Aboriginal people living in the ACT experience racial prejudice at a higher rate than is experienced by Aboriginal and  Torres Strait Islander people anywhere else in Australia, according to the latest Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation Report from the Productivity Commission. 

Julie Tongs, CEO of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Service, says the Productivity Commission’s exposure of the levels of racism in Canberra demands an immediate and forensic response from the ACT government. 

She says she has been calling on the ACT government for almost a decade to establish a Board of Inquiry (Royal Commission) into all aspects of the lived experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents of Canberra. 

“That Canberra is the most racist city in Australia surely demands nothing less than a Royal  Commission to ensure that this vile, racist behaviour is addressed and eradicated,” she says. 

The report reveals that across Australia the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18 years and over who reported experiencing racial prejudice in a six-month period increased from 43 per cent in 2018 to 60 per cent in 2022. For the general  community, the proportion reporting racial prejudice in the past six months rose from  20 per cent to 25 per cent over the same period. 

“Stunningly, however, the Productivity Commission also reports that the proportion of  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Canberra reporting they experienced racial prejudice in the same six-month period was 76 per cent, the highest rate of any state or territory,” says Ms Tongs.

“By way of comparison the rate reported in Tasmania was 30 per cent.”