By Sahar Foladi
City of Greater Dandenong will investigate proudly displaying Racism Not Welcome signs around the municipality after a unanimous vote in a council meeting.
The council meeting on April 11 saw Rhonda Garad move the motion for “zero tolerance” towards racism and discrimination.
The council will prepare a feasibility report on benefits, costs, locations and other details.
Cr Garad said, “The important part is that this council has shown they strongly endorse a public campaign on this.
“It was great that it was unanimously passed. I was surprised.
“It shows the council is strongly committed to zero tolerance. This is one example of the many things we do.”
Cr Garad was emotional when she shared an incident of her daughter being questioned for 15 minutes by five police officers.
She had gone out to a restaurant with her cousins to celebrate the purchase of her first car.
The girls were stopped by a group of five police officers and questioned where they’d stolen the car from.
This incident has left Cr Garad’s family with a first-hand experience of what alleged racial profiling can do to an individual.
“Systems can only be changed systematically. That’s why this is so important. It’s up to leaders like us to change systems. It’s not up to victims and those suffering. It’s traumatising,” Cr Garad said.
According to Scanlon Foundation Research Institute (SFRI) discrimination increased from 9 per cent in 2007 to 20 per cent in 2016 and 2017 in Australia.
In 2020 discrimination numbers remained high on 16 per cent compared to the period before 2013.
With that, SFRI surveys have also found that racism is substantially more widespread than it was in 2020.
In 2022, 61 per cent of Australians believed that racism is a big problem compared to 40 per cent in 2020.
