Giridharan Sivaraman, Race Discrimination Commissioner, will Address the National Press Club of Australia on “There’s nothing casual about racism: Getting serious about racial equality in Australia.”

Every person in Australia – regardless of race, culture, or religion – has the right to live with dignity, respect, and the freedom to be their full self. Yet racism continues to deny many this right.

Extensive national consultations by the Australian Human Rights Commission found that racism impacts every aspect of daily life. People across Australia face racism in our workplaces, universities, schools, health, justice, media and arts sectors.

Fifty years since the passing of the Racial Discrimination Act Australia is in a time of increasing reports of racism and its continued harm to communities and loved ones. Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman argues it’s time for a nationally coordinated and whole-of-society approach to this pressing issue.

Commissioner Sivaraman will share why the National Anti-Racism Framework is the way forward. The Framework is a ten-year roadmap for systemic change, where those experiencing the harms of racism no longer carry the additional burden of being responsible for addressing it. He will also share why the Framework must be First Nations centred.

The Commissioner will speak about current projects of the Australian Human Rights Commission such as the Racism@Uni study, and the Seen and Heard project focused on understanding increased racism experienced by communities including antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism in Australia since 7 October 2023.

Through his longstanding experience as a lawyer and advocate for victims of racial discrimination and vilification, Commissioner Sivaraman will provide thought-provoking insights into our current challenges and explain how, through anti-racism principles, we can draw on the courage within us to create the stronger Australian society we all envisage.