The University of the Philippines Alumni in Victoria (UPAV) recently hosted a community forum, Addressing Racism: Next Steps, attended by 40 participants at the Victorian Trades Hall.
After the opening remarks by Philippine Consulate General–Melbourne’s Maria Lourdes Salcedo, Associate Professor Mario Peucker of Victoria University shared some insights from his research on racism and multicultural communities.
The forum featured panellists from various agencies who discussed their roles in helping community members address and report racism. The speakers included: Florence Macusi Dato (Migrant Workers Centre), Sgt Gerard de Leon and SPSO Kenneth Alinea (Victoria Police), Michelle Mead (Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission) and Moses Florendo (Whittlesea Community Connections Legal Service).
Each of the speakers shared their insights on how to respond to racist behaviours the community members either experienced and/or witnessed. Various approaches were mentioned depending on the context and the scenario of the perceived racist incident, whether they are in the workplace, a public space or in private conversations.
The speakers concurred that community members must first step back and assess the situation before responding to ensure their own safety is not compromised. For workplace incidents, employees need to check their organisation’s policies and procedures and contact their immediate supervisor or their HR department. Alternatively, they can anonymously report an incident through the VEOHRC’s complaint website.
The Victoria Police speakers also introduced the notion of Prejudice Motivated Crime which includes racial and religious vilification. They also differentiated between an incident and a crime and the reporting procedures for such. In addition, the speakers discussed the legal and workplace rights of individuals within the context of government and organisational policies.
The forum included role-play exercises and interactive discussions exploring practical ways to address racism using different scenarios as examples.
The forum is a culmination of community consultations facilitated by UPAV early this year on behalf of the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA). These community engagement activities will help inform the development of the National Anti-Racism Framework.
The community consultations revealed a strong need to equip individuals with tools to help them identify, manage, respond to, and prevent racism. If individuals have the tools that will give them confidence and a sense of security, and an opportunity to reflect on their own behaviours, they could be empowered to mitigate the spread of racism in the community and advocate for a more peaceable society.
UPAV would like to thank FECCA for the opportunity to contribute to this important project and to all who participated in and supported the community engagement activities. These events align with UPAV’s strategic priority to advocate on issues that impact multicultural communities, including the Filipino community, in Australia.
For more details about the community consultations, please visit the UPAV website www.upalumnivic.org/communityconsultations.
