Why We Need to Address Casual Racism in the Workplace

Mary Ducusin is the Acting Director of Senior Services for Uniting NSW.ACT. She is also the executive sponsor for Uniting’s Cultural Diversity Network.?

Harmony Week is Australia’s annual nationwide event, dedicated to celebrating our unique brand of multiculturism. Ahead of the celebration, we sat down with Mary to discuss what Harmony Week means for her and the Cultural Diversity Network, and how dismantling casual racism is the first step to true cultural safety and harmony.?

This is a unique holiday for Australia - why do you think Australia needs a Harmony Week and why do you think it's important that Uniting acknowledges it as well??

I think it's good to pause and to recognise the differences, but also the consistency of why, as immigrants, we have come to Australia the way we have.??

Australia is very unique because so many people come to live here and love it. I have met a few people, migrants like me, who could not imagine living anywhere else and I'm proud of that.??

For Uniting, it gives us a chance to be more proactive in how we create a culture of belongingness. We can take a step back and think, is this a safe space for everyone? Are we providing refuge from a world that can be tough? And how do we make people a part of the Uniting family? What does that really look like for individuals and for groups??

It sounds like you’ve got a personal connection to Harmony Day too...?

I do! I came to Australia with my family when I was 15 years old from the Philippines. I won’t tell you how old I am, but now I’ve lived in Australia even longer than I ever lived in the Philippines.??

My connection is that I have thrived as a migrant of this country. I’m grateful and love being here but I also have that connection to the Philippines. It’s my heritage, and it’s something that is welcome to be celebrated when I come to work.? ? I’ve been the executive sponsor for our Cultural Diversity Network for close to 3 years now, and over this time and we've been trying to promote the understanding that regardless of where you come from, we want to hear your story because you're powerful as an individual, and even more powerful as part of a network.?

"Racism is still a problem, and I think we have to be bolder about calling it out while we’re celebrating harmony."

Harmony Day has a history and connection to the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination...does that connection still exist??

Yes and no. Racism is still a problem, and I think we have to be bolder about calling it out while we’re celebrating harmony. Personally, I’ve experienced it in a passive way, but I know that the conflict in the Middle East in the last year has meant that many of our staff have experienced increased racial discrimination. We've also heard stories from our Asian staff members regarding the breakout of COVID and the discrimination that they faced because of that.? We can’t stop every incident of racism, so our job is to make sure that they feel safe coming into work. We have a responsibility to stand up and be bold about calling it out, but also by educating the people because they're coming from an ill-informed place.??

True Harmony celebration is about openness, and being empathetic to the people we are celebrating with.? There is humility and vulnerability in having tough conversations.??

How do you help a staff member who might be experiencing some form of racism??

We’ve had people coming to work on the train, being told “go back to where you came from”. We’ve had people spat at on the bus to work. We’ve even had some of our Muslim staff receive criticism for working for a church. It can come from anywhere and so we need to protect those staff members who don’t feel like they can stand up for themselves.?

We must keep reiterating to them that we have open arms, they are safe here. That could be through doing something like giving cab charges to those who aren’t safe on public transport. We have to create the space so that they feel comfortable sharing those experiences with us.?

Through my work with the Cultural Diversity Network, I’ve learnt to be cognisant of the fact that each experience is just as important as my own experience.??

Those examples are quite explicitly racist, is there a discussion to be had about casual racism at work too? What’s the difference??

To me casual racism is partly the unconscious bias that people bring with them. It’s like when you hear comments about immigrants taking people’s jobs – they might not be addressing me directly, but their bias is affecting how they feel towards me. Or it might be even smaller, like when I walk into a shop and the non-Asian person always gets served first.??

It's subtle, and you've got to learn not to take it personally, because it will just ruin your day.??

"There is often an assumption about language - that certain workers can't speak English because of their appearance, which is not always necessarily true."

Those are some important examples...what does casual racism look like in an aged care setting??

It definitely has different connotations. There is often an assumption about language - that certain workers can't speak English because of their appearance, which is not always necessarily true.?

There's certainly a lot of cultural barriers, things that we need to overcome. We have an ageing population, they've come from a different generation, and we have to be conscious of their context and their upbringing. At the same time, we have staff members who may not necessarily have come from that environment.?

The task is: how do we prepare them for that environment? There is a dual responsibility that we have, because aged care services are also home for our clients. We're coming to your home to provide care and service, so we have to prepare both our staff and our clients so that they're not faced by either direct racism or by that unconscious bias.?

Are there any initiatives that we've been doing at Uniting to support people experiencing racism in any form??

The short answer is yes. Our most recent staff survey showed that our people feel confident they can come forward and report those things internally with us. That was really encouraging.?

One of the more positive initiatives we have looked at is to support culturally diverse people through their professional development. For example, we had a mentorship program last year, and we’re trying to keep that going.??

We've also almost doubled the Cultural Diversity Network membership in the last two years, and now those people are sharing their stories of where they come from. That storytelling is really powerful for someone of a different heritage, and I appreciate their vulnerability.?

We’re always working on increasing the engagement with our culturally diverse people. We're never going to be perfect, nor do I aspire to be perfect. But to me, having a reference group enables us to show ongoing learning and support in a holistic way.?

With this diverse reference group, you're going to have a lot of different perspectives coming up in there, does that cause any tension??

Absolutely! I call them my United Nations. We might not always agree on something, but we will talk about it. Hopefully you're left feeling that you’ve been heard, that you have a space, and you're not judged.?

Can harmony emerge from those tough discussions and points of tension??

If I feel I have the safe space to have a tough conversation, then I would welcome it, because it's the only way for us to grow together and move forward.???

In a workplace, those conversations have to be supported by Management and Board. Cultural capability is one of the key priorities of the DEI networks. How do we promote that and improve the capability of our leaders???

Not everyone feels comfortable with conflict, and sharing a tough experience sometimes can be conflicting, and people don’t know what to say. We need to give our leaders the development and the training on how to do that safely.?

"There is no limit on the amount of respect you can have for others"

Is there anything else on your mind as we approach Harmony Day??

One thing that I would really like to emphasise is for people to be respectful and be open. There is no limit on the amount of respect you can have for others, whether that's through sharing a meal together, or by sharing a story. We’re emerging from this time where everyone was online and now we need to relearn how to connect in person.?

I've seen some cringy comments about world events online. How do we support one another when we're coming from different views? It's a hard one, isn't it???

We must start from a place of respect, there’s never too much.??