Racism & Mental Health
One in five people living in Australia have experienced racism - with far reaching consequences on health, wellbeing and life.
As an individual affected by racism, we are more likely to experience depression, anxiety and behavioural difficulties; sleep is hard to come by; and we are at higher risk of suicide. We are more likely to turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with stress, and the stress and fatigue makes it harder to turn away. Joining in healthy activities that others take for granted, like community sports, becomes more out of reach.
Experiencing racism also places us at higher risk of conditions including obesity, high blood pressure, and immune and inflammatory problems.
While this paints a bleak picture, it also highlights the opportunity we all have to create positive change by tackling racism. And with its incredible reach throughout Australia, sport has a vital role to play.
Our opportunity: mental health x racism x sport
At Reflect Forward we want every athlete at junior and senior clubs spanning regional and rural Australia to inner-city, school students, and their communities to know that everyone belongs – no matter what their race, skin colour, ethnicity, or religion.
Here we look at who is experiencing racism and its subsequent mental health impacts, with a particular focus on young people and sport.
School students.
Researchers recently found that racism is a huge issue for students in Australia and even more widespread than the broader population’s ‘one in five’. Over two in five students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds and from ethnic minority backgrounds have experienced racism from their peers. That’s more than double the experience of Australia’s population as a whole. And racism from peers is mirrored in community sport.
Children and adolescents in community sports.
Sport for children and adolescents under the age of 18 is enormous in Australia, with 69 per cent participating in some form of organised sport or physical activity outside of school. In 2019, research revealed that junior athletes in community sport are unlikely to officially report their experiences of racism. They fear backlash, being singled-out, and scapegoating.
While this means that we don’t have hard numbers, the research revealed anecdotally that these young athletes are racially vilified on a frequent basis. As we explored above, this has serious consequences on mental health, physical health and life outcomes.
Here’s what two leaders from clubs had to say to researchers:
“Our Sudanese boys get vilified every second to third week, at least. Sometimes they just fob it off and other times they haven’t, it depends on how they react to the situation as to how far we take it.”
— Australian Rules junior football club
“I know our older boys, some of our Muslim kids are regularly vilified but they’ve learned to shrug and move on. It happens to them all the time. It’s the same kids so they’re pretty thick skinned but on a couple of occasions throughout the season it did get to them…They’re pretty resilient because they’re used to it but that doesn’t excuse it.”
— Australian Rules junior football club
Indigenous Australians do not feel safe to participate in sport.
Research has also found that many Indigenous Australians living in Victoria avoid sport, as they don’t feel safe to participate. Half of those surveyed experience racism in sport, and four in five avoid situations like sport where they predict that racism will take place. Feeling safe to be a part of sport, and enjoying all of its social, emotional and physical benefits, is something that many others in Australia take for granted.The part we can all play - athletes, teams & sporting bodies.
We’ve seen that racism happens a lot here in Australia, and that it directly impacts our mental health, physical health and life outcomes. We’ve also seen that young people in particular are experiencing racism in both school and community sport, where they have a right to feel safe and know they belong.
As a sporting community we are faced with an enormous opportunity: to support the mental health of so many of Australia’s young people who participate in community sport. We can do this by creating safe spaces where everyone feels included, respected and welcome, where empathy, kindness, and understanding is fostered - where we say no to racism, yes to mental health.
Explore our education articles for more on how athletes, teams, and sporting organisations can say no to racism and support mental health.
If you or anyone you know needs help:
Lifeline on 13 11 14
Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
DirectLine Victoria drug/alcohol counselling on 1800 888 236
MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
Yarning SafeNStrong on 1800 95 95 63
Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
Headspace on 1800 650 890
ReachOut at au.reachout.com
Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) on 1800 008 774
HeadtoHelp on 1800 595 212
Brother to Brother on 1800 435 799
