Working with young people and youth service providers to understand and challenge racism.

Understanding and confronting racism had been on EYIN’s agenda from its earliest days and the organisation was well placed to work with young people to inform the community of the realities of young people’s lived experiences of racism and to develop solutions. In 1990, EYIN sought the views of young people and workers with young people to inform the Committee to Advise the Attorney General on Racial Vilification on young people’s experiences as both victims and perpetrators of racism. In the report released in 1991, young people described verbal abuse and discrimination as the most common form of racism they experienced and observed that South East Asian and Aboriginal young people were particularly targeted in racist attacks.¹

EYIN had been informed by the perspectives of young people and service providers in providing evidence to the National Inquiry into Racist Violence launched in 1989 by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. As the Commission rolled out one of its recommendations from the report – a national anti-racism public education campaign called ‘Different Colours One People’ – EYIN were called upon to support the campaign as the Victorian point of contact. EYIN developed a Melbourne launch and ensured that communities, organisations and young people across the state were engaged with the campaign.