Community Forum | 50th Anniversary of the Racial Discrimination Act

Celebrate Half a Century of Progress: the 50th Anniversary of the Racial Discrimination Act

This year marks 50 years since the introduction of one of Australia’s most powerful pieces of legislation: the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth). To commemorate this milestone, the Whitlam Institute invites you to a special community event at Parramatta Town Hall on Tuesday, 17 June 2025.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman will deliver the keynote address.

Other special guests include:

• Thomas Mayo – Indigenous Leader, Author, and Advocate.

• Professor Azadeh Dastyari – Director of Research & Policy at the Whitlam Institute and leading Human Rights scholar.

• Professor Kevin Dunn – Provost of Western Sydney University and Lead of the Challenging Racism Project.

• Dr Alanna Kamp – Researcher with the Challenging Racism Project and the Young and Resilient Research Centre.

The event welcomes community voices and emerging leaders to join in the conversation about justice, identity and belonging in modern Australia.

Introduced in 1975 by the Whitlam Government, the Racial Discrimination Act was the first national legislation to make racism unlawful. It set a new standard for human rights in Australia and affirmed that everyone, regardless of race or background, deserves equal treatment before the law.

Held in the heart of multicultural Western Sydney, this gathering will be both a celebration and a call to action — a chance to honour hard-fought progress and renew our national commitment to a fairer future.

📅 Tuesday 17 June 2025
📍 Parramatta Town Hall | 1:00pm – 5:00pm
🖥️ whitlam.org

This event will not be live-streamed, but parts will be uploaded to our website following the event.

We recommend taking public transport to this event, the nearest train station is Parramatta, and the nearest light rail stop is Parramatta Square.