The City of Monash became the first Australian local government council to include ‘caste’ as a protected category in their policies.
In a first for any level of elected government in Australia, the Monash Councillors on Tuesday, 26th March 2024 unanimously voted in support of a motion tabled by Councillor Anjalee De Silva to:
- Direct Officers to include ‘caste’ as a protected characteristic in a similar manner to race,
religion, etc in relevant Council policies and plans as they come due for review, including
Council’s Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plan; - Seek the perspective of the Multicultural Advisory Committee on the issue of caste as it
relates to Council business
Introducing the bill, Cr De Silva said, “The issue of the impact of the caste system has been raised as a matter that Council could take a leadership role in, particularly given the multicultural demographics of the municipality. For example, over 10% of the population identifies as having South Asian ancestry.”
Justifying the need for the inclusion of caste, the council noted, “Monash has a large multicultural diaspora, some members of whom may be impacted on by issues of caste. Though caste is not explicitly included as a protected attribute in existing Victorian and Australian anti-discrimination legislation, it is included in some American jurisdictions with similarly large diaspora populations. The inclusion of caste as a protected characteristic in the same way as race, religion, etc in Council’s relevant policies and plans would assist to address discrimination of this kind. There is also no material legal or social distinction between caste and other characteristics currently protected under those policies and plans that would justify its exclusion.”
The Humanism Project, the Indian diaspora group that has been advocating with a number of councils and government bodies to recognise caste discrimination, has welcomed the news of the City of Monash recognising caste as a form of racial discrimination.
“We are delighted to bre ak the news that the@cityofmonash has voted to include ‘caste’ as a protected characteristic in the Council policies. A motion to this effect tabled by Councillor @deSilva_Anjalee de Silva was passed unanimously at tonight’s Council meeting. It is a proud moment for @HumanismProject and Ambedkar International Mission who have worked with Cr De Silva over the past few months to assist her in making this happen.
The Monash Council motion noted that the Australian Human Rights Commission is currently working towards creating a National Anti-Racism Framework. As part of their process, in 2022 they released a Scoping Report. This Report does talk about the impact of casteism in Australia (pages 73 and 74), noting for example a submission that explained: “We emphasise that casteism is an intersectional system of discrimination which includes but is not reducible separately to either of skin colour, religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality, ancestry/descent, work or occupation…”
The Scoping Report notes that impacts of casteism are felt in Australia today, and that impacts can be wide-ranging and severe, noting the “need to recognise caste as a protected category in anti-discrimination legislation and policy.” Indeed, it was also noted that while there is overlap between caste and racism, this an intersectional experience and we need to better recognise the intersectional experiences of caste discrimination.
“It is too early to say what approach the AHRC will take in any final National Anti-Racism Framework however what is clear is that caste is being considered in different forums.”, the Council noted.
In February 2023, the US City of Seattle became the first city in the United States to officially ban discrimination based on caste, following the passing of an ordinance by city lawmakers.
in 2023, both the houses in the State of California passed the bills to ban caste discrimination in the state. However, the bill failed to clear the last hurdle when the state Governor, after intense lobbying by US Hindu groups against the bill, vetoed it.
