This form of discrimination is growing in Australia - from assault to segregated birthday parties

Experts say caste discrimination and the practice of ‘untouchability’ are on the rise in Australia. But some South Asians are fighting back.

A recent landmark report found caste discrimination is pervasive in Australia, even extending to segregated birthday parties for some children in South Asian communities. Image credit: Pexels

Asang Wankhede is an anti-discrimination lawyer, and comes from a Dalit community — a group of people treated in India as “untouchables”.

“It's a form of social stratification, which is based on the notion of purity and pollution,” he said.

By the accident of your birth, you are assigned a particular status in the society, and that status cannot be overcome.

Mr Wankhede led research on caste discrimination in Australia, and spoke with Dalit people across major Australian cities.

He found common stories of caste discrimination across all ages and places, including schools, universities and workplaces.

Caste discrimination has been able to operate quietly in Australia until now.

But the Australian Human Rights Commission and other institutions are beginning to recognise caste, and provide a pathway to legal protections against this form of discrimination.

This episode of Understanding Hate looks at how caste discrimination occurs in Australia, and how some people in South Asian communities are pushing back.