Our Commitment
The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS) is committed to creating a learning, research and working environment where everyone feels respected, valued and safe.
Our anti-racism work aligns with the University’s Anti-Racism Action Plan 2024–2027, Murmuk Djerring: Indigenous Strategy 2023–2027, Advancing Health 2030 and the Faculty’s Truth Telling in Health Initiative.
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and the Yorta Yorta Nation, the Traditional Owners of the lands on which our campuses are situated, and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ enduring connections to Country and their rich contributions to health and wellbeing.
We recognise the University’s historical ties to colonial dispossession, the erasure of Indigenous knowledge and authority, and scientific racism and eugenics, as documented in Dhoombak Goobgoowana and our institutional history.
Racial Literacy Conversations
Join our Racial Literacy Conversation sessions to explore how racism and systemic inequities appear in our university community and how we can respond together.
What you’ll gain
Through interactive discussions, you’ll build practical skills to recognize, discuss, and challenge racism in everyday and institutional settings. No prior knowledge is needed, and you will not be asked to share personal experiences of racism. Everyone’s perspective is welcome.
Session details
Open to all MDHS students, graduate researchers, and staff.
Registrations for students: Register Here
Registrations for graduate researchers and staff: Register Here
Each session runs for 2 hours and concludes with refreshments and networking. Sessions will be held at different locations across the Parkville campus, with details provided in the calendar invite.
Places are limited to support a safe and comfortable space, so please book early.
This program is part of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS), committed to creating a learning, research and working environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and safe and the University’s Anti-Racism Action Plan (2024–2027).
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Sources and initiatives supporting anti-racism, cultural safety, and inclusion across the University, Victoria, and nationally.
University Resources
- University Anti-Racism Resources offers practical tools, training, and guidance to strengthen anti-racist practice and cultural safety across the University community.
- Addressing racism in the classroom: Staff Hub advice on setting up an anti-racist classroom and responding to racism in learning spaces.
- Asian Names Resource provides guidance and resources to support the correct pronunciation and use of Asian names. The Padlet link has also been updated in the agenda.
- Safe Research Resource Cards provide practical guidance and resources to support safe, ethical and culturally appropriate research practices.
Support for Students Impacted by Conflict in West Asia (including Iran, Israel, and Gaza)
- Support for Iranian students and graduate researchers includes information on leave and special consideration.
- Advice for students impacted by conflict in the Middle East provides guidance and support for students affected by conflict in West Asia, including access to wellbeing services, academic support, and advice on managing study during challenging circumstances.
University Support Services
If you have experienced racism, you have the right to seek support and advice. The University encourages you to engage with the available services.
- Safer Community Program provides confidential support and advice about inappropriate, concerning, or threatening behaviour.
- Respect at Melbourne supports a safe, respectful community by addressing sexual misconduct with a trauma-informed approach.
- Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers free, confidential mental health support for students and staff, with trauma-informed and intersectional care.
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) delivers free, confidential counselling for staff and immediate family members on personal or work-related matters.
- chaplain provides inclusive emotional and spiritual support for students and staff from all faiths—or no faith.
- Health Service offers comprehensive medical care for students, staff, and their dependants, including student mental health services.
External Resources (Victoria & National)
- Understanding Race Educational resources to build awareness about racism and its impacts in Australia.
- Anti-Racism Victoria – Support Services Connects individuals with information, community organisations, and reporting pathways for race-based discrimination.
External Formal Complaints
- Australian Human Rights Commission Receives and investigates complaints about racial discrimination under federal law.
- Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) Handles complaints about racism and discrimination in Victoria.
- Phone: 1300 292 153 (weekdays 10am – 2pm)
- Email: complaints@veohrc.vic.gov.au
- National Student Ombudsman Independent body for students to raise complaints about education providers in Australia.
Anonymous Reporting
- VEOHRC Community Reporting Tool Report racism anonymously and help monitor discrimination trends in Victoria.
- Racism Register Allows people to confidentially record experiences of racism to support advocacy and awareness.
- Call It Out – First Nations Racism Register Dedicated reporting tool for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to share racism experiences.
- Islamophobia Register Tracks and supports victims of anti-Muslim hate incidents across the country.
- Victorian Community Security Group (Jewish Community) Provides safety, advocacy, and incident reporting support for Victoria’s Jewish community.
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These recommended readings support learning and reflection on race, history and belonging. They provide research-informed perspectives that contribute to understanding diversity, equity and inclusion within academic and professional contexts.
Featured readings
- How to Argue With a Racist – Adam Rutherford
A clear and evidence-based challenge to the myths of biological race, drawing on genetics, history and science.
- Why Race Still Matters – Alana Lentin
Explores how race continues to shape power, inequality and everyday life, particularly within institutional and political systems.
- How to Be an Antiracist – Ibram X. Kendi
A call to move beyond neutrality, offering a framework for recognising and actively dismantling racist ideas and structures.
- A Short History of Humanity – Johannes Krause
Examines how migration, diversity and human movement have shaped who we are, challenging fixed ideas of identity and belonging.
- On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life - Sara Ahmed explores how the language of “diversity” is used within institutions, questioning what it actually does in practice and how it may replace or dilute more critical concepts like equality and justice.
Interesting reading
- Seeking Asylum: Our Stories–Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
- Cultural Diversity Research Collection–Australia Policy Online
- Racism at Work Report–How organisations can stand up to and end workplace racism
- Face the facts–Cultural diversity in Australia
- Talking about a Revolution–Yassmin Abdel-Magied
- Anti Racism Resources for White People in Australia
- The Hate Race–Maxine Beneba Clarke
- Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race
- Reporting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Issues
- Growing up African in Australia
- Growing up Asian in Australia
- Growing up Aboriginal in Australia
- How to Argue With a Racist – Adam Rutherford
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- The Colour Cycle–Diversity Arts Australia
- The Art of Inclusion–Diversity Council of Australia
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Growing up mixed race in Australia
An episode of Insight (SBS) about how being mixed race shape people’s identity and experience of the world, and how families maintain multiple cultures.
This SBS documentary puts survey findings into action through a series of hidden camera social experiments to capture the experience of racism in Australia today.
To learn more about MDHS anti-racism initiatives or upcoming events, join our Newsletter here or contact the MDHS Diversity and Inclusion team: mdhs-diversityinclusion@unimelb.edu.au
Together, we are building a Faculty grounded in truth, justice, and belonging, where equity and respect are part of everyday practice.