A Perth-based expert in human rights says Harmony Day is an opportunity to acknowledge and address racism.

On Thursday, a panel discussion at Curtin University explores the coinciding of two of Australia’s national days – Harmony Day and Closing the Gap Day.

Curtin University’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies director and event panelist Frederick Yasso says the panel’s purpose centres around awareness, understanding, and the recognition of human rights.

“There has to be that recognition, but the work in this space is really done between the days.”

Frederick Yasso

Mr Yasso says rights is about teaching and committing to taking action, rather than symbolic gestures.

“[The work towards human rights] doesn’t take place at big events, it takes place in your home teaching your children, teaching your family about how to treat people in a fair and just way,” he says.

According to the Department of Home Affairs, Harmony Day’s goal is to celebrate the country’s multiculturalism, but there is controversy surrounding its name.

Curtin University’s Centre for Human Rights Education lecturer and event panelist Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes says the name of the day is a positive one if the nation remembers its history of racial discrimination.

“Harmony Day is not about having some fun and enjoying food and clothing, we are talking about the issues of racism,” he says.

In 1999, Prime Minister John Howard decided to call the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Harmony Day in Australia, running annually on March 21.

National Close the Gap Campaign executive officer Zara Pitt says Closing the Gap Day, which occurs on the third Thursday of March, is an opportunity to appeal to the government about the equality of Indigenous Australians and it aligns well with Harmony Day.

“Rather than a clash, I think they complement each other, it raises awareness and promotes the respective days and creates space to open dialogue around some key issues–especially issues regarding social disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,” she says.

Mrs Pitt says the primary targets of Closing the Gap Day are health care equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, holding governments to account to meet targets, highlighting First Nations people’s successes in delivering objectives and engaging the public in the campaign.

“Importantly, each day acknowledges that we all want to live in a more just and equitable society; but social progress requires political support, social activism, and sustained action in order to move the pendulum in the right direction,” she says.

“Key to this, as is recognised on Harmony Day, is inclusiveness, respect, and belonging for all Australians.

“The recognition or celebration of these respective days is the social activism that helps build support for these causes and create meaningful action.”

A factsheet released by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2023 outlines that the name Harmony Day hides structural and systematic racism.

“While the idea of ‘harmony’ can be a positive message, one of the problems with this approach overtaking IDERD is that it may discourage people from speaking up about racism because it can be seen as opposing a harmonious Australian society.”

There have been calls to change Harmony Day back to the International Day of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, but a solution remains to be seen.