UNICEF Submission to the Attorney General’s Department on the Amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975
Published in April 2014.
UNICEF Australia opposes the proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (RDA). While the proposed amendments specifically define vilification, removing the terms ‘insult’, ‘offend’ and ‘humiliate’, has the prospect of lowering community standards and values, in relation to racial vilification and hatred. Such a change risks further marginalising already vulnerable groups by weakening protections for people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and ethnic minority groups. Young people in Australia are particularly susceptible to a weakening of these protections due to their specific vulnerabilities.
The submission is available for download below.
For more information please contact Amy Lamoin at UNICEF Australia
Email: alamoin@unicef.org.au Phone: (02) 8917 3220