Territory was in theory and practice racist. Participants spoke of how mandatory sentencing appeared inconsistent with the crime, disproportionately affecting Aboriginal people. The following examples were given:
- a 14 day custodial
sentence to an Aboriginal youth for stealing $8.00 worth of eggs
- 1 year custodial sentence to an Aboriginal man for stealing a towel from a clothes line
Also considered in this discussion was the impact of the Western legal system on Aboriginal people and its lack of consideration or inclusion of Aboriginal traditional law, even though some aspects of this were considered in the Mabo case.
While all government departments have a component in their funding to provide interpreter services there is still resistance to spending this funding. (If the funding is not spent then is it not accountable?) For example if a person goes into hospital and requires an Aboriginal interpreter the hospital has to pay for the interpreter service. The reluctance to spend this funding on interpreter services means the service is very underutilized. Is this simply because agencies and departments have to pay for the service out of their budgets? Is the service too expensive? Is the service inadequate? Or is there some other more systemic reason that interpreters are not called for? However, it was acknowledged that there have been some good developments in interpreter services, especially in the use of Indigenous languages.
Organisations like Anglicare, by employing only Christians, are discriminating against other religions. There is a general reluctance by people of other religions to use the service. This problem is very evident in the Aged Care sector.
The lack of funding to ethnic organisations, the move towards mainstreaming and the restrictions on organisations to be service providers only and not perform advocacy or lobbying functions, diminishes and to some extent silences voices of certain communities.
Other issues raised:
- Systematic racism
- Perpetrators
can be victims too.
- The idea of diversity
(multiculturalism) does not extend to Aboriginals.
- Diversity goes
much further than food and music
- Aboriginal people are not listened too or if they are, it's done patronizingly.
Utilise the private sector more for training and scholarships: the private sector holds the keys to capacity building. At the same time communities need to be aware that they cannot rely solely on legislation to create change within the community.
In Western Australia Aboriginal groups have collaborated and have achieved some successful negotiations as a group more so than they would have achieved in the past.
A mistake we need to learn from is that what starts out as good project quickly gets taken over by contractors and consultants and is taken out of the community's hands. Communities need to negotiate more with contractors.
Participants raised the issue of the CDEP program which was established as a measure to allow Indigenous people to have access to meaningful work and receive training in exchange for welfare payments to the community. While the program began as a measure that would train Aboriginal people so they could obtain employment in the mainstream labour market, it was believed that for many Indigenous people work in CDEP has become an end in itself, with significant problems with conditions such as no sick leave, no union coverage and no superannuation. Participants claimed non-Indigenous people are now receiving training through CDEP schemes and going on to secure employment elsewhere, whereas Indigenous people are often overlooked for "mainstream" jobs and continue to work for the CDEP scheme. Therefore much of the funding meant to train Indigenous workers is in fact going into the training of non-Indigenous people and the community yet again misses out. Some participants believed the CDEP is therefore an example of Aboriginal people being treated differently under a government program on the basis of their race.
The issue of funding and blaming the victim mentality was discussed in terms of funding groups to develop and carry out programs and projects. If adequate and ongoing, funding should be provided to a scheme/project that is successful. Therefore appropriate monitoring should be provided as well. Adequately funding a project and ensuring its ongoing success (if deemed successful) may stop the accusations by government and public that millions of dollars are spent and no good comes out of it.
The issue of remoteness need to be overcome in the Northern Territory. For too long lack of services has been blamed on remoteness.
Theme 2: Victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
- Aborigines
- Aboriginal youth
- Elderly Aboriginals
- Refugees and some
migrants
- Asylum seekers
There is a real sense of a fear of authority and lack of self-esteem amongst some Aboriginal people and communities. If someone pushes a black person, the black person usually won't push back.
For aged members of Aboriginal and ethnic communities aged care is a problem, as there is a lack of cultural sensitivity provided in aged care facilities.
Theme 3: Measures of prevention, education and protection aimed at the eradication of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at the national, regional and international levels.
There must be an acknowledgement that while cultural awareness program are an essential tool in the re-education of the community there are some groups and individuals in the community who suffer from a lack of self-esteem as a result of racism and related discrimination. There must be programs for these people to assist them in developing self-esteem.
Recognition that the current complaints system relies on affected individuals having to lodge a complaint with the relevant authority (whether that be employer, service provider or rights agency). The complaints process can be consuming, both in time and emotional well-being. It was acknowledged that often people prefer just to get on with their lives. The suggestion was made that if groups could lodge complaints on behalf of individuals this may make the process easier and more supportive for the aggrieved individual.
That to make a complaint using State and Federal mechanisms requires a lot of effort and bravery. The system is not easy or seen as user friendly for Aborigines or people from particular ethnic backgrounds.
Sticks'n'Stones was a community arts project for young people celebrating different cultural identities and promoting racial tolerance conducted during 1999 - 2000 by the Torture and Trauma Survivors Service of the Northern Territory (TTSSNT) and Tracks Inc, a dance and performing arts company. It was funded under the Living in Harmony initiative, and as such was only funded for a 12 month period.
The project worked with young people from refugee, migrant, Indigenous and Anglo-Australian backgrounds in Darwin. Participants worked with artists and cultural story-tellers to produce a range of art works including banners, textile sculptures, dances and a website containing messages for harmony, poems, stories and images from participants. Many of the stories were from people who had experienced conflict and intolerance. They used the website to post their ideas about how to create peace, understand difference and promote racial tolerance. Artists and cultural storytellers from refugee, migrant, Indigenous and Anglo-Australian backgrounds came to workshops with the young people to share their skills and their own life stories, and to show how they try to work for harmony and racial tolerance through their art.
The website was hosted by QANTM for a further 12 months until the end of June, 2001, but unfortunately after this time there were no longer funds to keep it going.
Attempts have been made to obtain funding to continue the work of the Sticks'n'Stones project, and in July, 2001 TTSSNT was informed of funding through the Australia Council and the NT Dept of Arts and Museums for a much smaller-scale 6 month project working with refugee and Indigenous young people, "Strong People, Strong Stories". This will again be a writing, visual arts and craft and website project for young people.
Quotes from participants on the Sticks'n'Stones website. [1]
"Don't try to make people be the same as you, just try to find out something about them, because although we are all different, we are all people who deserve to live".
"If we, a group of teenagers can appreciate and tolerate each other's cultures, everyone else can do it as well".
1. Stronger legislative protection against racism.
2. Ensuring core curricula provide accurate recounting of Australian Aboriginal history.
3. A proactive anti-racism program at all levels of education system be implemented.
4. Media to commit to an anti-racism strategy/code of conduct, which will include effective and adequate monitoring. The code would include not using ethnic identifiers where irrelevant to the story.
5. Federal, State, Territory and local governments to implement comprehensive and ongoing anti-racism strategies.
6. Federal government to provide business with tax incentives for the implementation of anti-racism strategies, for example:
a. An employment diversity strategy be a prerequisite for government funding
b. Extra funding incentives for broader community development activities.7. Federal government to fund and implement regular ongoing anti-racism advertising campaigns.
8. Public education campaign on special measures and rights.
9. Agencies receiving government funding to ensure that service delivery is accessible and appropriate to all sectors of a diverse society.
10. Regular anti-racism/cultural awareness training for all members of the public service and the judiciary.
11. Full implementation of recommendations of:
a. Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
b. Bringing Them Home Report
c. Reconciliation Council
d. United Nations Committees
e. National Inquiry into Racist Violence.
1. This information supplied to HREOC by The NT Torture and Trauma Survivors Service.
