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“With the Federal Government launching Social Inclusion Week next week, this study is a stark and timely reminder that Australia has a long way to go in addressing the challenge of racism in schools, especially for students from migrant backgrounds,” says Dr Lucas Walsh, Director of Research at FYA. “This report confirms that schools are uniquely placed to engage the challenges and benefits of diversity and that a whole-community approach should support them to do this.”

The research involved 823 students from 18 secondary schools across Australia and examined; their experiences of racism; the effects of that racist behaviour on health and wellbeing; where that racist behaviour most often occurs; how they respond to racism, and their attitudes towards race relations generally. Prepared by Deakin University’s Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, some of the report’s key findings include:

 the group most at risk of racism is female first-generation migrants in Years 11 and 12;

 an underlying racism permeates schools across Australia with 80% of participants from non-Anglo backgrounds and 55% from Anglo backgrounds reporting experiences of racism;

 school education programs around racism are proven to reduce racist behaviour;

 the experience of racism has serious impacts on health and wellbeing.

Professor Fethi Mansouri, Director of the Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation says, “This report, and other research in the field, tells us that there is an urgent need for well-targeted professional development on intercultural understanding and racism for teachers and school leaders. Schools and students would also benefit greatly from curriculum materials that facilitate constructive and meaningful engagement with the sensitive issues of culture, race and inclusive practice.”

Dr Helen Szoke, Commissioner of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission says “The connection between experiences of discrimination and young people’s well-being are well documented. For this reason school-based programs which promote diversity and educate young people about discrimination are important prevention strategies.”

This report coincides with the release today of a report by VicHealth, Building on our strengths, which also shows that there is a clear link between racism and a range of health problems.

Read The Impact of Racism upon the Health and Wellbeing of Young Australians report here

Read The Impact of Racism upon the Health and Wellbeing of Young Australians: At A Glance here

Read the media release here

All schools will receive more detailed information during their week at the City Learning Centre.

Students can register interest by clicking here

How Young People are Faring (HYPAF) is the pre-eminent research report into the education, employment and overall wellbeing of young Australians. The upcoming 2009 report is the 11th in the series and focuses on the global economic downturn and the subsequent impact on young people’s aspirations, employment opportunities and education pathways.

Commissioned by The Foundation for Young Australians and prepared by the Centre for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning (CPELL) at the University of Melbourne, the 2009 edition of HYPAF provides an opportunity to assess patterns of engagement in education and training in the context of the Government’s education and training agenda.

Various measures of attainment, participation, and transition are used throughout the report to shed light on a host of policy issues, from access to education to the quality of educational outputs. HYPAF will provide policymakers and others with the opportunity to:

• compare different aspects of education and training for young Australians
• assess the role of different sectors, from school education to higher education and vocational education and training
• identify areas that may need attention to help improve student outcomes and transition.

The 2009 HYPAF report will be available at www.fya.org.au from Thursday, October 8.

Read the 2008 HYPAF report at our publications page.

The Western Young People’s Independent Network (WYPIN) has run a series of photography workshops with young people to capture what they feel, hope, and think about Footscray. The exhibition will be opened on Thursday 24 September and will feature stories from the participants and food to share.

WYPIN has been in existence since March 1989, established by a group of young people who were interested in challenging racism and social issues in the community. WYPIN’s main focus is working with young people of refugee and migrant backgrounds who are between 12 and 25 years old. It is a service for people connected to the Western Suburb of Melbourne.

Opening Thursday September 24th 4-6pm

Phoenix Youth Centre

72 Buckley Street, Footscray

Runs September 24th-Oct 15th

For more information about WYPIN, visit http://home.vicnet.net.au/~wypin/aboutwypin.htm

Download the flyer 

The discussion will be led Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE on behalf Education Foundation (a division of The Foundation for Young Australians) and the R E Ross Trust.

A new federalism in Australian education: A proposal for a national reform agenda was created by Professor Jack Keating as part of the Collaboration between Education Foundation and The R E Ross Trust. Boardroom to Classroom: The role of the corporate and philanthropic sectors in school education was created by Rosalyn Black, Senior Research Manager with The Foundation for Young Australians, as part of a project commissioned by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Both reports can be obtained from the Publications page.