Australian human rights body suggests banning caste discrimination in National Anti-Racism Framework
In December 2022, Australia formally recognised caste as a ‘form of social stratification found across South Asian cultures and religious communities’.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has suggested prohibiting caste discrimination as part of a proposed National Anti-Racism Framework for the country.
The framework, published by the rights panel this month, serves as “a roadmap to eliminating racism in Australia” and is “a central reference point for a whole of society approach to eliminating racism”.
“The Framework acts as a roadmap for governments, non-government organisations, businesses and civil society organisations to take anti-racist action across sectors,” states the document, which makes 63 recommendations for reforming Australia’s justice and legal system, healthcare, education, workplaces, media, arts and data.
The foremost of these recommendations is to enact a nationwide Human Rights Act in Australia based on a 2023 report of the rights panel.
The 17th recommendation in the list calls on the Australian government to “investigate options for legal protections against caste discrimination, including potential reform of existing legislation”.
Under a section of the document titled Enhancing Protections Against Racism Across Different Areas of Law, the report said: “Broader anti-discrimination protections could also be embedded across institutions to enhance rights in the areas of accessing housing, education and culture, as well as improve protections against faith and caste-based discrimination…”
In December 2022, Australia recognised caste as a “form of social stratification found across South Asian cultures and religious communities”, reported The Mooknayak.
This came as part of a preliminary National Anti-Racism Framework report by the Australian Human Rights Commission that was released after consultations with over 300 organisations and individuals.
The report said: “Race can also be experienced through the category of caste. Though its precise form and content varies with time and place, caste is a strictly codified, socio-religious hierarchical system made up of classes and sub-classes that are ranked based on underlying ideas of purity and pollution.”
