Reconciliation Australia supports the clear call for action, accountability and active anti-racism education contained in the Independent Review into ABC Systems and Processes in Support of Staff who Experience Racism report, released today.
The review conducted by Dr Terri Janke and Company strongly urges the ABC to ‘listen loudly and act strongly’, and that courage will be needed to improve the ABC’s systems and processes for dealing with racism against First Nations people and those from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
We urge the ABC to ensure that First Nations people and perspectives continue to help guide its response to the report. That response, including urging the government to ensure First Nations representation on the ABC Board, will be a crucial test for the national broadcaster.
Our thoughts are with the 120 current and former ABC staff whose experiences informed the report. We stand with them today, as well as with the members of the ABC’s Bonner Committee who have guided Reconciliation Australia’s relationship with the ABC over many years.
We have had a long engagement with the ABC through its involvement in our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program since 2009. Genuine accountability is a cornerstone of the RAP program, and we will continue to monitor the ABC’s response and listen carefully to the voices of First Nations stakeholders, especially the ABC’s Bonner Committee.
The ABC is currently developing its second Elevate RAP and we will work with them to ensure their responses to the report are reflected in this next RAP.
The review makes the important point that the ABC has a key role in telling First Nations and culturally diverse stories and that this ‘can only be done genuinely and respectfully when people have self-determination and influence over the stories about them and their communities and can work in environments where they feel safe and on an equal playing field with all staff’.
Dr Janke’s review, and the ABC’s acceptance of the recommendations in principle, is a model for the entire media industry. Australian media organisations must reject racism towards, and harmful stereotypes of, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Only one in three Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander respondents to the 2022 Australian Reconciliation Barometer (ARB) survey felt they could be true to their cultural identity at work, without fear of discrimination.
The 2022 ARB also reported that 60% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people surveyed, reported experiencing at least one form of racial prejudice in the past six months, an increase of 8% since 2020, and 17% since 2018.
The 2022 ARB responses suggest that ABC staff are not alone in experiencing racism. Dr Janke’s review should be a wakeup call for all Australian workplaces to address racism.
Australia, and the ABC, can and must do better.
