MELBOURNE, Nov 21: A major survey among diverse populations in the Australian state of Victoria has found that almost two thirds of the participants were targets of racism in the past year and were more likely to experience mental distress than those who were not exposed to racism.
The report on mental health impacts of racial discrimination in Victorian culturally and linguistically diverse communities conducted by University of Melbourne, Vichealth, Beyondblue and Department of immigration and citizenship said a major finding of the study was that racism at any level was associated with worse mental health.
People who experienced racism on a monthly or more frequent basis were more likely to be above the threshold for high psychological distress than people who had no experience of racism, according to lead researcher Margaret Kelaher.
The findings in the report, based after surveying 1139 residents, revealed that while almost two-thirds of participants were targets of racism in the past year, over 65 per cent felt that racism had negatively affected their life.
On the contrary over 45 per cent said that they were worried about racism sometimes, often or very often.
The report said that most had experienced racism multiple times, with 40 per cent experiencing six or more incidents a year.
Survey participants experienced racism in public spaces (35 per cent), in the workplace (32 per cent), at shops (30 per cent) and on public transport (29 per cent).
It was also common in education (22 per cent), sports (20 per cent) and housing (18 per cent).
“Men were significantly more likely to experience racism than women and people living in metropolitan areas were significantly more likely to report experiencing racism than people in rural areas.
“Sikhs and Muslims were more likely to have experienced racism in the previous 12 months than Christians and Hindus.
“The proportion of people who experienced a high volume of racism decreased with age,” the report noted.
It also cited that of the respondents the two most common strategies to cope with such situations were to ignore the incident, with 45 per cent doing that or accept it (26 pc).
Other strategies included talking to someone, trying to reason with the person, verbally confronting the person, trying to change themselves, seeking or accepting help from others, making a complaint, reporting the incident to police or taking legal action, it said.
The report said a strong understanding of the patterns of racist experiences and the ways in which racism influences health was crucial for the effective design and implementation of relevant intervention strategies.
“The variety of ways that racism can influence poorer health outcomes indicates the need for multilevel, multi-setting, multi-strategy interventions. At an organisational level, employers and educators may need more support to comply with existing anti-discrimination legislation,” the report said.
Kelaher said the findings were unsettling and represent a deeply entrenched and complicated health issue in Victoria.
VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter, said it was appalling that half the people surveyed were called racist names, teased or heard racist jokes or were verbally abused, and 44 per cent were ignored, told they were less intelligent or that they did not belong because of their cultural background.
“Its clear that racism hurts more than your feelings—a very serious, but preventable, health issue,” Rechter said.
The release of this data follows publication of similar research last week which found a massive amount of racism directed at the Aboriginal Victorians surveyed, with 97 per cent saying they had been targeted in the past year.
Rechter said that it is not clear whether Aboriginal people were actually targeted more or whether they were more aware of subtle racist behaviour.
“In any case, there was never an excuse to be racist to anyone, at any time,” Rechter said.
This research shows that incidents that might seem harmless can accumulate and have a powerful impact.
“Prejudice is a terrible force and unfortunately it still exists in our community,” said Bbeyondblue CEO Kate Carnell.
“Clearly we must work together to ensure all Australians have the best possible chance of maintaining good mental health,” she said. (PTI)
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