Human Rights Commission to Survey Racism at Australian Universities

Findings will guide government and university action to address racism on and off campus, with results due by December.

A woman walks past signage for Australian universities in Melbourne's central business district on June 10, 2020. Photo by William West/AFP via Getty Images

The Australian Human Rights Commission will next week launch a national survey to examine the extent and impact of racism across universities.

Part of the Racism@Uni project, the online survey will invite all students and staff aged 18 and over at participating universities to share their experiences with racism—on campus and online. Responses will remain anonymous.

“This is a historic and timely opportunity to take a deep look at how racism manifests in university spaces, and how it’s navigated by staff and students,” Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said.

The findings will be submitted to the government and universities by December.

The Centre for Social Policy Research (POLIS) at the Australian National University has been engaged to run the survey, which will explore both interpersonal and structural racism, as well as bystander experiences.

Commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Racism@Uni also includes focus groups, a literature review, and a policy audit.

An interim report delivered earlier this year found racism was widespread and deeply embedded across the university sector.

Monash Study Eyes Religious Bias

In November 2024, Monash University launched a parallel initiative to address religious and ethnic discrimination on its campuses.

The Campus Cohesion project, announced by Education Minister Jason Clare, is the first major Australian study to concurrently examine anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian sentiment.

Led by Associate Professor David Slucki and Susan Carland, the two-year action-based program seeks to understand how these forms of prejudice affect Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Israeli students and staff.

“This research program comes at a time when students are keenly feeling the impact of events abroad on their campuses,” Slucki said.

“Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian sentiment on campuses predate Oct. 7, 2023, and we seek to understand all the ways they impact the lives of students on our campuses.”

An interdisciplinary research team will co-design responses with students and staff, focusing on practical prevention and intervention measures.

Sector Vows Unified Action

Universities Australia, representing 39 universities, acknowledged racism remains an issue on campuses, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, as well as discrimination experienced by Indigenous people.

“Our sector has, is and will continue to work with the government to respond to these issues as they play out on campuses,” they said in a statement.

To ensure consistency across the sector, Universities Australia members have agreed to collaborate with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency and the Higher Education Standards Panel on a unified approach to tackling racism and other forms of discrimination.