International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed on 21 March each year. It is an opportunity to build awareness of racism and promote the need to act to advance equity for all people in NSW public education.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was established by the United Nations to raise awareness of and gain support for global action against racism.
Racism remains an ongoing barrier to equitable access and participation within our society and education system. The NSW Department of Education is dedicated to creating safe, inclusive schools and workplaces that are free from racism. To achieve this, we need strong leadership to drive anti-racism initiatives and a workforce that can prevent and counter it. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is an important opportunity for us to focus on what we can do to address and prevent racism from occurring.
How schools can be involved
Schools and department workplaces are encouraged to use the resources and posters on Racism. No Way! to help promote and support planned activities.
Some additional ideas for schools include:
- Organise an assembly to support students to learn about racism and encourage them to be anti-racism upstanders.
- You may wish to put up some posters! In addition to the posters available on Racism. No Way!, additional anti-racism posters are available for download on the Anti-Racism Contact Officers webpage and can be ordered from the Henry Parkes Equity Resource Centre. You could also invite students to create their own anti-racism posters or artworks.
- Watch the Australian Human Rights Commission video – Let’s talk about racism.
- A range of books are available from the Henry Parkes Equity Resource Centre to support discussions in your classroom and for your own professional reflection.
- Explore Anti-prejudice and Anti-racism activities on Racism. No Way!, including:
- What is racism? (primary) - Students learn about what racist behaviour is and begin to be able to identify it in familiar contexts such as at school, at home, online, or in the community.
- Impacts of Racism (primary) - Students identify feelings and build empathy for others. They learn about how racist behaviour can impact those who experience it. This lesson has a focus on understanding prejudice and bias, as well as perspective taking and empathy.
- What can you do? (primary) - Students are empowered with knowledge and strategies they can use when they witness racism at school, in the community and online.
- Student anti-racism training packages have been developed for use in primary and secondary settings, and are available on the Anti-Racism Contact Officers webpage. These are designed to build understanding of racism and its impact, and to build student confidence and skills to act as anti-racism upstanders.
- Organise an assembly to support students to learn about racism and encourage them to be anti-racism upstanders.
- You may wish to put up some posters! In addition to the posters available on Racism. No Way!, additional anti-racism posters are available for download on the Anti-Racism Contact Officers webpage and can be ordered from the Henry Parkes Equity Resource Centre. You could also invite students to create their own anti-racism posters or artworks.
- Watch the Australian Human Rights Commission video – Let’s talk about racism.
- A range of books are available from the Henry Parkes Equity Resource Centre to support discussions in your classroom and for your own professional reflection.
- Explore Anti-racism activities on Racism. No Way!, including:
- What is Racism? (secondary) - Students learn about what racist behaviour is and how to identify it at school, home, online, or in the community.
- Impacts of Racism (secondary) - Students learn about how racist behaviour can impact those who experience it. This lesson has a focus on understanding stereotypes and prejudice, as well as perspective taking and empathy.
- What can you do? (secondary) – Students learn about how racist behaviour can impact those who experience it. This lesson has a focus on perspective taking and empathy, as well as demonstrating positive citizenship in what to do when racism is observed or experienced.
- Student anti-racism training packages have been developed for use in primary and secondary settings, and are available on the Anti-Racism Contact Officers web page. These are designed to build understanding of racism and its impact, and to help develop student confidence and skills to act as anti-racist upstanders. Plan to deliver this training to the student leadership group.
We would love to hear about how your school has marked the day. Please let us know via antiracismeducation@det.nsw.edu.au so that we can share the great work you are doing.
How school staff can be involved
School staff interested in planning activities should follow the normal school processes. Interested staff can seek advice and support from the Anti-Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) and should consider how students can be involved in the planning and implementation of events.
Addressing racism in schools requires sustained and ongoing collective effort. For further support, teachers and school leaders are encouraged to explore the Anti-racism education webpages and join the Anti-racism education statewide staffroom on Microsoft Teams.
A range of professional learning opportunities in anti-racism, multicultural education and intercultural understanding are available to develop the capacity of all staff.
Additional resources
- The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is a key date for NSW Department of Education.
- Racism. No Way! is a national anti-racism education website that is managed by the NSW Department of Education on behalf of all Australian schools.
- Resources on building cultural inclusion, addressing the needs of culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse communities, strengthening community harmony and fostering communication and engagement with families from culturally diverse backgrounds are available to support schools.
- The Religious intolerance webpage includes information and resources about reporting bullying or intolerance on the basis of religious belief or spirituality.
- The Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Network is a connection point for CALD people across the department. It aims to provide a connected, supported and culturally safe space for the CALD community within the department.
- The Public Service Commissioner has published an Anti-Racism Guide – A guide to fostering anti-racist workplaces in the NSW public sector.
- In 2024 the NSW Secretaries Board released an Anti-Racism Leadership Statement.