Asian Australians' Experiences of Racism During the COVID-19 Pandemic

On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, which is the highest level of alarm. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increase of reported incidents of racism and xenophobia all over the world, and Australia is no exception (Human Rights Watch 2020). On 8 April 2020, the Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner, Chin Tan, advocated for a national response to racism, which included a call for research on Asian Australians’ experiences of racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, there have been early studies conducted by All Together Now (2020), the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods (Biddle et al. 2020), the Asian Australian Alliance (Chiu & Chuang 2020), and the Lowy Institute (Kassam & Hsu 2021), which have provided insights into the nature of racism during the pandemic. However, there have been limitations associated with sample sizes, sample frames and survey designs, and knowledge gaps remain. The study presented in this report sought to provide reliable empirics on Asian Australians’ experiences of racism (the nature, type and frequency), changes over time (before and since COVID-19), the impacts of such experiences (e.g., on health, wellbeing, and belonging), and the reporting of racist incidents and the (in)actions of witnesses. The project utilised an online national survey (N : 2,003) of self-identified ‘Asian Australian’ participants who were residents of Australia aged 16 years and older. The survey results show that Asian Australians reported experiencing racism in all Australian states and territories, across both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The demographic variations showed that males, younger people, Australian-born participants, migrant participants who have been in Australia for more than 2 years, and English-speakers at home were the most likely to report experiencing racism. This pattern of results was consistent with pre-COVID-19 results. Executive Summary The reported experiences of racism, interestingly, decreased nationally during the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to the 12 months prior. Pre-COVID, almost half (47.9%) reported having experienced racism. Since COVID-19, this number reduced to two-fifths (39.9%) since January 2020. Some potential explanations for the reported decrease in racism include: COVID-related restrictions (e.g., limited access to public spaces and lockdowns) limiting interactions with racist offenders, and increased avoidance of Asian Australians due to racist discourses linking ‘Asians’ to COVID-19.