A register that captures incidents of racism and discrimination against First Nations people has been given a multi-million dollar funding boost.
The Call It Out register, led by the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology Sydney in partnership with the National Justice Project, is the only national database of this kind of data.
Now the Federal Government has invested a further $2 million into the initiative, with the funding to go towards a new online data dashboard to show patterns of racism.
"Racism is a scourge, it's hateful, it's horrid, it hurts, and it really can paralyse people" said Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy.
Call It Out's latest annual report recorded 442 reports of racism in one year, with more than a quarter of those reporting involving children or people younger than 19.
That was a 10 per cent increase from the previous year of reporting.
For young people, the most common places where racism was reported were online and in schools.
Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at UTS,
Professor Lindon Coombes from the Jumbunna Institute said there was an increase in reports of racism after the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum.
“I think tensions were really high after that and, as I said, in the lead up to Australia day its often a very difficult period, once people come back to work and the social media takes off talking about the history of this country and it can be difficult time for Indigenous people,” he told NITV.
22 per cent of reports were about racism online or on social media.
Workplaces made up 11 per cent of reports, while education settings made up 10 per cent.
Professor Coombes said he hopes more First Nations people find and use the register.
"We want the message to go out there, to our people, to allies, that when you submit a submission through Call It Out, that it will go somewhere," he said.
"That information will be protected, it will be read and it will be used to come up with strategies to work against racism, and inform, hopefully, public policy a bit better."
Malarndirri McCarthy said the funding towards the register comes as a parliamentary inquiry investigates racism against Indigenous peoples in Australia.
"What the inquiry has done with the submissions that I've read, or any of the evidence that I've heard, is a very strong universal realisation that it is everywhere. That racism is everywhere in this country," she said.
The inquiry has received more than 700 submissions, and held public hearings around the country.
