The new policy clearly outlines that racism is not tolerated in Victorian government schools, and draws together guidance and resources about cultural safety, inclusion and incident response into a single statewide policy. We know that students experience racism and its negative impacts in their lives in and out of school, and that schools across Victoria are increasingly responding to this issue. Concerningly, in the 2024 Attitudes to School Survey, 14% of students in Victorian government schools said they had experienced racism during the survey term, and 17% noted that they had experienced racism in the past year. Celebrating the diversity of our community makes us stronger and kinder as a school, and we all have a part to play in helping students from all backgrounds feel accepted, supported and are empowered to learn.

This new policy is designed to help schools take action to prevent and address racism, religious intolerance and racial and religious vilification, and was announced by the Minister for Education at the 2025 Government Schools Principals Conference in June.

The following link will take you to the Preventing and Addressing Racism in Schools policy:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/preventing-addressing-racism-schools/policy

Feel free to contact Mr Ralph at school if you would like to discuss this new policy, and how it relates to our school and wider community.