Racism continues to have a damaging impact on the lives of Aboriginal people, South Australian Aboriginal Affairs Minister Grace Portolesi says.
At the start or Reconciliation Week, Ms Portolesi said she had asked the South Australian Aboriginal Advisory Council for some practical strategies to more effectively tackle racism against Aboriginal people.
"Racism has a very damaging impact on the lives of Aboriginal people," she said on Friday.
"Research from across the world shows that racism affects people's mental and physical health, and we know that racial discrimination can significantly reduce people's opportunities.
"What I'm asking our community to recognise is that racism is profoundly experienced by Aboriginal people and that we have a responsibility to face up to it as a community and actively tackle it."
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Ms Portolesi said Aboriginal people continued to tell of discrimination and prejudice in their daily lives, and research backed their stories.
"Comprehensive national research released this year by the University of Western Sydney showed that more than a quarter of Australians polled expressed anti-Aboriginal sentiments," she said.
"One-in-five Aboriginal people polled said they were often treated with disrespect and mistrust.
"I believe we, as a community, will continue to struggle with closing the gap of Aboriginal disadvantage until we acknowledge that Aboriginal people are confronted with racism and its consequences on a daily basis."
The minister said the SA Aboriginal Advisory Council had welcomed the opportunity to develop strategies designed to tackle the problem, with members keen to make it a priority of their current term.
