Reporting Racism Against South Asians in Australia 

Racism incidents against South Asians in Australia are on the rise, with most of these incidents left unreported. This year the  COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in abuse targeted towards people of Chinese/East Asian background and people who look ‘Asian'. Nonetheless South Asians have also been at the receiving end of the racist attacks. 

In particular communication with the South Asian communities has not been adequate during the pandemic and this has created the perception that these communities are responsible for the spread of COVID19 which has led to increased incidents of racism against them

Please see the following SBS news stories that demonstrate this trend. The head Victorian Convenor of the Asian Australian Alliance (AAA) has personally received reports of racism against South Asians in Australia.

1. https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/f-k-off-go-back-where-you-came-from-indian-student-assaulted-in-alleged-racial-attack-in-melbourne

2. https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/go-back-where-you-came-from-two-charged-over-alleged-assault-of-indian-international-student-in-melbourne

3. https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/go-back-to-your-f-king-country-you-brought-coronavirus-here-indian-student-racially-abused-assaulted-in-adelaide

There may be various reasons for these incidents of racism happening, including general unrest and frustration because of the virus, but let's acknowledge that none of these reasons excuse the racism and hate, and those using these reasons to act on their anger and resentment need to be called out for it.

Racism against South Asians has been is on the rise now, but like any incidents of racism against BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), recent events are not the cause of racism but it is a symptom of a long history of racism - South Asians in Australia are no exception and have been subjected to racist incidents for a very long time. Many people do not report because they are not sure who to report to, or their inherent fear and mistrust of authorities and the lack of confidence in getting redress.

AAA will work on identifying who is targeted, how, where, when and how we can better communicate information to the South Asian community.

We will collect statistics through a survey and then collate the information to collate a plan of action. Our previous work on the COVID-19 survey will be useful for this work and will provide the structure and the foundation. Some of the reasons for racism against South Asians may be different and the way it manifests too. Also culturally the South Asian community may react differently to other Asian communities when attacked.

Their English Language proficiency may be better too. For all these reasons actions that AAA undertakes with regard to this community may be different and targeted.

Stakeholders:

1.       Federal and State Government

2.       Federal and State Government Human Rights Authorities

3.       Federal and State Government multicultural bodies

4.       Community groups and leaders

5.       International student groups

6.       Other Civil rights groups.

If you have any questions, please contact Molina Swarup Asthana on info@asianaustralianalliance.net . 

Image credit: Indian Express

Question Title

* 1. Name of the person reporting ( you can use an alias if you are not comfortable using your own name)

Question Title

* 2. Your age and or the age of the person you know who experienced this racism?

Question Title

* 3. Your nationality/cultural background or the nationality/cultural background of the person you know who experienced the racism?

Question Title

* 4. Gender ( who experienced the racism - click all that apply)

Question Title

* 5. What is your current residency status in Australia? (tick all that apply)

Question Title

* 6. Approximately what date did the incident of racism occur?

Date
Time

Question Title

* 7. Is this racism something you have personally experienced or is it about someone else you know?

Question Title

* 8. Did you and/or someone you know experience this racism in person ( in public or private areas)?

Question Title

* 9. Was the person/people who committed the racism known to you? If yes, please answer question 10.

Question Title

* 10. Who was/were the person/people who committed the racism (Click all that apply)

Question Title

* 11. If this incident/incidents of racism happened in person, please tell us what STATE/TERRITORY it happened in?

Question Title

* 12. City and/or Suburb

Question Title

* 13. If this incident/incidents of racism happened in person and in a public or private space please select where it happened (Click all that apply)

Question Title

* 14. If you and/or someone you know experienced the racism NOT in person, how did this experience of racism happen? (Click all that apply)

Question Title

* 15. Do you think the incident of racism was a result of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic?

Question Title

* 16. In what form was this racism incident experienced? ( Click all that apply)

Question Title

* 17. Did you report it?

Question Title

* 18. If you reported it, who did you report to?

Question Title

* 19. Did you get the outcome you wanted if you reported the incident?

Question Title

* 20. If you did not report, what were the reasons? (click all that apply)

Question Title

* 21. Please provide details of the incident.

Question Title

* 22. Has the incident/behaviour caused the effect of excluding you from groups or activities because of where you come from?

Question Title

* 23. Was the incident/incidents of racism picked up by any news/media outlet? If so please provide URLs.

PDF, DOC, DOCX, PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF file types only.
Choose File

Question Title

* 24. Please provide your contact details here if follow up is required ( all contact details provided will be kept confidentially, and we will contact you to seek consent if any of your information is to be used, or if your response should be referred to the authorities or a complaint lodged to the Human Rights Commission)

T