The Voice referendum saw First Nations people experience increasingly open and hostile levels of racism—much of it in the media and online, a report has found.

The 2023-24 Call It Out report highlighted 453 validated reports of racism towards Indigenous people between March 21, 2023, and March 20, 2024. Almost two thirds of registrations of incidents (62 per cent) were reported by a witness, up 14 per cent from the previous year.

The report covers respondents to the Call It Out online register (the Register), an independent, Indigenous-controlled reporting mechanism operated as a collaboration between the Jumbunna Institute for Education and Research (Jumbunna Research) and the National Justice Project (NJP).

Many of the comments reported came during the immediate aftermath of the Voice to Parliament Referendum, the hostility of which saw several Indigenous organisations report an increase in racist abuse, whilst mis- and disinformation spread about Indigenous people and organisations from prominent media personalities was widely acknowledged.

"The relatively higher rates of witness reports in 2023-24 perhaps reflects the impact of the Voice Referendum 'debate' and the related increase in reported instances of online and media related racism," the report said.

18 per cent of respondents mentioned the Voice referendum specifically.

"There can be no genuine discussion on the Voice referendum without discussing the impact of racism, both throughout the campaign and in its aftermath," industry Professor and Jumbunna director, Lindon Coombes, said.

"While there was significant thought and debate given to the ideas of nation building and the righting of wrongs, the undercurrent of racism was ever present.

"This is its insidiousness. It infects clear and rational debate and thought. Arguments for and against a simple advisory body that was safe from political interference could not get clear air without the cloud of racism."

More than four in 10 of all incidents were witnessed or experienced in traditional or social media.

Several media commentators in high profile positions - some of whom openly deny historical truths like the Stolen Generation - used the Voice Referendum to push several narratives proven to be false.

National Indigenous Times has viewed a number of unmoderated comments on several mainstream media organisations' websites with racist, false, and harmful rhetoric.

One person told the register: "My 12-year-old nephew was involved in a group chat with his school 'friends' last night, they made comments including 'ur a monkey', 'no wonder why everyone voted no', 'at least I have a voice', 'Proud to be the one who stole ur land', 'Why are u talking I thought everyone voted no for u to not have a voice'."

In another reported incident, an Aboriginal woman said her Indigenous organisation received a letter where "someone who lives in the area took the time to cut out a clipping from the [newspaper] … that reported about the Reparations for the Stolen Generation".

"It was roughly cut out and words in pen were written all over the clipping. 'B**ngs will take what yas can', "abos,' 'c**ns'."

Another respondent said: "Was finishing soccer training in the CBD parklands and the coach said, 'alright hurry up time to go before the Aboriginals get us'."

Associate Professor at Jumbunna, Fiona Allison, said: "Reports often contain multiple incidents of racism experienced or witnessed by the same person – sometimes occurring over many years and across generations, and can include multiple victims, including children".

"Consequently, the overall number of reports is a significant undercount of the actual incidents reported and those impacted."

The report highlights First Nations people not identifying as Aboriginal to not be victimised, family members making racist remarks based on false stereotypes, and issues surrounding institutional racism.

The most common types of racism reported were negative attitudes or stereotyping (23 per cent) and discrimination (15 per cent), followed by hate speech (13 per cent) and non-recognition of cultural rights (11 per cent).

35 per cent or responses highlighted aggressively racist behaviour: physical violence, verbal abuse, hate speech, threats, intimidation, bullying, and property damage.

More than 20 per cent of reports identified government and private institutions or services as the location of incidents.

Professor Coombes said, "racism remains an insidious and all too common aspect of life for Indigenous people in Australia".

"While the way racism can be presented has shifted in its nature and expression, and will continue to do so, the fundamentals of this problem remain alarmingly consistent and seemingly impervious to the best efforts of many seeking its eradication."

Nonetheless, he said there was hope, which often comes from the darkest moments.

"One of our darker moments in this regard was the 2023 referendum," he argued.

"We have learnt that we need to better understand the forces that actively work against us, as well as the unconscious biases that have been hardwired into Australian culture and worldviews as a result of our colonial past, and this report is a key tool in this endeavour."