Fund the National Anti-Racism Framework

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Dear Prime Minister,

RE: Calling on You to Fully Fund the National Anti-Racism Framework

It has been over 450 days since the Race Discrimination Commissioner launched the National Anti-Racism Framework (NARF), but the government has still not even responded to it. Racism in this country is rife, and it is on the rise. The open hatred, vitriol, and dehumanisation directed at people of colour right now has reached new heights. Many communities are feeling targeted and unsafe, and they need you to show leadership.

Buzzwords like “social cohesion” and “harmony” only serve to obfuscate and hide racism. Without naming and confronting racism, we will never be able to deal with it.

The framework rightly makes no bones about the roots, extent and depth of systemic, structural and institutional racism and white privilege in this country. It is rightly grounded in the racial injustice First Nations people have been subjected to since colonisation. It provides a roadmap for building an anti-racist country, grounded in truthtelling and justice for First Nations people.

There has been public call after public call for you to respond to, fund, and implement the NARF. Every time this call is made, Prime Minister, the urgency for action is greater, and the prevalence of racism is greater.

On 14 December, fifteen people were killed in an abhorrent antisemitic terrorist attack. There are neo-Nazi’s marching on our streets, frequent and violent threats being sent to Lakemba Mosque, an attempted terrorist attack in Boorloo on First Nations people, and an Islamophobic, white supremacist arrested for planning mass attacks on mosques in Western Australia. In 2019, an Australian white supremacist with an extreme Islamophobic ideology killed 51 Muslims in Christchurch while they were praying.

Racism is not only erupting in violent threats and attacks. It is systemic and it is structural, with impacts on communities in our schools, our universities, our workplaces, our Parliaments, and our institutions. Many reports document this widespread racism across sectors. These are not isolated incidents or anomalies. They are symptoms of a deeply entrenched problem that erodes every part of our society.

We are calling on you to take the strong action needed to tackle systemic racism and work with us to eliminate it in this country.

We are calling on you to fund the National Anti-Racism Framework in the upcoming May budget so it can be implemented.

Let that be your legacy, Prime Minister.

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It has been more than a year since the Race Discrimination Commissioner released the National Anti-Racism Framework to confront racism in Australia.

And yet, the Albanese Labor Government has still not responded.

In that time, racism has not stood still. It has intensified. In December, 15 people were killed in a horrific act of antisemitic hate. In January, there was an attempted mass casuality terrorist attack targeting First Nations people in Boorloo. Last week, a man was arrested for planning attacks at mosques across Western Australia.

Communities across the country are living with rising hate, threats and violence. 

But racism is not only visible in shocking headlines. It is systemic and structural, embedded in a way that shapes people’s lives—in schools, universities, workplaces, health care and the justice system. 

These are no isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a deeper problem. 

The National Anti-Racism Framework was designed to confront that reality. It sets out a roadmap for building a genuinely anti-racist country, grounded in truth telling, structural reform and justice. It includes concrete recommendations to tackle racism in our institutions, counter online hate and extremism, strengthen community safety and embed anti-racism across government policy. 

The solutions already exist. What is missing is political will.

With the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination approaching, this is a moment for leadership. Australia should not be a country that turns away while racism and hate erupt on the streets.

We should be a place that confronts injustice and stands together against hate. That starts with action.

We are calling on the Government to fully fund and implement the National Anti-Racism Framework in the upcoming Budget. 

Add your name to the open letter to call on the Government to act. Join us in demanding a country that fights racism and stands for justice.

SIGN THE OPEN LETTER >>