On the 30th of July, the ANUSA Bla(c)k, Indigenous and People of Color Department (BIPOC) Department premiered its 2023 Racism Report documentary. The twenty minute long documentary recounts the experiences of racism of BIPOC students, including international students, black students, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students among others, in classrooms, residential halls and the wider University scene.
This report comes after two previous racism reports and the continued efforts by the Department to advocate for BIPOC students’ experiences with racism and discrimination.
ANUSA BIPOC Officer Selena Wania (she/her) told Woroni, “In 2021, BIPOC Officer Chido published the first racism report — it outlined 73 shocking incidents of racism at the ANU and outlined recommendations to the ANU. Unfortunately, ANU’s response to this report came a gruelling 11 months late.”
“In 2022, BIPOC Officer Chanel published the second racism report revealing the ANU had only implemented 1/14 recommendations provided to the ANU.”
She explains, “The history [of the racism report] is one of BIPOC advocates repeatedly alerting the university to the fact that racism exists at ANU. To which the ANU has often responded with limited or insufficient action.”
“Traditionally, our reports are presented in written form where audiences read. This time we want our audience to see. See the faces, hear the voices, and feel the emotions of those impacted by racism at the ANU.”
She continues, “Through a documentary, we hope to ensure that the lived experience of BIPOC students aren’t obscured by a block of text or statistics.”
The report recounts the experiences of previous BIPOC Officers including Chido Nyakuengama and Chanel Nguyen who termed the role as “the hardest challenge”. The Officers detailed their experiences of feeling “unqualified for the role,” given they were expected to handle “disclosures of massive proportions of racial violence.”
They also reported working with, “university stakeholders, who do not take claims seriously.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students recounted the generalisation of First Nations students and racism they felt in classroom settings. Students explained they were often expected to “answer things [relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people] on which they have no knowledge about.” Other First Nations students explained the pressure and burden of having to, “pull [other students and staff] into line,” during discussions relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
One First Nations student explained, “Scholarships allow Indigenous students to be brought closer to other students who haven’t had setbacks, and…it’s a way for [Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students] to come to university and close the gap.” However, she explained that it is “frustrating and demeaning”, when other students “question” why First Nations students receive scholarships.
She recounts racist remarks from others including sentiments akin to, “we don’t deserve [scholarships and financial assistance], we are just given all these handouts and all that.”
The report also extensively details the structural and cultural gaps within residential halls which perpetuates racism. In particular, BIPOC students shared experiences of “isolation”, “alienation” and feeling “forgotten” while living in residential halls.
International students of colour explained that in residential halls, “there was split in the kitchen, with white students and students of colour.” These students also detailed a, “heavier pressure to fit in, [which often meant] subscribing to a very white norm … often for leadership roles.”
Black students recounted often being the only black student in residential halls and classroom settings. These students reported feeling isolated, and “difficulties in making friendships.”
Overall, the 2023 report has five main findings:
- There is no infrastructure at the ANU for handling incidents of racism.
- Racism is perpetuated by students and staff in academic settings notably in classes, resulting in distrust, unsafe and alienating academic environments.
- Need for inclusion of the work of BIPOC academics in the ANU curriculum to overcome the potential for racial bias and the systemic exclusion of the work of BIPOC academics.
- BIPOC residents in ANU residential halls experience racism manifested through racial microaggressions. Such behaviour has resulted in BIPOC students unable to freely share and express cultural identities.
- Residential staff including Head of Residence fail to provide support to BIPOC residents when racist incidents are perpetuated in residential colleges, resulting in racial trauma being undressed and leaving BIPOC residents more vulnerable.
The report also details the University’s delay with providing the BIPOC safe space. The Department campaigned for the safe space in 2022, and was promised the BIPOC safe space for early 2023. However, the safe space was not fully ready to be used until months later.
Wania told Woroni, “The Department wants the ANU to take away a profound understanding of the lived experiences of BIPOC and Indigenous students on campus. We aim for the university to recognise the urgency and importance of addressing systemic racism and to take concrete actions based on our recommendations. Many of our recommendations this year echo those found in the Anti-Racism Taskforce report.”
“It is crucial to emphasise to the university that the Task Force’s recommendations, along with the report itself, must not be forgotten.”
The department’s series of recommendations requires that the University implement the recommendations in the ANU Anti-Racism Taskforce, in particular recommendations in phase two and three, which remain largely publicly unaddressed by the ANU.
These racism reports are one of the only publications detailing the experiences of racism and discrimination suffered by BIPOC students at the ANU, all produced by BIPOC students themselves.
Wania told Woroni, “The interview process [for the 2023 report] began in 2023 as we reached out to past and current Department Officers with the addition of posting a call out on our social media for further students from different backgrounds.”
“The editing process began in 2024. We spent hours compiling interview footage into a powerful 20 minute documentary.”
Following the premier, Wania asked the audience to contemplate the prevalence of racism at the University, saying, “I encourage everyone here today to go home and reflect on what you’ve seen. Spread the word and raise awareness…”
“The voices and stories we’ve seen–it’s just a 20 minute glimpse of what we as BIPOC students experience every single day.”
ANU BIPOC Department
BIPOC Department website
sa.bipoc@anu.edu.au
ANU Indigenous Department
sa.indigenous@anu.edu.au
ANU Counselling
(02) 6125 2442
1800 RESPECT
1800 737 732
ANU Women’s Department
sa.womens@anu.edu.au
ANU Queer* Department
sa.queer@anu.edu.au
ANU Respectful Relationships Unit
respect@anu.edu.au
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Woroni, Woroni Radio and Woroni TV are created, edited, published, printed and distributed. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the name Woroni was taken from the Wadi Wadi Nation without permission, and we are striving to do better for future reconciliation.