Melbourne Aboriginal Community Consultation
Aborigines Advancement League, Melbourne Victoria, 16 July 2001
Approximately 30 Aboriginal community members, mainly Aboriginal Elders, attended this community consultation.
Examples of racism in Victoria
Strategies for addressing racism
Issues Raised
- Racism happening
to Aboriginal people because they are indigenous - not just because
they are black
- Racism happening
to indigenous people is not the same as that occurring to black migrants
- Racism directed
at Aboriginal people is also coming from migrants
- The following have impacted, and continue to do so, on the Aboriginal people and their status in Australia:
- Constitution
- lack of appropriate reference to Aboriginal people and their status
as the traditional owners of land
- State laws
(eg. Aboriginal Protectorate Laws)
- Federal Laws
- Laws which differentiated by division of "blood"
- Racism is still
continuing
- No change in the
forms racism takes, similar to that which took place 20 - 30 years ago
- Over representation
of Aboriginal children and adults in justice system
- If Aboriginals
don't fit the expected norms/value system of white culture they are
assumed to have a problem
- Mental health
of Aboriginal people a concern as a result of the racism they are subjected
to
- Despite the Australian
government being a signatory to UN declarations, belief that there is
still a process of absorption/assimilation of Aboriginal people
- Institutionalised
racism is an continuing problem
- Lack of appropriate
education in schools for Aboriginal people leads to continued racism
- Racism is becoming
more subtle, this leads to Aboriginal people having to prove their beliefs.
- A less traumatic
process should be available to Aboriginal people when making complaints
of unlawful discrimination
- Process of making
Native Title claims deemed to be discriminatory against Aboriginal people
of Stolen Generation who cannot show ongoing link/connection to land
- Aboriginal people
are continually having to fight for what they receive
- Lack of acknowledgment
for the achievements of Aboriginal people and their communities
- Aboriginal people
are on the bottom rung of community ladder, lower than migrants
- Process of proving
one's Aboriginality can be traumatic for Aboriginal people
- Aboriginal people
are forever having to justify their place in Australian history and
society
- Because Aboriginal
people are excluded from the mainstream history of Australia and from
society their exclusion still continues
- Wide division
between State offices and Aboriginal communities, lack of knowledge
of government offices about consultation - lack of consultation with
grass roots people
- Aboriginal people
are expected to fit into the programs created by government offices
which are based on mainstream programs
- Very few government
programs are designed specifically for Aboriginal people
- ATSIC not representative
of the communities' needs. It is seen as a government organisation
- Government says
they are addressing the needs of Aboriginal people - these programs
are seen as assimilation of Aboriginal people in a mainstream box
- Aboriginal communities
don't own their property, e.g. the buildings that house co-operatives,
the state government holds the mortgage (due to the wrong of one Aboriginal
community). This is seen as paternalistic.
- Aboriginal communities
do business on "drip feed" funding, and in competition with
other non-Aboriginal communities
- Aboriginal people
(particularly those working in community organizations) are tired from
doing more than they are employed/paid to do, by doing more to accommodate
the cut in funding
- Aboriginal people embraced the reconciliation process, but it has lead to the notion that everyone should be the same. It has not shown understanding of differences
Examples
of racism in Victoria:
- Two real estate
agents in a country town had a physical altercation due to one of the
estate agents selling to an Aboriginal family a house which was next
door to the other estate agent.
- Plans were in
progress for the building of a Juvenile Justice Centre for Aboriginal
youth. The Politician of the area stated that it was a great idea, but
not in that area.
- A community meeting
was held in a country town with regard to an Aboriginal family who moved
into the area.
- Organisations
employ Aboriginal people simply because they receive funding from government
programs and initiatives to do so.
- Aboriginal people
experience problems with accommodation, there is no accommodation when
an Aboriginal person walks into a real estate agency, but when a non-Aboriginal
person enquires - there is accommodation.
- When the state
government agreed to add Aboriginal studies as a compulsory subject
in school curriculums, schools councils were then given the right to
control individual curriculums. As a result, Aboriginal studies as part
of schools' curriculum are not seen to be a compulsory subject.
- Aboriginal people
in a new car were pulled over by police and questioned because there
were in a new car.
- An Aboriginal
bystander of a brawl was singled out by police.
- Rights of Aboriginal
children are being breached on a daily basis, eg by placing children
in with non-Aboriginal relatives or families. Aboriginal children should
be placed in Aboriginal homes and in foster care, and be taught their
cultures.
- Upon the sentencing
of an Aboriginal man at a suburban magistrates court, the Magistrate
commented that the Aboriginal offender should look at how difficult
it is for migrants.
- There is a continuing
problem for Aboriginals living in southern states due to a lack of understanding
about the diversity of Aboriginal peoples, which lead to comments such
as "You don't look Aboriginal".
§ When the numbers of Aboriginal students of a country school increased, non-Aboriginal parents pulled their children out of the school which lead to the school's closure.
Strategies for addressing racism
- Federal and state
governments need to justly recognise the status of Aboriginal people
(just and proper status)
- Mainstream organizations
should undertake cultural training and employ Aboriginal people.
- Compulsory Aboriginal
studies in school curriculums
- Positive use of
media in changing behaviour and attitudes
- Educational programs
for Aboriginal people which assist them to achieve. This is to redress
the learned behaviour of Aboriginal people as a result of discrimination
and disadvantage that excludes them from fully participating in the
community.
- Addressing racism
has to begin at pre-school to address the racism learnt at home
- The Constitution
should recognise the status/history of Aboriginal people
- The true history
needs to be told to all Australians by acknowledging what has and is
happening. There needs to be inclusion of Aboriginal people and their
history (eg our role in the army, participation within Australian society)
in "Australian" history.
- Training of real
estate agents
- Aboriginal people
need to be central in the planning of programs and initiatives which
affect them
- Aboriginal people
who are skilled and educated need support to represent the needs of
their own communities
- There should
be clear community rules and guidelines for consultation
- Bill of Rights
which accords and acknowledges the just status of Aboriginal people
as the first nation.
- Self determination
(ownership and access to own resources, economic independence, ability
to be able to manage and be accountable for own "assets")
needs to be agreed to by governments
- Aboriginal people
need to feel safe and secure in who they are
- Need for Aboriginal
communities organisations to service their own communities
- Aboriginal people
should have a choice as to whether they use Aboriginal or mainstream
services, and this should not be at the expense of funding to Aboriginal
people. They should receive the same quality service from each.
- Greater/prominent
reporting of cases of unlawful discrimination ie the cost of discrimination.
- Harsher penalties
for those who are found to have unlawfully discriminated against people
- Confidential agreements
defeat primary purpose of complaints - which is publicity, as there
is no undue hardship for the respondents as they are not identified
and are able to continue discriminatory behaviour
- Police culture
needs to be addressed
- Talk to Aboriginal
people
- Understand that
Aboriginal people do not want to be the same.
