Parliament Launches Inquiry Into Racism, Notes It Has Not Yet Read Any of the Previous Inquiries Into Racism

The federal government has announced a new parliamentary inquiry into racism, hate and violence experienced by First Nations people, following the alleged terror attack on an Invasion Day rally in Perth in January – marking the nation’s bold decision to respond to a bomb being thrown at Aboriginal people by commissioning a document.

The Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs will investigate the “nature, scale and impact” of racism, a phrase that drew knowing silence from communities who have been providing that exact information, voluntarily, since approximately 1788.

“I encourage First Nations people to make a submission” said the minister for Indigenous Australians, adding that submissions could be provided in written, video, photo or artwork form – the government’s most accessible format offering since it briefly considered accepting submissions by smoke signal in 2019.

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe welcomed the inquiry while also noting that Aboriginal people were “tired of giving evidence, sharing trauma and telling the same truths over and over again, only to see reports shelved.” She described the announcement as “a step in the right direction” in the same tone a person uses when told the ambulance is on its way but it’s coming from the next suburb.

The inquiry is expected to report its findings in September, after which the findings will enter the standard parliamentary pipeline: tabled, noted, summarised in a press release, and placed in a folder on a server nobody has the password to.

Submissions close 1 May 2026. A candle-lit vigil for all the previous submissions will be held simultaneously.