Taunts, harassment and assaults: landmark report finds racism at Australian universities is systemic'

"Racism is systemic at Australia's universities, according to a landmark report found students have mocked their Palestinian peers with shouts of terrorism, some students have been followed by campus security and First Nations students have been compared to petrol sniffers in lecture halls. The report also found Jewish students were fearful to attend classes, with one harassed for wearing their kippa walking to class and another who described people screaming send them to the camps at a group of Jews on campus."

"It found universities had failed to meet their duty of care and complaints processes were Kafkaesque in their failings, with staff and students exposed to racial slurs, taunts and, at times, physical assaults in academic and outdoor campus settings. Table titled Who experiences racism?', showing the overall percentage of respondents' experiences of direct and indirect racism, by each identified group Of the 76,000 students and staff that were surveyed, 70% had experienced indirect racism, including hearing or seeing racist behaviour directed at their community."

"Some 15% had experienced direct racism at university. The rates were highest for religious Jewish and Palestinian respondents (more than 90%), followed by First Nations, Chinese, Jewish (secular), Middle Eastern and Northeast Asian respondents (over 80%). International students experienced racism more frequently than domestic students or staff. At the same time, just 6% of people who experienced direct racism made a complaint to their university, citing fear of consequences and low trust in systems."

Systemic racism pervades Australian universities, manifesting as verbal abuse, taunts, targeted harassment, and occasional physical assaults in academic and outdoor settings. Students reported mocking of Palestinian peers, security following individuals, comparisons of First Nations students to petrol sniffers, and harassment of Jewish students for wearing kippot alongside threats to send Jews "to the camps." Survey responses from 76,000 students and staff showed 70% experienced indirect racism and 15% experienced direct racism. Religious Jewish and Palestinian respondents reported rates above 90%, with several other groups over 80%. International students faced higher rates than domestic peers. Only 6% of direct incidents resulted in complaints due to fear and low trust in processes.

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