From corporate breakfasts to office morning teas , this week workplaces across Australia will mark NAIDOC Week . Held in early July every year, it's a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' history, culture and achievements.
But even as work colleagues get together to celebrate NAIDOC Week, our recent research shows racism against Indigenous workers is still common. More than half (58%) Indigenous people we surveyed reported experiencing racism sometimes, often, or very often at work.
It's little wonder a parliamentary inquiry on racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has had almost 600 submissions. That inquiry is holding hearings around Australia for at least another month.
Those hearings come in the wake of an attempted bombing of a peaceful Invasion/Survival Day rally in Boorloo/Perth on January 26 this year. A 31-year-old man was charged with engaging in a terrorist act, after allegedly throwing a home-made explosive into a crowd of thousands of people. Luckily, it failed to detonate.
In that context, what more can workplaces do about racism against Indigenous people all year around?
Our research points to three practical, proven solutions for employers - plus a gap in national workplace policy that's yet to be fixed.
The glacial pace of change
Our Centre for Indigenous People and Work published the Gari Yala: Speak the Truth report earlier this year. It's based on a survey of 1,158 Indigenous workers , balancing people living in cities, rural, regional and remote locations. It also reflects diversity in gender, Indigenous people with caring responsibilities and with disability, and rainbow mob.
It's the only Australian report of its kind: capturing Indigenous experiences of work, told and developed by First Nations people.
Our research shows how racism at work - both institutional and between individuals - does real harm . It drives down job satisfaction , makes people more likely to look for another job, and stops people recommending their employer to others.
In our first survey back in 2020 , just 26% of Indigenous workers reported having never heard racial slurs or "jokes" about Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people at work. When we ran the survey again in 2025, it was 29% .
That is a small sign of improvement. But if that rate of change continues, it will take generations before Indigenous workers no longer have to hear racist comments at work.
Why having this plan matters
Among the most striking findings in this latest survey were the practical differences that showed up between workplaces with and without Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs).
Our analysis found:
- half (50%) of Indigenous workers in RAP organisations rarely or never experience racism, compared to 36% elsewhere
- RAP organisations are three times more likely (34% versus 10%) to have both an anti-racism complaints process and training
- RAP organisations were more likely to strengthen career pathways for Indigenous employees
- RAP organisation employees reported reduced burdens of unpaid cultural labour, such as not being asked to organise Reconciliation Week events, or being asked a large number of questions based on their identity.
As one person in their 40s from Brisbane said:
In the past I would not openly share my Indigenous identity at work due to fear of racism in the workplace and from customers […] In my current workplace I shared my identity as I felt safe to do so and was involved in RAP working groups and an Indigenous employee network.
RAPs are not a silver bullet. But they do provide structure and accountability for organisations. That makes them one of the most practical tools we have to drive change in workplaces.
For employers, expanding the reach, quality and ambition of RAPs is one of the most effective ways to build fairer, more inclusive workplaces.
Two areas workplaces are lagging on
In addition to developing RAPs, the 1,158 people we surveyed told us two more things made a real difference to feeling safer at work: anti-racism complaint procedures and anti-discrimination training.
However, we also found an alarming lack of progress:
- only one in three employees we surveyed said their organisation had a racism complaint procedure
- only 36% said their organisation provided relevant anti-discrimination training
- only 21% said their organisation provided both (training and complaint procedure).
These figures have barely moved since the first Gari Yala survey in 2020 .
Many reported that when racism was raised, systems failed to respond effectively - or even punished the complainant. As one person told us:
Every single person I have reported for racial discrimination to my supervisor has been promoted.
A regional Queensland worker in their 40s summed up what needs to change:
When racism is reported, it must be taken seriously, acted upon swiftly and met with appropriate outcomes. Ignoring it only reinforces unsafe environments and silences First Nations voices.
Tackling racism like sexism
Having a Reconciliation Action Plan, proper anti-racism complaint procedures and anti-discrimination training are all ways employers can make a real difference on racism at work.
But we also need more proactive prevention and accountability.
That's why our Centre for Indigenous People and Work, along with others including the federal race discrimination commissioner , have called for racism to be treated as seriously as sexism under the law.
Since December 2022, Australian workplaces have had a " positive duty " under the Sex Discrimination Act.
This imposes a legal duty on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual discrimination and harassment.
So far, there has been little movement on bringing in a similar duty on racism. But we are hopeful the current inquiry on racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will consider whether this could make a difference.
Nareen Young receives research funding from NAB Foundation. She is a member of the National Tertiary Education Union and the Australian Labour Party.
As well as being the assistant director of the Centre for Indigenous People and Work at the University of Technology Sydney, Josh Gilbert is the Aboriginal Co-Chair of Reconciliation NSW.
Jane O'Leary does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
