Racism and the 2023 Australian constitutional referendum

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) 2023-10, Vol.402 (10411), p.1400-1403
• Main Authors: Anderson, Ian, Paradies, Yin, Langton, Marcia, Lovett, Ray, Calma, Tom
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cultural heritage; Mental health; Native peoples; Pandemics; Parliaments; Politics; Racism; Referendums; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Working groups
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01954-2

The Australian e-Safety Commission reported in late May, 2023, that there had been more than a 10% rise in the proportion of complaints made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples about online cyber abuse, threats, and harassment.4 Furthermore, the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria has gone from blocking two people a day for racist abuse on social media to blocking about 50 people, citing the national debate on an Indigenous Voice as the reason for this escalation.5 Similar discrimination was experienced by the LGBTQIA+ community during the plebiscites in the USA and the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey plebiscite.15–20 The Voice referendum process creates a substantial cultural load for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Speculating on the post-referendum situation: a No vote will have a profoundly negative effect on those in the Indigenous world who have walked a journey of reconciliation with politicians, business leaders, and Australian communities for nearly two decades. RL received funding from the Australian Government to monitor Indigenous mental health and racism during the referendum period.