Workplace racism is systemic nationwide, Human Rights Commission finds

“You can’t be bitten by a snake and report it to a crocodile”: Despite the increased awareness around diversity, equity, and inclusion, we are still seeing the same tired results when it comes to racism in the workplace, as a new report offers a scathing review of the experiences of minority groups across Aussie organisations.

A recent report conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission has highlighted the grip that racism has on the Australian workplace. The report, An Anti-Racism Framework: Experiences and Perspectives of Multicultural Australia, showed firsthand accounts of workers who have experienced racism in their workplace.

Race discrimination commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said: “These powerful and at times heartbreaking firsthand accounts from diverse and marginalised communities reaffirm the fact that racism in Australia is ubiquitous, insidious and profoundly damaging.

“The racism described is more than hurtful words being said to someone. It is systemic, often involving dealings with some level of authority, whose power determines access to opportunities, basic needs, services, or justice.”

Some of the examples that were quoted in the report are, quite frankly, disgusting. For example, participants in the report spoke about encountering racism in the hiring process, citing the need to change their names to an “Anglo-sounding name” to improve their chances of getting an interview.

“A person’s name can affect employment opportunities. I had one in 10 interview opportunities before I changed my name. I had 10/10 interview opportunities when I changed my last name after getting married to Anglo-Australian. I specifically named my kids English names, so they don’t have to go through the same things I have been through,” said a participant.

Across various workplaces and differing industries, according to the report, racism took many forms, from microaggressions and bullying to violations of workers’ rights. This was highlighted in the recount of a woman refugee.

“I started working in aged care after I had completed training. There was a particular team leader who, when she gave me tasks to do, would always ask, ‘Do you think you can do this?’ or ‘Do you know how to do this?’ If she had said this to every other worker, I wouldn’t have taken any notice, but it was clear she was just asking me this,” said a women refugee.

Then, of course, there were recounts of blatant, out-loud racism that was so deliberate it shocked a young worker who didn’t know how to react and feared he would be ostracised or let go if he spoke against such behaviour.

“At work, a group of men were talking about the cost of things, and one of them said $300,000 is enough to buy a [N-word]. It made me very uncomfortable. But they just laughed about it. I didn’t say anything because I was just starting my job and didn’t want this to affect my career,” said the young worker.

It becomes a systemic issue throughout organisations, especially when diversity among organisational leaders is scarce. This can often be a product of pathways for diverse candidates being sabotaged.

“Subjective assessments, even with objective recruitment criteria, continue to lock out diverse candidates from senior positions. This has an effect on who sits at the decision-making tables and perpetuates continued exclusion. With racism, one cannot become a leader,” said a participant.

The surface-level racism that was experienced by a number of the participants was oftentimes minimised in an attempt to make them feel pathetic to thwart them from making a formal complaint. These instances of racism were disregarded as a joke, with workers who took offence looked upon as soft.

“A common feature of institutional racism is the dismissal of or minimisation of race discrimination complaints, questioning the victim’s perception or the intentions of offenders. Some participants recounted how, when they tried to raise issues of racism, they were not taken seriously, and their complaints were invalidated or they were told to ‘take a joke’,” the report said.

As explained in the report, this mindset has led to some victims leaving their jobs entirely, after feeling they had been branded as “troublemakers” and were no longer safe in their workplace. In some examples, such acts of invalidation and ostracisation led to a sense of resignation with the system: “You just feel you should ignore it and get on with life, focus on the future.

“Sometimes the consequence of being silent about racism is better, especially in the work environment, as you can lose your job or make the workplace uncomfortable.”

Recently, both Nine Entertainment and the ABC had independent reviews conducted on their organisations, which discovered racism is systemic at both companies. These reviews highlighted that regardless of the status of the organisation, racism can be embedded in the culture, affecting employees immensely.

Combating racism in workplaces

Putting a stop to this behaviour that is occurring across the Australian workplace, as previously mentioned, has been a priority among a number of organisations. A current approach that has been widely adopted is that of unconscious bias training or diversity training.

However, the report retorts these approaches, claiming that evidence suggests anti-bias training is not effective in reducing discrimination against racialised groups in workplaces.

Instead, the report suggested that an anti-racism agenda in workplaces could actively lead to policies and mechanisms that prevent race discrimination and ensure safe mechanisms for redress when these situations occur.

“Many participants stressed the importance of not only establishing, but knowing and using, feedback and reporting mechanisms in their workplaces and the communities in which they reside,” the report said.

Additionally, a participant said: “African proverb: you can’t be bitten by a snake and report it to a crocodile. This proverb is used as an example to explain how the community feels when they have to report incidents to a police officer who doesn’t look like them. This also refers to reporting to someone who doesn’t have your experience, who is usually the person who will make the final decision.”

Moving forward, strategies must go beyond cultural competency or unconscious bias training. Instead, according to the report, employers should be fixated on cultural safety training with an intersectional lens, clear codes of conduct, and education on existing policies and procedures to report and address racism in the workplace.

“The first step to systemic change is to break the silence around racism. No longer should victims just ‘get on with it’,” said Sivaraman.