A hybrid event ‘Unmasked: Racism and Discrimination as Determinants of Health Inequity’ was convened as the first public event for the Collaborative. Speakers from Australia and the UK discussed their perspectives on structural racism, xenophobia and discrimination.
Key findings from a series of articles from The Lancet on Racism, Xenophobia, Discrimination and Health were detailed by UK academic, Professor Delan Devakumar (University College London). Professor Helen Skouteris (Monash University) spoke on the dearth of Australian focussed research on multicultural communities, and Dr Chris Lemoh (Western Health) discussed systemic racism in health.
A short Q&A afterwards indicated the resonance of the topic to the audience, and it comes as no surprise to many of us that discrimination causes ill health. The session was chaired by Marina Chand (World Wellness Group), Co-Chair of the Collaborative.
The Collaborative is seeking new members, individuals from refugee or migrant backgrounds, researchers whose focus is on multicultural health and organisations who work primarily with people from refugee or migrant backgrounds or who have a high proportion of clients from diverse backgrounds. Peak organisations are welcomed as affiliate members.