Reconciliation Australia’s latest survey has found strong support for reconciliation and truth-telling.
85% of Australians surveyed in the 2024 Australian Reconciliation Barometer (ARB) believe the relationship between non-Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is important.
The ARB is undertaken every two years to measure the attitudes and perceptions First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians hold about each other and about key issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The 2024 survey was conducted almost a year after the Voice referendum campaign and at a time when Australians juggled cost-of-living pressures at home, while violent conflicts and extreme climate events wreaked havoc across the world.
Reconciliation Australia CEO, Karen Mundine, said she was encouraged by the latest ARB findings.
‘Despite the economic and global challenges and despite the disinformation and racism we witnessed during the referendum campaign, the 2024 ARB results show that most Australians share an enduring optimism in the possibility of a more united Australia and believe that the Federal Government should do more to advance reconciliation’, she said.
‘It gives us hope to report that Australians now largely accept the truths of our history, place importance on our relationships with each other, and are prepared to work together.’
‘I am particularly heartened by this latest ARB data indicating growing support for reconciliation from two critical demographic groups: multicultural Australians and young Australians.’
Multicultural Australians
The 2024 ARB shows that multicultural Australians believe more strongly in the importance of relationships in building unity than mainstream Australians and are more driven to take action on reconciliation.
Multicultural Australians believe in the importance of truth-telling at higher levels than Anglo-Australians (81% compared to 67%) and are more than twice as likely to have participated in a local truth-telling activity than Anglo-Australians.
They are more likely to have attended a First Nations art exhibition or museum display or a celebration of First Nations culture.
Multicultural Australians more strongly believe the wrongs of the past must be rectified before all Australians can move forward (36% compared to 24%).
However, the ARB also found less knowledge of First Nations histories and cultures among multicultural respondents who reported they are much less likely to have personal experiences with First Nations people that provide them with first hand understanding.
Ms Mundine said this was a clear indication of the need to better engage and inform multicultural Australians of the importance of reconciliation and truth-telling.
‘Our ARB respondents from multicultural backgrounds show significant support for the key principles of reconciliation,’ said Mundine. ‘Our challenge is to ensure that this support is consolidated with access to good information in languages other than English, and more opportunities for interaction with First Nations people.’
Young Australians
Ms Mundine said the 2024 ARB data shows that young Australians have more positive attitudes towards unity, cultural understanding, and the importance of truth-telling than older Australians.
‘Young Australians are more committed to acting in support of reconciliation (66% compared to 47%), they are more likely to recognise racism in Australia and more than 90% of them believe it is important to learn about the impact of European colonisation and government policy on First Nations Australians.
‘They overwhelmingly support having Welcome to Country ceremonies at major sporting events (80% compared to 55% of older Australians) and official dual naming of important sites,’ said Mundine. ‘And they believe, at rates more than double that of the general community, that the wrongs of the past must be rectified before all Australians can move forward (58% to 28%).
‘Young Australians are showing the way, and we must harness their energy and positivity into the future, if we are to achieve a reconciled and more just nation,’ she said.
Rising racism
Karen Mundine said that while these responses were cause for optimism, the 2024 ARB worryingly indicated a rise in First Nations people experiencing racism since the 2022 ARB.
‘More than half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people surveyed reported experiencing racial discrimination in the past six months. Not only has there been rise in these experiences since 2022, but we have seen a significant increase in racism the last decade,’ she said (39% in 2014 to 54% in 2024).
‘Of particular concern is that younger Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience racism at higher levels than all other age groups, with 68% of First Nations people aged 25-34 years old experiencing at least one form of racial prejudice in the past six months.
‘This exposure to racism has meant that half of the First Nations people surveyed feel unable to be true to their cultural identity in their community, in their dealings with government departments and in the criminal justice system.
‘This is a shocking finding and adds weight to calls for governments to fully implement the National Anti-Racism Framework, as a key established mechanism to address systemic racism in Australia,’ she said.
Measuring the positive impact of RAPs
In another positive indication of changing Australian attitudes, Reconciliation Australia’s survey of people employed by organisations with a Reconciliation Action Plan – the Workplace RAP Barometer (WRB) – shows increased understanding of, and support for, reconciliation compared with the general population.
Every two years Reconciliation Australia conducts the WRB, surveying employees in organisations with a RAP.
The WRB survey results have been compared with responses from the general population drawn from the 2024 ARB to give an indication of the impact of RAPs on understanding of First Nations histories and cultures and attitudes towards reconciliation.
For example, RAP employees have higher knowledge of the history of colonial Australia than the general community (70% of RAP employees compared to 60% in the general community), and most believe the Australian people should be educating themselves about First Nations histories and cultures in response to the referendum result (72% compared to 42% in the general community).
RAP employees surveyed in the WRB see racism as more prevalent than the general community does (73% compared to 52%).
Ms Mundine said that the more than 3,000 RAP organisations with members and employees making up over five million Australians are clearly having a significant influence on Australian attitudes.
2024 ARB survey notes
The 2024 Australian Reconciliation Barometer, undertaken every two years since 2008, shows the attitudes and perceptions First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians hold about each other and about key issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people. The following were surveyed:
- 532 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (associated with a margin of error of +/-4.2%)
- 1990 non-indigenous people (associated with a margin of error of +/-2.2%.)
For a combined total base sample of 2,599 is associated with a margin of error of +/-1.9%
Both samples weighted to be representative in terms of age group, gender and location (state and territory populations), as per Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census data.
