Prevalence of Racial Discrimination in a Cohort of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children

Abstract

Background: Racial discrimination is a central social determinant of health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter referred to as Aboriginal) populations, and is associated with health inequities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. This study sought to estimate the prevalence of racism in a longitudinal study of Aboriginal children. Method: This study examined direct and vicarious racism within the Footprints in Time: The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) dataset, providing descriptive analysis of direct and vicarious forms of racism exposure, including overall prevalence, accumulation of exposure and age of first exposure, across key socio-demographic factors over time. Participants for this study include 1,759 children from the first 8 waves of LSIC, comprising those aged 6 months to 12 years. Results: One in five (20.4%) study children had direct experience of racial discrimination by age 11 years, with the majority of these children (73.5%) experiencing first exposure to direct racism by age 7, while vicarious racism was more commonly experienced (44.5% through the primary carer and 50.5% via family members). Children living in areas of high remoteness, in the most disadvantaged regions and children who spoke an Aboriginal language were at increased risk of experiencing direct racism by age 11. Conclusion: Direct and vicarious racism is commonly experienced by Aboriginal children and exposure often occurs within the first years of life. This study is one of the first studies internationally to characterise the prevalence of both direct and vicarious forms of racism among a cohort of children using longitudinal data.