Commitment to Anti-Racism
Statement of Anti-Racism
The Human Rights Law Centre is committed to advancing anti-racism, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our workplace systems and structures, as well as in the legal, policy and advocacy work that we do. As an organisation established to promote and protect human rights, the Centre actively works to identify, understand, and challenge systemic oppression and exclusion on the basis of race, indigeneity, gender, sexual orientation, age and disability, among others. The Centre recognises that the realisation of human rights cannot be achieved without dismantling systemic racism and discrimination and addressing the ongoing impacts of colonisation. The Centre is also committed in its own human rights work to removing barriers to full participation of staff and the communities we work with and bringing an intersectional lens to all aspects of our work.
The Human Rights Law Centre understands systemic racism as describing the power imbalances that are embedded in institutions and systems, especially where institutions carry unequal and unjust historical legacies. In Australia, systemic racism is reflected in the ongoing process and history of colonisation, and is reinforced and continued by systems and institutions that privilege whiteness and impede self-determination by First Nations people. These include the legal frameworks and institutions within which the Centre works.
First Nations people experience the impacts of historical and ongoing colonisation and the systemic and structural racism built into Australia’s culture and society, that contribute to ongoing power and resource imbalances between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-First Nations peoples and organisations.
The structures and institutions that are products of white privilege and colonisation continue to cause and normalise racism towards people of colour in Australia. This manifests in many ways, from government policies that harm people of colour, through to everyday experiences like racialised policing and discrimination faced in workplaces. This particularly affects people who have less access to resources and networks to overcome these barriers.
The Human Rights Law Centre recognises the ways in which it benefits from the structures and institutions of white privilege, including access to power, resources and wealth.
The Human Rights Law Centre is committed to the following principles to guide how we work:
We recognise and acknowledge First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and custodians of this land, and its skies, waterways and seas; and their right to self-determination. We strive to reduce the impact of colonisation and to develop participatory, respectful and human rights-based partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations.
We challenge and address the impacts of systemic racism in Australia, including the underlying issues that detrimentally impact First Nations people and people of colour in Australia. We promote anti-racism, cultural awareness, and appropriate conduct for staff, management and the Board through our policies, information resources, recruitment processes, induction activities, training programs and support services.
We value and promote cultural safety and a respectful workplace which ensures fair and equitable treatment for all staff and is free from unlawful discrimination. This includes ensuring the implementation of these principles does not impose an unfair, unwelcome, or increased burden on staff of colour. We will not tolerate direct or indirect racial discrimination, harassment and/or vilification under any circumstances.
We value the knowledge and expertise from lived experience of the human rights issues we work on, in particular from First Nations people, people from migrant and refugee backgrounds and the communities we work with. We recognise the central importance of this expertise to all areas of our work. We will draw on this in our programming decisions, partnerships, public communications, and other ways of working.
These principles will inform our strategies and internal processes, our organisational ethos and structures, our relationships with supporters, partners and clients, and how we measure our progress.