Non-profit organisation Youth Activating Youth will use $110,000 to increase young people's knowledge of their rights in the face of racism, while the Tenants Union of Victoria will receive $70,000 to empower the South Sudanese community to combat racism in the rental housing market.
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Gabrielle Williams says funding will also be diverted to fighting racism against Indigenous people.
$100,000 will be invested in courses, run by the Rumbalara Football Netball Club and Kaila Institute, to improve understanding of Indigenous culture and reduce racism in the Goulburn Valley.
And a regional initiative will see the Ballarat Multicultural Council receive $70,000 to deliver anti-racism and bystander training.
Ms Williams says success lies in direct communication between members of the public and government institutions.
"We know that racism is not always as blatant, or obvious, as name calling in the playground. Racism can rear its head in really insidious ways. And so it's really important that we are lead by the community, not only in terms of the action we need to take, but also in building that better understanding of how racism is experienced each and every day. That's a really key task of the taskforce, is to consult with the community to get that experience and to, from that, be able to guild us in the best way to tackle racism in our communities so that we can get the best possible outcomes."
The Victorian taskforce is the first of it's kind in the country, and Minister Gabrielle Williams hopes other states and territories will follow suit with similar initiatives.
"Here in Victoria we like to see ourselves as the national leaders in many spaces and I think this could be yet another one where we do lead the nation. This will be Victoria's first whole of government anti-racism strategy and importantly it will be led by Victorians who have experienced racism and discrimination themselves. And I understand that the development of a whole of government anti-racism strategy is a first in Australia. That gives us a huge opportunity to demonstrate that when we put the voices of people with lived experience at the centre, then we can achieve better outcomes. But more than that, to demonstrate that tackling racism is a whole of government responsibility - it's not down to just one minister and one portfolio."
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