The federal Department in charge of overseeing support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been invited to attend meetings connected to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
The update, revealed during Senate Estimates on Monday, follows calls from Senator Lidia Thorpe last month for the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion (RCASC) to be expanded in the wake of the alleged terror attack in Perth on January 26.
She argued that while it is "essential to confront antisemitism", it is also just as vital to "confront the rising racism faced by First Peoples and other communities".
One of the four key areas in the Commission's terms of reference — established after the attack in Bondi in December, which took the lives of 15 Jewish people — is the development of recommendations to strengthen social cohesion and address religiously and ideologically motivated extremism.
Federal Police allege a 31-year-old man, accused of throwing a bomb that failed to detonate at an invasion day rally in Perth on January 26, held an extreme ideology. Police will allege the incident was a nationalist and racially motivated attack targeting First Nations people at the protest.
Appearing before Estimates, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said she had discussed including racism and hatred directed at First Nations people with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland.
Asked by Greens Senator Larissa Waters whether she or National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) chief executive Julie-Ann Guivarra had sought changes to the terms of reference, Senator McCarthy said she had raised concerns about racism.
"I am very concerned about the increase in online hatred and racism, in particular towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," Senator McCarthy said. "And of course, I'm also looking very closely at what possibilities there are with the Royal Commission."
Ms Guivarra told the hearing that, because of the social cohesion component of the RCASC, the NIAA — along with several other Commonwealth agencies — had been invited to attend meetings.
"I'm also aware of the Attorney General's department engaging directly with a range of First Nations community representatives," she said.
However, Ms Guivarra did not directly answer questions from Senator Waters about whether she had personally "advocated for an explicit term of reference change to address racism against First Nations people".
Senator Thorpe — whose motion condemning the bombing was adopted by both houses of parliament last week — previously called for expanded terms of reference for the Royal Commission.
"The attempted bombing of First Peoples on Invasion Day shows how urgent this is," she said. "No one is safe until we are all safe from racial hatred."
Senator McCarthy said she had raised the issue of hate and racism towards First Peoples with the Attorney-General "over a period of time since the Royal Commission was established".
Asked whether the current scope would be broad enough to "countenance" those concerns, given the terms of reference remain unchanged, she said, "I certainly understand in terms of the terms of reference, there is an avenue there."
"I will be encouraging people to put in their submissions, in particular, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, ...to the Royal Commission about their concerns about racism and hatred."
The federal government has faced criticism from human rights groups and Senator Thorpe for failing to act on the National Anti-Racism Framework, delivered by the Australian Human Rights Commission in November 2024.
"The government has still failed to formally respond, let alone begin implementing its recommendations," Senator Thorpe said in the wake of the January 26 attack. "At a time of escalating racial hatred and violence, that inaction is indefensible."
