Australia’s Labor government has given $2 million to a national anti-racism register that tracks discrimination against indigenous people.
The taxpayer funds will go to Call It Out, a database run by the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and the National Justice Project, a far-left non-profit legal service that promotes Black Lives Matter protests on its website.
Call It Out states on its own website that it “follows in the footsteps of Jewish and Muslim groups who collect and report on anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents”, and it aims to “build an evidence base to combat the ongoing denial of the existence and negative impacts of racism on all aspects of people’s lives”.
The website also features an explanatory video showing an aboriginal woman being ignored by a White bus driver and a White medical centre receptionist, an aboriginal girl sitting alone in a classroom while other students whisper and laugh, and an aboriginal man reading comments on a news story.
The government funding, which was announced on Thursday, will support the work of Call It Out, including the establishment of an online data dashboard that will “inform anti-racism action”.
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, said the funding coincided with a parliamentary inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at indigenous people that “heard confronting stories about the hurt and harm”.
“While we await the committee’s final report, we are not waiting to act,” she said.
“This investment will strengthen the important work of Call It Out and support efforts by the Jumbunna Institute and the National Justice Project to collate rigorous data.
“I encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to engage with Call It Out and report their experiences and call on all Australians to call out racism when they see it.”
The week Ms McCarthy also announced $6 million in government funding for Mob Strong Debt Help, a free nationwide legal advice and financial counselling service that helps aboriginal people with loans, banking, debt recovery and insurance.
The funding comes after the Albanese Labor government allocated $1.11 billion for indigenous people, in the Federal Budget in May.
The Budget included $793.7 million for “Closing the Gap”, $218.3 million to “end violence” $48.3 million for aboriginal hostels, $36.6 million for an electoral participation program, $6.8 million for water management, $4.2 million for a cultural precinct, and $2.2 million for the protection of cultural heritage sites.
Header image: Malarndirri McCarthy announcing the funding (Facebook).
