The Centre for Indigenous People and Work (CIPW) is calling on Labor to include workplace reforms in its new anti-racism strategy, with evidence showing how key recommended measures can significantly improve outcomes for Indigenous workers, and Australia's economy.
With reports Labor is developing the strategy ahead of its national conference this month, CIPW says the Fedearl Government should act on the workplace reform recommendations contained in the Australian Human Rights Commission's (AHRC) 2024 National Anti-Racism Framework.
Chief among those recommendations, and developed in partnership with CIPW, is a "positive duty" or legal requirement for employers to have anti-racism policies and procedures in place.
Other recommendations include mandatory anti-racism training, and national standards for reporting racism in the workplace.
CIPW's own national Gari Yala 2 (Speak the Truth) survey of 1,158 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers shows exactly the difference these measures could make.
- Indigenous employees in workplaces with both a racism complaints procedure and anti-discrimination training are far less likely to experience racism (40% compared to 66% in workplaces with neither)
- They are more likely to be very satisfied with their job (33% vs 22%) and less likely to be looking for a new employer within the next year (24% vs 38%)
- Yet only one in five (21%) Indigenous workers is employed by an organisation with both measures in place, and more than two thirds (69%) work for organisations with no racism complaints procedure at all
These outcomes align directly with recommendations 10, 19, 20 and 25 of the AHRC's National Anti-Racism Framework, and with racial discrimination estimated to cost Australia 3% of its GDP annually[1], the case for action is as much an economic argument as it a moral one.
The Productivity Commission's Meeting the productivity challenge report also notes that "investing in people and capital brings productivity dividends."
CIPW Director Professor Nareen Young said the government has clear guidance on what its new anti-racism strategy should include.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers have told us, in their own words, what makes workplaces safer," Professor Young said.
"A national anti-racism strategy that leaves out positive duty, mandatory training, complaints procedures and reporting standards for workplaces would miss one of the clearest opportunities we have to reduce racism in this country."
"Our data shows that when these measures are in place, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers experience significantly less racism. They're more satisfied at work, and more likely to stay in their jobs."
"These measures are not just good for the workers, they're good for employers and for the economy too, increasing productivity and reducing the direct and indirect costs of racial discrimination."
Professor Young said the AHRC Framework had been with government for well over a year, and Labor's new strategy was an opportunity to put its workplace recommendations into practice.
"This is a chance for government to act on evidence it already has," Professor Young said.
"Committing to these measures nationally, through mandatory standards rather than leaving them to individual employers, would make a real difference for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers everywhere."
