Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, describes the existence of racism in the structures that make up modern society.
It manifests when institutions, organisations and governments directly or indirectly discriminate against an ethnic group.
It systematically disadvantages those groups and further marginalises them within society.
In Australia, mob know the impact of institutional racism all too well.
Far-reaching roots
This insidious problem is a product of Australia's historical legacy of dispossession and racism against First Nations people, and a reflection of the colonial ways of living and thinking that continue to dominate the country's institutions.
As a result, it is deeply ingrained into our political, social, legal, criminal and education institutions.
The impacts of institutional racism within different systems can be interconnected. For example, racial discrimination can restrict access to employment which can increase exposure to homelessness or unnecessary contact with the justice system.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, this means that the odds are heavily stacked against us. It also means that we can get stuck in cycles of poverty and have poorer life outcomes.
How does it affect mob?
The below are just some examples of what institutional racism can look like in Australia's established systems and structures.
Out-of-home care
In this country, First Nations children are over-represented in out-of-home care systems.
Systemic racism can also account for the flaws in the child protection system, for example, the system and fails to consider the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Protesters are seen during a Stop Black Deaths in Custody rally in Perth, Thursday, April 15, 2021. Source: AAP / RICHARD WAINWRIGHT/AAPIMAGE
Criminal justice and law enforcement system
We are not short on
Despite just making 3.8 per cent of the total Australian population,
since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Police programs , excessively use force and violence against Aboriginal people and police culture and attitudes have actively discriminated against us.
Source: AAP
Australia's health system is built around colonial models of health and neglects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health needs.
Racism and culturally unsafe health practices deter Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from accessing health services or from receiving healthcare.
A recent example is 27- year-old , who was six months pregnant, who died along with her unborn baby of sepsis in 2015 without receiving a proper diagnosis or treatment at her local rural hospital.
Expert evidence to the inquiry intro Naomi's death noted that identification of a person as Aboriginal leads to worse treatment.
Education system
Systemic racism within education systems can manifest through unconscious bias or prejudice. It can also be subtle, subconscious or overt.
In the classroom, institutional racism can look like Indigenous students being treated differently than non-Indigenous students or singled out, not having culturally safe curriculum's or having curriculum that only present and favour colonial ideologies and using standard English as the language of assessment.
Sporting clubs
The racist culture of sporting codes can be seen in the racial abuse in the media towards Indigenous athletes, the racist attitudes of sporting club ambassadors and the favouring of white athletes over Indigenous athletes.
Just a few years ago, found that one of Australia's biggest sporting clubs,
The report found that those who have raised issues around racism paid a high price for speaking out.
Employment
Conscious and unconscious bias in the workplace impacts career opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Systemic racism can look like a lack of racial literacy, racially biased recruitment such as preferring to hire candidates with Anglo-sounding names, racially biased recognition and reward and failures to call out racism.
Government and policy
There are still for the government to implement royal commission recommendations on Aboriginal deaths in custody more than 30 years on.
Systemic racism can even be found in our constitution. Section 51 gives the Commonwealth a head of power to make laws with respect to any race of people, whether that is for their benefit or detriment. Section 25 of the constitution allows for people to be potentially disqualified from voting in state elections because of their race.
How does the nation address institutional racism?
Institutional racism is insidious in the way that it is difficult to recognise and overcome.
This is because institutions and governments do not recognise themselves as racist. It is also because people fail to acknowledge their own internal biases.
Similarly, people in this country are able to benefit from systems that favour whiteness.
And although there are these dominant systems established in our society that continue to oppress Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, mob are still labelled as the problem.
That needs to change.
In order to address institutional racism, we need to dismantle the systems and structures that continue to oppress Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
We need to replace these systems with structures that include and listen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Institutions need to have Blak leadership, define their commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture, track their progress and continue to have important conversations that acknowledge and validate our experiences of institutional racism.
