A sharp rise in racism experienced by Indigenous children and young people has prompted renewed calls for schools and institutions to take active responsibility for addressing discrimination.
Ahead of Saturday's International Day of Education, the authors of the recently released Call It Out Annual Report — the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney and the National Justice Project — warn experiences of racism can have immediate and lifelong impacts on children, shaping both their educational outcomes and broader life trajectories.
They argue schools must take concrete steps to eliminate racism, rather than minimising or mischaracterising it.
Downplaying the impact
Jumbunna Research Fellow Rebecca Lewis said racism in schools is often minimised, despite its profound effects on children.
"When First Nations children experience racism at school, it cuts deeply. These are spaces where they should feel protected, yet many are subjected to public humiliation and trauma," she said.
"Too often this is dismissed as bullying. But racism is not bullying and treating it that way allows harm against First Nations children to be normalised and continue without accountability."
The report draws on 442 validated reports submitted between March 2024 and March 2025. It found more than a quarter of reported incidents of racism targeting Indigenous Australians involved children and young people.
Thirty per cent of incidents occurred in schools and other educational settings — more than double the 13 per cent recorded in 2023-24.
"The fellow student went around telling other students in my year group saying, 'I was only 3 per cent' and that I was 'Faking it to receive benefits' and that 'I was a fake Aboriginal,'" one Indigenous respondent said.
Another said: "Being at that school made me feel so [much] shame. It's so crazy that I felt and still feel so unwanted in my own country!"
Teachers perpetrating racism
Students, parents and teachers reported racist language and behaviour from students, as well as failures by teachers to intervene. In some cases, teachers themselves were identified as perpetrators.
One non-binary Aboriginal student reported a teacher referred to blues music and its roots in American slavery as "n**ger music". After reporting the incident, the student said they were subjected to ongoing harassment by the teacher and other staff members, ultimately forcing them to withdraw from classes and leave the school.
"I reported her [the teacher] for it making sure my identity as an Aboriginal was known specifically because everyone in the class was white or white passing and I wanted to put an emphasis on the harm that she's committing specifically when she thinks only white people are around," the student said.
"I was then subjected to a harassment campaign by her, her friends who were my other teachers and school faculty until I decided to drop her class, classes her friends taught, and eventually had to leave school entirely.
"The school said all they could do about it was make her apologise and they wouldn't do anything further. They also tried to act like forcing me to drop her class instead of punishing the racist was doing me a favour."
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In other cases, an Aboriginal student said they felt "targeted" during class discussions about the Voice referendum, where classmates and a teacher argued "why we don't deserve it, etc".
Another respondent reported: "Teacher of mental health refuses to do Acknowledgement of Country and tried to minimise the experiences of people and families that are a part of the Stolen Generation."
Professor of Criminology at Jumbunna, Professor Chris Cunneen, said the scale of incidents recorded in the Call It Out register demonstrated a systemic failure by schools to respond effectively.
"It's not just the failure of responses by the school, but individual staff perpetrating racism against students," Professor Cunneen said.
"Now we have a situation where First Nations children no longer want to go to school because it's seen to be an unsafe place for them."
At the report's launch in November, National Justice Project CEO, George Newhouse, said while governments have focused on addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia, racism targeting First Nations people continues to be minimised.
He said the stories shared through Call It Out "make the ongoing legacy of colonial racism hard to ignore".
"While the register provides a platform for First Nations people to report discrimination, it is also the responsibility of non-Indigenous people to take meaningful action to report racism and to stamp it out," Mr Newhouse said.
For more information and to make a report visit: https://callitout.com.au/
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