ASRC launches urgent national campaign to combat rising racism and division

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has today launched a 7-day critical appeal to raise $220,000 to fund a national research and community mobilisation project to counter the growing rise of racism and anti-migrant narratives in Australia.

The appeal comes amid increasing concern about the normalisation of language that dehumanises migrants, refugees, people seeking asylum and First Nations communities, with rhetoric once confined to the fringes now shaping mainstream political debate.

The ASRC warns that this rise in racism is not just political discourse but is already having real and harmful impacts on communities across Australia.

The national project, led by the ASRC in partnership with organisations including Democracy in Colour and the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS), will identify the key narratives driving racism and develop evidence-based messaging to effectively challenge them.

The findings will be made publicly available alongside a practical, open-source toolkit to equip community groups, advocates and organisations across the country with the tools and language to counter racism in everyday conversations, media and public debate.

Quotes attributable to Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO Asylum Seeker Resource Centre:

“We are deeply concerned by what we are seeing unfold in Australia right now. Racism and anti-migrant fear are being pushed back into the centre of our national conversation.”

“This is not just rhetoric. We are already seeing the consequences in our communities, where people are being made to feel unsafe, unwelcome and targeted.”

“Fear is being deliberately organised and amplified to divide Australians and scapegoat vulnerable communities.”

“But we have faced moments like this before, and we know what it takes to push back. When people come together, when we choose unity over division and compassion over fear, we can change the national conversation.”

“This project is about giving communities the tools they need to do exactly that.”

“The research and toolkit we develop will not sit on a shelf. We will take this work directly into communities across the country through our community organising program, meeting people where they are and supporting conversations that build understanding and connection.”

“We will also work alongside partners across the sector to share these tools widely and help mobilise a strong, united movement that can challenge racism at scale.”

“In 2015, ASRC’s Words That Work research helped transform how Australians talk about people seeking asylum. This is the next step in that work.”

“We have no time to waste. We must act now to protect the kind of country we want Australia to be.”

Background

• The ASRC is launching a 7-day critical appeal to raise $220,000 to fund a national anti-racism research and messaging project.
• The project will identify the racial and economic narratives driving the rise in racism and develop effective messaging to counter them.
• Findings will be released as open-source research alongside a practical toolkit.
• The toolkit will be rolled out nationally through ASRC’s community organising program and shared with sector partners.
• The initiative builds on ASRC’s previous successful narrative work, including the 2015 Words That Work research.

Media contact
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
media@asrc.org.au
0412 034 821