Attended launch of the Call It Out! report on racism against First Nations people

Today I attended the launch of the Call it out! Annual Report: a summary of the findings from the report, followed by presentations by speakers Leanne Liddle and Eddie Cubillo, and discussion on the structural and cultural changes needed to address the entrenched racism in Australia.

The stories told at this seminar reminded me of all the things I have seen and heard since I was a child (40 years ago), in VIC, NT, QLD, WA and NSW. I have witnessed overt racism targetting First Nations people so many times, apart from the institutional-type racism I notice nowadays.

But the statistics I heard today are new to me, and speak profoundly and clearly to the commonplaceness of racism in Australia; and when I heard some of the reported specific stories of people abusing First Nations toddlers, children, women, men, elders, through hate speech or physical violence or institutional racism or negative stereotyping/profiling, it was overwhelming.

Read a summary of the Call it Out! annual report here.