(1) The purpose of this Anti-Racism and Cultural Safety Guideline is to outline key definitions and concepts relevant to, and referred to in, the Anti-Racism and Cultural Safety Policy and Procedure [under development]. (2) The following terms and phrases are referred to in, or support the interpretation and understanding of, the Anti-Racism and Cultural Safety Policy and Procedure. (3) Unless otherwise indicated, this Guideline will still apply beyond the review date.Anti-Racism and Cultural Safety Guideline
Section 1 - Background
Section 2 - Definitions and Key Concepts
Top of Page
Term/Phrase
Definition (with examples if required)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Active bystander
A person who not only witnesses a situation but takes action to prevent a situation from escalating or to disrupt a problematic situation. Active bystanders are valuable allies in combating disrespectful behaviour, attitudes and systems and play a pivotal role in helping prevent incidents from occurring in the first place
ACU Community
A student, staff member, affiliate, parent/guardian, carer, visitor, or community member associated with ACU and its activities
Affiliate
Conjoint and visiting appointees; consultants and contractors; agency staff; emeriti; members of University committees; and any other person appointed or engaged by the University to perform duties or functions for the University.
Anti-racism
Antisemitism
Authorised Officer
Cultural safety
Environments and behaviours that are spiritually, socially and emotionally safe and free from judgement or critical comparison. Cultural safety is essential for flourishing, particularly for those from minority or marginalised cultural and religious groups.
In contrast, a culturally unsafe environment or practice disempowers or diminishes the cultural identity and well-being of an individual or group.
Discrimination
See the Discrimination and Harassment Policy (Section 5 – What is Unlawful Discrimination?).
Intersectionality
The ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation.
Islamophobia
Privilege
Privilege is the advantage or favour granted to some but not to others. Racism results in one group having more access to privilege than other groups.
Interpersonal Racism
Racial Hatred and Vilification
Micro aggressions
Institutional Racism
Systemic Racism
Lateral Violence
Staff
Student
A person whose application to enrol in a course of study or unit of the University has been accepted by the University and whose enrolment has not been withdrawn. For the purpose of this Policy, it includes a student of another university or other education provider who is granted temporary or ongoing rights of access to a campus or site of the University for study purposes.
Victimisation
Subjecting another person to detrimental action as a consequence of that person raising, providing information about, or otherwise being involved in the resolution of a complaint under a Policy and Procedure.
Vexatious and Without Reasonable Cause
Section 3 - Review
View Document
This is the current version of this document. You can provide feedback on this document to the document author - refer to the Status and Details on the document's navigation bar.
The first inhabitants of Australia. An Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is one who:
is of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent;
identifies as an Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person; and
is accepted as such by the community in which they live or has lived.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are comprised, as a group, of diverse nations, each with their own language and traditions
Beliefs, actions and policies that actively work against racism in all its forms by:
“Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, harassment, exclusion, vilification, intimidation or violence that impedes Jews’ ability to participate as equals in educational, political, religious, cultural, economic or social life. It can manifest in a range of ways including negative, dehumanising, or stereotypical narratives about Jews. Further, it includes hate speech, epithets, caricatures, stereotypes, tropes, Holocaust denial, and antisemitic symbols. Targeting Jews based on their Jewish identities alone is discriminatory and antisemitic.
“Criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government or state is not in and of itself antisemitic. However, criticism of Israel can be antisemitic when it is grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel or all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israel’s actions. It can be antisemitic to make assumptions about what Jewish individuals think based only on the fact that they are Jewish.
“All peoples, including Jews, have the right to self-determination. For most, but not all Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity. Substituting the word “Zionist’’ for “Jew’’ does not eliminate the possibility of speech being antisemitic.”
Source: Universities Australia
The relevant University Officer responsible for:
receiving and/or managing any grievance, complaint or allegation made by students and members of the public (see section 4 of the Student and Public Complaints Policy); and / or
receiving and/or managing any grievance, complaint or allegation made by staff (see Section 5 of the Staff Complaints Management Policy; and/or
managing an Event, Incident or Critical Incident (see the Critical Incident Management Policy and Critical Incident Management Procedure).
To the extent that there is any conflict between the roles of one or more Authorised Officers, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) as the Responsible Executive for the Policy shall determine the appropriate response.
“A fear, prejudice and hatred of Muslims or non-Muslim individuals that leads to provocation, hostility and intolerance by means of threatening, harassment, abuse, incitement and intimidation of Muslims and non-Muslims, both in the online and offline world. Motivated by institutional, ideological, political and religious hostility that transcends into structural and cultural racism which targets the symbols and markers of a being a Muslim”
Source: United Nations
Race
(Source includes: Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW))Includes colour, nationality, descent and ethnic, ethno-religious or national origin.
Race can be understood as not only background but also family, culture, history, beliefs, a sense of place and belonging with others who share those same or similar things.
Types of Racism
Interpersonal racism involves specific acts of racist behaviour by individuals or groups. These acts can include any language or action which are:
Racist in nature; and
Offensive, degrading, intimidating or embarrassing.
Interpersonal racism is not always directed at a specific person. Similarly the individual or a member of the targeted group does not need to be present for an act of racism to occur.
Racial hatred and racial vilification are public acts of racism that are deemed unlawful under Commonwealth and State legislation including those that incite hatred, contempt, or ridicule based on race, such as antisemitic or Islamophobic vilification.
Offensive behaviour based on racial hatred is prohibited under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) and broadly refers to public acts that are reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or group of people because of their race, colour or national or ethnic origin. These acts include communicating words, sounds, images or writing to the public, in a public place, or in the sight or hearing of people who are in a public place.
Racial vilification is referred to in the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) as public acts that incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of, a person or group of persons on the ground of the race of the person or members of the group.
A public act that threatens or incites violence towards an individual or a group of people on the basis of race is a criminal offence and will be referred to the Police.
Micro aggressions are casual expressions of racism that occur in everyday contexts and interactions, which may include subtle or indirect anti-Semitic or Islamophobic comments or behaviours. They can be verbal, behavioural, or environmental, such as the naming of buildings exclusively after white people or displaying statues of historical figures such as colonisers, slave owners and racists.
Micro aggressions are generally indirect and may be so subtle that they are not visible to everyone, particularly to those with no lived experience of discrimination or racism, however they have a cumulative effect on individuals.
Micro aggressions typically take three forms:
Micro assaults generally refer to behaviour that is deliberately discriminatory however offense may be unintentional or dismissed e.g. telling racist jokes.
Micro insults involve racist comments, offhand remarks and behaviours e.g. compliments that have a discriminatory undertone or convey racist assumptions, perpetuation of stereotypes about racial or cultural groups, not acknowledging individuals based on colour or religion, appropriation of terms and culture.
Micro invalidations are generally unintentional comments and behaviours that exclude, undermine, or deny racialised experiences e.g. claims of oversensitivity, denial of one’s own racism and privilege, looking for the targeted group to absolve or make you feel better, denying the experience and impact of historic or ongoing events such as the Holocaust or colonisation.
Institutional racism refers to the way that institutions and organisations discriminate directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, through their structures and the policies and practices that inform their operations. This results in the reproduction and maintenance of privilege and power dynamics. The omission or exclusion of relevant knowledges and ceremonial commitments, responsibilities and customary obligations is also a form of institutional racism.
Systemic racism refers to the way that the cultural norms, laws, ideologies, policies and practices of a particular society result in unequitable treatment, opportunities and outcomes based on race. Systemic Racism is often so entrenched in our societies that it is perceived as normal.
Lateral violence occurs within disadvantaged, oppressed and marginalised groups as a result of complex historical, cultural, and social factors. It involves the displacement of anger and violence towards other members of the group rather than towards the systems and societies that oppress them. Behaviours include but are not limited to:
gossiping, backstabbing and bullying;
aggression, intimidation and open conflict;
social exclusion and isolation;
publicly challenging, undermining or otherwise censoring identity and lived experience; and
undermining cultural capital and reputation for example, through public claims of cultural inappropriateness.
Lateral violence can be perpetrated by an individual or a group. While it is generally internalised within a group, other individuals can be complicit in the behaviour. Identity and cultural censorship in particular can involve the vicarious recruitment of individuals who are not from the in-group. This can happen directly, through the perpetuation of claims, or indirectly, through the creation of culturally unsafe and unmoderated spaces where these occur or the absence of active bystanders.
Consistent with the Constitution of Australian Catholic University Limited, the ACU Staff Enterprise Agreement 2022-2025 and Statute 1.1 - General Provisions: Interpretation, includes: