INTERNET FORUM ON ISLAM AND RACE DISCRMINATION LAWS

A website forum on racism against Australian Muslims was launched by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission today.

Federal race discrimination law protects against race discrimination but not religious discrimination. One question posed by the forum is whether Muslims could constitute an ethnic group. The forum considers the interpretation of ‘ethnic origin’.

Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner Dr William Jonas said he hoped to receive comments on this issue, in particular on three central questions:

1. How do Australian Muslims identify themselves and how are they seen by others in the community – as members of an ethnic group or a religious group or both?

2. When Muslims from the Middle East are vilified or discriminated against, is it because of their religion, their ethnicity or a mixture of both?

3. Should religious discrimination and vilification be covered by federal law?”

“In 1998 the Commission recommended that religious discrimination be made unlawful in all areas of public life, with appropriate exemptions for religious institutions. This recommendation has not yet been taken up by the Government,” Dr Jonas said. “Yet discrimination and vilification because of religion persist, particularly affecting Muslims and Jews.”

“Since 11 September 2001, Muslims around Australia have reported increased levels of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice, discrimination and vilification. Community leaders have told me that these attitudes have caused fear, isolation and uncertainty within their communities.”

Jews and Sikhs are currently covered by the federal Act because they are recognised as ethnic groups as well as religious groups. However, Australian courts have yet to decide whether Muslims share an ‘ethnic origin’ as well as a religion. “In the meantime”, Dr Jonas noted, “it may seem anomalous that anti-Semitism is outlawed but Islamophobia is not.”

The forum can be found at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/racial_discrimination/Erace.

The site has a background paper on Islam and the Racial Discrimination Act, which includes a summary of State and Territory laws about religious discrimination and vilification.

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