Social Patterning of Racial Discrimination Among a Diverse Sample of School-Aged Children in Australia

Objective: To examine the prevalence of young childrens’ reported experiences of racial discrimination and to assess whether discriminatory experiences vary by gender, religion and country of birth. Methods: Data came from Speak Out Against Racism (SOAR), a cross-sectional study of 4664 public school students in grades 5–9 in two Australian states in 2017. An adaption of the Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index (ADDI), as a measure of discrimination, was used across four Indigenous and ethnic categories (Indigenous, Asian and non-Asian visible minorities, Anglo/European). Effect-measure modification (EMM) examined how experiences of racial discrimination across ethnic groups varied by gender, country of birth and religion. Results: A sizeable proportion (40%) of students reported experiencing racial discrimination. Indigenous, Asian and non-Asian visible minority students reported higher rates of experiencing racial discrimination than their Anglo-European peers. Male students reported higher rates of experiencing racial discrimination than female students. Foreign-born students reported experiencing racial discrimination more often than native-born students, and both Christian and religious minorities experienced racial discrimination more often than students identifying with the dominant “No religion” group. Conclusions: The findings highlight the prevalence of racial discrimination among adolescents and how gender, country of birth and religion can increase risk of these experiences.