Australia’s Parliament has marked fifty years since the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) came into force—a law that reshaped the nation’s identity and became the cornerstone of modern multiculturalism.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland told Parliament the Act, introduced by Labor’s Attorney-General Kep Enderby and proclaimed on 31 October 1975, was an “historic step” that, for the first time, made racial discrimination unlawful under federal law. “The passage of the Racial Discrimination Act was an historic step, for the first time making racial discrimination unlawful in Australia through federal legislation,” she said. The law followed Australia’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and brought its principles into domestic law.
Ms Rowland reflected on the deep social shift that accompanied the legislation, which arrived just two years after the abolition of the White Australia policy. “As Attorney-General Enderby stated… ‘The proscribing of racial discrimination in legislative form will require legal sanctions… and make people more aware of the evils, the undesirable and unsociable consequences of discrimination,’” she said.
She also recalled the contribution of Senator Neville Bonner, Australia’s first Aboriginal parliamentarian, who shared his own experience of being denied employment because he was Indigenous. “As Senator Bonner concluded: ‘There is discrimination and we must do something about it,’” Ms Rowland said. “The Racial Discrimination Act created a right that had not previously existed in common law—that is, the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of race.”
Ms Rowland noted the Act’s pivotal role in landmark cases such as Mabo v Queensland (No.1), which confirmed the right to equality before the law. “The subsequent decision in Mabo (No.2) struck down the fiction of ‘terra nullius’, leading to the Native Title Act a year later,” she said. “While legislation alone cannot change cultural attitudes, the RDA has been an important mechanism for civil redress.”
She also paid tribute to the enduring importance of section 18C, introduced in 1995 to outlaw racial vilification. “Although there are some people in our society who want the right to be bigots enshrined in our laws, the Labor Party has always understood and defended the importance of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act in our multicultural society,” Ms Rowland said.
The Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Dr Anne Aly, described the Act as “a watershed moment in Australia’s history.” Reflecting on her own journey, she said, “Modern Australia is a migrant nation. It is who we are. The Racial Discrimination Act underscores and protects this vital part of this proud nation. Our multicultural success belongs to all Australians, every single one of them, no matter where you came from, no matter where your parents came from and no matter how you came to be here.”
Dr Aly recalled growing up in Sydney’s western suburbs surrounded by families from Greece, India, China and beyond. “Nobody made fun of each other’s strange names or the funny way our mothers or fathers would call out for us,” she said, describing those moments as her definition of Australia.
She noted that half of all Australians were born overseas or have a parent who was. “Multiculturalism is the mainstream. It’s not a semicolon-and. It’s not a postscript. It’s not a nice-to-have. It’s not an afterthought. It is Australia and it is Australians,” she said.
Dr Aly also revisited the heated debate over section 18C in 2016, when parts of the then government sought to weaken protections. “It should not be controversial that we take a moment to ensure that we are not offending, humiliating, insulting or intimidating our fellow Australians because of their race,” she said. “If you have been on the receiving end of discrimination, you know how deeply it cuts. You carry it inside you like a little piece of a broken bone your entire life.”
Assistant Minister Julian Hill reflected on the Act’s contested history, saying that while some now claim universal support for it, the law faced fierce opposition at the time. “Contrary to this blurred historical vision and pretence that everyone embraced it in some kumbaya fest, the bill was hard-fought in the parliament then,” he said. “The Racial Discrimination Act stood the test of time for 50 years. It sets the legal foundation for modern Australia as the proud multicultural nation that we know and love today.”
Mr Hill also warned against complacency, pointing to moments when debates about “the right to be a bigot” had real-world effects. “While that debate was raging, we saw a spike in public racism. We saw people abused on the bus, we saw hijabs ripped off, and we saw turbans ripped off,” he said. “Leadership matters. The tone and the words that political leaders put forward impact daily life in the suburbs.”
He urged those in opposition to reaffirm their commitment to the Act and “promise never to try this again.” “Being diverse is not the same thing as being a successful multicultural country,” he said. “Success requires legal foundations and norms which this Act provides, but it also requires leadership—political, community and faith leadership, day in and day out.”
Earlier, Julie-Ann Campbell, the Member for Moreton, reflected on her Chinese-Australian heritage and the long shadow of the White Australia policy. “Can I tell you—in 1901 the doors were shut to people who looked like me,” she said. “The first piece of federal legislation to make racial discrimination unlawful in Australia was the Racial Discrimination Act. It is rooted in the idea of fairness and that it doesn’t matter what colour your skin is—you should be treated equally.”
Ms Campbell said the law remains vital but insufficient on its own. “We can never take for granted the tapestry that we have woven when it comes to our multicultural country. The concern that I have at the moment is that there are people who are pulling at the threads of that tapestry. It starts as a dog whistle, but it ends with a drumbeat.”
Echoing Dr Aly’s words, she added, “When we support our multicultural communities, when we stand against racial discrimination, we have to back them in—not just with words, not just with niceties, but with action. Labor stands with you… not just today, as we celebrate an important milestone, but every single day.”
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