Racism in Australia

Synopsis

Australia is known as a multicultural country. It is because there are lots of people from different country, racial and ethnics settled in Australia. They called themselves Australian and make Australia as their home. Although nowadays most people can easily accept the others from different races, racism still exists in Australia. Immigrants and Indigenous were the group of people being discriminated and excluded from the society in the past. Their human rights have been neglected. The Australian government noticed the problem and introduced some laws and acts to protect the immigrants and indigenous people's human rights.

Australia is a multicultural country. It is a home of people from different countries and cultures. According to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, since 1945, over six million people have come to Australia as new settlers. Their arrival has had a significant impact on all aspects of Australian society. (Healey, 2005, pg.8) But racism has been a controversy in this country for a long period of time. The simply meaning of racism is one particular racial or ethnic group is being excluded by other groups in the society. The reason for this is because of the difference of race, ethnicity or nationality. (Zelinka, 1996, pg.1) Although racism is not as serious nowadays, the problem still exists. Racism is strongly associated with the understanding of Human Rights. Human Rights basically mean a right which is believed to belong justifiably to every person. (Flynn, 2003, pg. 4) According to International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law by United Nations, "Human Rights are universal legal guarantees protecting individuals and groups against action by governments which interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity." (Flynn, 2003, pg. 4)

According to the National Inquiry into Racist Violence conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are faced with racism in almost every