Racism in universities: Findings from the AHRC's national study and new Threshold Standards commencing from 1 January 2027

AHRC Study - Results, outcomes and recommendations

The Respect at Uni: Study into Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Racism and the Experience of First Nations People (Study) comprised over 76,000 responses from students and staff across 42 universities. In the Study, 14.9% of survey participants reported direct racism, 69.9% reported indirect racism, and 19.1% of participants who did not report direct or indirect racism reported witnessing racism directed at others. The Study discovered that only 11 universities had advanced anti-racism frameworks, 30 had limited frameworks and 2 had none - meaning that current measures against racism at universities required immediate attention.

The report from the Study made 47 recommendations across five interconnected outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Universities should expect a new sector-wide framework. The AHRC recommended a Racism@Uni 'Working Group' and 'Action Plan', with independent AHRC reviews and possible referral to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) if progress is too slow. If the Working Group determines that progress is insufficient, it may recommend that the Australian Government develop a national anti-racism code.

• Outcome 2: Ensuring "racism-free environments" (which refers to inclusive, safe university environments that are free from racism) has evolved from an equity issue to a safety issue. The report recommended amending the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) to include a positive duty to prevent racial discrimination in workplaces. It recommended anti-racism training, racial and cultural literacy training, and to embed racism prevention into health and safety frameworks for both students and staff. No bills have been introduced yet to amend the Act.

• Outcome 3: Accountability in complaints reporting measures at universities were identified as a clear weak point, with most staff and students demonstrating no knowledge about how to report acts of racism at all. The study recommended that universities offer multiple complaint pathways, including anonymous and independent options, train staff to be culturally capable in handling complaints, and collect and publish data to identify risks and improve practices. New regulatory standards strengthening complaints-handling processes have been introduced and are discussed in further detail below.

• Outcome 4: The findings concluded that course curriculums typically reflect only white, western viewpoints. The recommendation is that universities should integrate First Nations people and non-Western perspectives into programs, avoiding tokenistic electives or surface-level inclusions. This also includes allocating sufficient financial and human resources to implement these changes.

• Outcome 5: The report found that the workforce does not reflect student diversity, and the race pay gap was highlighted as a 'blind spot'. Universities should set diversity targets for senior roles, create leadership pathways, recognise the cultural load through workload allocation, financial allowances and enterprise agreement conditions, and review performance systems for racial bias. Employment strategies, like improving progression and retention measures, should not only target First Nations people, but extend to other groups identified within the Study as having experienced high rates of racism (such as people from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, as well as Māori, Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian and Pasifika respondents).

New Threshold Standards commencing 1 January 2027

The Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (Framework), which is enforced by TEQSA, sets out the Threshold Standards against which the quality of the higher education can be assessed.

In July 2026, amendments were made to the Framework to introduce new standards related to anti-racism and governance. In relation to anti-racism, universities must develop and maintain a safe and inclusive institutional environment for staff, students and visitors that prevents and responds to racism and other discriminatory conduct, including by:

• having definitions of racism relevant to the university's higher education operations, including but not limited to racism towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, antisemitism and Islamophobia;

• developing and maintaining an environment where the nature and scope of racism is clearly specified and understood;

• addressing the ways racism and marginalisation may manifest across the university's environments and activities;

• implementing policies, procedures and practices that embed safe, respectful and inclusive behaviours across all operations (e.g. transparent complaints handling processes);

• supporting equity and diversity, and enabling representation and participation in institutional planning, review and decision-making; and

• providing clear guidance to students and staff on actions that enhance safety and security on campus and online.

The existing requirement in the Threshold Standards to have institutional student complaints-handling and appeals processes for formal complaints has also been expanded to require the processes to be transparent, designed and periodically reviewed in consultation with staff and students, including those with lived experience of discrimination, harassment, victimisation or violence, to ensure that these processes:

• are accessible;

• are easy to navigate;

• promote cultural safety; and

• have administrative barriers minimised.

The Threshold Standards can be accessed in full here.

Universities are required to meet the new anti-racism standards from 1 January 2027. TEQSA has already indicated that it may ask for evidence of how higher education providers will comply with the new Threshold Standards. With the commencement date fast approaching, universities should carefully consider whether they have implemented sufficient processes and practices to ensure compliance with the requirements in the Framework.