There have been mounting concerns about racism towards those of Chinese background amid coronavirus fears.

To address the rising tide of subtle racism and discrimination in the community, on Friday the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) backed the establishment of a national anti-racism strategy and campaign.

The campaign would set out to promote social cohesion, dispel myths and stereotypes, and educate the community and businesses around how to deal with racism.

The call comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese both recognised and denounced the racism surrounding the community’s response to coronavirus.

FECCA Chairperson Mary Patetsos said a national anti-racism campaign was crucial to ensure Australia continues to be “the most successful multicultural society in the world”.

“FECCA has been really encouraged in recent days with the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Chief Medical Officer all coming out in a bipartisan way to call for an end to racism in response to coronavirus,” Ms Patetsos said.

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“The spread of racism and discrimination erodes our community and it is currently spreading much faster than the coronavirus.”

One example took place on a Sydney train, during which a young Asian-Australian mother travelling with her child was targeted by a fellow passenger. She was yelled at and told to stand in the corner of a train because she was “spreading viruses”, a witness told The Guardian Australia.

“We commend our leaders for recognising this problem and for taking a stand against it,” Ms Patetsos said.

“We now call on them to work together to invest into our community and establish a national anti-racism strategy and campaign.

“An anti-racism campaign would both tackle existing issues around racism and be a positive action we can take as a society to promote community cohesion into the future.”

The Canadian Government announced a similar campaign in 2019, for which it committed to invest $45 million in funding over five years.

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