NT Children’s Commissioner and Larrakia woman Shahleena Musk released her inaugural report, called It’s up to everyone to call it out, last Thursday after interviewing almost 300 young people about their experiences.
She said change was needed across the child protection, education and youth detention sectors to begin healing the harmful systems that perpetuate racism.
The report called on Territorians to “change the narrative” by elevating the positive ways young people contribute to society.
It found nearly 40 per cent of racism experienced by children and teens came from their community, and a further 25 per cent from other students at school.
Young people also said politicians and media were responsible for “harmful narratives” about them.
The findings come after the Country Liberal Party’s landslide election victory in August was predicated on a platform that included tackling youth crime.
In the NT, 97 per cent of children in detention are Aboriginal.
While the report interviewed a diverse group of children, it highlighted the significant impacts of racism on First Nations young people.
Some reported still being called the “n-word” and being told by their peers that “Aboriginal kids can’t be academic”.
Musk wrote the report was both “deeply moving yet deeply troubling”.
Of 323 experiences of racism, children said, 33 per cent were targeted acts as a result of their ethnicity or race, while 31 per cent were forms of profiling – particularly by security guards and police in shops.
Many young people also described microaggressions as “casual racism”.
“Children and young people told us that racism in the territory is pervasive and affects many aspects of their lives,” Musk wrote.
“The experiences of shame caused by racism can have a profound impact on young people’s lives, including their self-esteem, their identity and their hopes for the future.”
Describing their own experience, one young person said: “it’s like half the time we are just existing”.
With 28 per cent of children saying racism made them sad, Musk said the Northern Territory can no longer allow children and young people’s experiences of racism “to be met with silence”.
Australia and the NT are signatories to a number of conventions including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the NT Anti-Discrimination Act, which was strengthened under the former Labor Government, however gaps in addressing the problem remain.
“While work progresses at a national level on a new National Anti-Racism Framework, there remains a significant gap in addressing racism in the NT,” Musk wrote.
