Human Rights Commission Calls for National Overhaul of Racism Data Collection

Sydney — The Australian Human Rights Commission has called for a nationally coordinated system to collect and manage data on racism, warning that fragmented reporting is leaving many experiences of discrimination unrecorded and limiting efforts to address inequality.

The call follows the release of Data for Change: A National Approach to Anti-Racism Data, a scoping report that recommends 16 measures for governments, businesses and civil society organisations to improve how racism is documented, monitored and addressed across Australia.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said existing systems failed to capture the full extent of racism, with many experiences going unreported or remaining invisible in official data.

“This is not about collecting more data to prove racism exists. We already know it does,” Sivaraman said.

“It is about making inequality visible, holding institutions to account and giving communities greater agency over their data to drive real change," he said.

The report recommends developing a National Anti-Racism Data Plan to coordinate the collection, use and management of information across the country.

It also calls for a review of national data standards covering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity and cultural and linguistic diversity.

The commission wants racism to be better documented across workplaces, the legal and criminal justice system, education, healthcare, media and the arts.

It also recommends addressing barriers that prevent people from reporting discrimination and adopting an intersectional approach to examine how racism interacts with other forms of inequality.

A central concern is the lack of community control over data concerning First Peoples.

Sivaraman said Australia had a long history of collecting information about Indigenous communities without giving them sufficient influence over how it was designed, reported or used.

“Better data must start with the people it is about,” he said, adding that First Peoples and other communities experiencing racism should have a meaningful say in how their identities are represented and how information about their experiences is used.

The report calls for Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance to be embedded across data systems, alongside stronger monitoring, evaluation and accountability for policies and programmes intended to eliminate racism.

Sivaraman said reliable data could help governments and institutions identify community needs, assess whether interventions were working and be held accountable for their commitments.

“We cannot fully dismantle racism if we cannot properly measure it,” he said.

The report builds on previous commission recommendations, including those contained in the National Anti-Racism Framework, evidence submitted to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, and a submission to an inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The commission said the next step was to work with affected communities to develop a national approach reflecting their interests and aspirations.