Aboriginal Workers and Workplace Discrimination: Still a Reality in Australia

Despite decades of law reform, policy commitments, and public statements about reconciliation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers continue to experience discrimination in Australian workplaces at alarming rates. For many First Nations people, work is not just about earning a living — it is also a site where racism, exclusion, and cultural misunderstanding are routinely encountered.

Discrimination against Aboriginal workers is rarely overt. It is more often subtle, systemic, and persistent. It shows up in recruitment decisions, in performance management, in disciplinary processes, and in the way “culture” is treated as optional or inconvenient rather than respected and protected.

What discrimination looks like in practice

For Aboriginal workers, discrimination often takes forms that are minimised or normalised by employers, including:

• Being labelled “difficult” or “unprofessional” for asserting cultural identity

• Being excluded from decision-making while being expected to provide cultural advice for free

• Having cultural leave questioned, denied, or treated as a favour rather than a right

• Being subjected to racist comments framed as jokes or “curiosity”

• Disproportionate scrutiny of performance or behaviour• Being managed out after raising concerns about racism or cultural safety

Aboriginal Workers and Workplace Discrimination: Still a Reality in Australia

These experiences are not isolated. Research consistently shows that around half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers report experiencing discrimination or harassment at work, with many choosing not to report it due to fear of retaliation or career damage.

Cultural load and invisible labour

One of the least understood issues facing Aboriginal workers is cultural load — the additional, often unpaid, emotional and cultural labour placed on First Nations employees.

Aboriginal workers are frequently expected to:

• educate colleagues about culture and history

• represent “the Aboriginal perspective” in meetings• support Aboriginal clients or staff without formal recognition

• absorb the emotional toll of racism while remaining “professional”

This labour is rarely acknowledged in position descriptions, workload assessments, or performance reviews. Instead, it becomes an unspoken expectation — one that contributes directly to burnout, stress, and psychological injury.

When discrimination becomes a health and safety issue

Workplace discrimination is not just a legal issue. It is a work health and safety issue.

Repeated exposure to racism, exclusion, and cultural invalidation can cause:• anxiety and depression• trauma responses• burnout and withdrawal• long-term psychological injury

Yet many employers still treat discrimination complaints as interpersonal conflicts rather than recognising their duty to provide a psychologically safe workplace.

Too often, Aboriginal workers who raise concerns are subjected to flawed internal investigations, minimisation of harm, or retaliation disguised as “performance management”. These failures frequently escalate matters into external complaints — not because workers want conflict, but because internal systems fail them.

The law is clear — but the gap is in practice

Aboriginal workers are protected under multiple legal frameworks, including:

• federal and state anti-discrimination laws

• human rights legislation (in some jurisdictions)

• work health and safety laws

• general protections under the Fair Work Act.

Employers have a positive duty to prevent discrimination, not merely respond to it after harm occurs. This includes taking proactive steps to ensure cultural safety, fair processes, and accountability.

The problem is not the absence of law. The problem is poor implementation, inadequate investigations, and a persistent tendency to prioritise organisational comfort over Aboriginal workers’ rights.

Why many Aboriginal workers do not complain

It is important to understand why so many Aboriginal workers choose silence.

Common reasons include:

• fear of being labelled a troublemaker

• concern about career stagnation or job loss

• lack of trust in HR processes• previous negative experiences with complaints

• emotional exhaustion from constantly having to explain racism

For Aboriginal workers, making a complaint often comes with significant personal and professional risk. This is why access to independent, culturally informed support is critical.

What needs to change

Meaningful change requires more than cultural awareness training or acknowledgment plaques.

It requires:

• competent, independent investigation of discrimination complaints

• recognition of cultural load as real work

• genuine consultation with Aboriginal workers

• accountability for racist conduct at all levels

• trauma-informed and culturally safe complaint processes

Until workplaces address these fundamentals, Aboriginal workers will continue to carry the burden of systems that fail to protect them.

Support and advocacy matter

No worker should have to choose between their livelihood and their dignity.

At MYUNION, we regularly support Aboriginal workers facing discrimination, victimisation, and retaliation for asserting their rights. We know that these matters are complex, deeply personal, and often intertwined with cultural identity and history.

If you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander worker experiencing discrimination, you are not overreacting — and you are not alone. Support, advocacy, and accountability are essential to changing outcomes, not just policies.