Australia to fast-track national anti-racism strategy: Minister

Canberra: The Australian government will fast-track its plans for a national anti-racism strategy following the failed Indigenous Voice referendum.

Andrew Giles, the minister for immigration, citizenship and multicultural affairs, on Friday said that events of recent weeks had given the federal government a "renewed sense of urgency" to launch the national campaign, reports Xinhua news agency.

The governing Labor Party committed to funding the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to complete and implement its National Anti-Racism Framework in the lead-up to the 2022 general election and has been working with the commission since November 2022 on the foundations of the strategy.

Giles told the Guardian Australia that research into the strategy has focused on how best to engage regular Australians to "think through some of these issues in detail".

Asked if he was worried about the social impacts in Australia of the failed Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Giles said he was "very concerned."

"For me, as the minister for multicultural affairs, my focus, my absolute priority, is on ensuring that we do everything we can to keep Australians together, to make sure that we never take for granted our hard-won social cohesion and support for a multicultural and diverse society," Giles said.