Victoria has increasingly recognised and condemned racism, seeking to create strategies to reduce racism and ensure justice, wellbeing and equality through anti-racism initiatives and increased funding. The Victorian Government has established an Anti-Racism Taskforce and is currently developing the state’s first Anti-Racism Strategy.

Given Australia’s and Victoria’s stated commitment to promoting multiculturalism and equality, and to eradicating racism, our knowledge about the nature, extent and impact of different forms of racism on diverse populations is not as well-developed as it should be. Policymakers, community organisations, researchers and other stakeholders addressing racism increasingly recognise that anti-racism initiatives must rely on robust scholarly evidence and high-quality data. Yet existing data have serious limitations, which impacts our understanding of racism nationally and in Victoria.

This report discusses a stocktake review of racism data, which organises the body of existing data, identifies gaps in data collection, analysis and uses, and recommends how to fill these gaps.