A first-of-its-kind study of racism in Australian schools by the Australian National University and Western Sydney University has revealed that one in three students report being the victim of racial discrimination by their peers.

The report, compiled as part of the Speak Out Against Racism (SOAR) program, included a survey of 4,600 primary and secondary students at government schools in Victoria and New South Wales; they identified as Anglo-Celtic or European background (55 per cent); south, east or southeast Asia (22 per cent); Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island (five per cent); Middle Eastern (five per cent); Pacific Islander (four per cent) and African (three per cent).

It revealed that 40 per cent of students in years five to nine from non-Anglo or European backgrounds reported experiencing racial discrimination in school, while one in three reported discrimination on racial grounds in wider society.

The report’s lead author, ANU associate professor Naomi Priest said the survey results cement what minority communities have been saying for a long time.

“What this survey gives us is some data on how common that is, and the burden it places on children and young people,” she told The Guardian Australia.

“We know racism and race discrimination are major issues and of course they effect children.”

Meanwhile 78 per cent said they were able to make friends with peers from a different ethnic background. Most students said they would feel comfortable intervening if they saw a fellow students suffering racial abuse.

Seen to be a reflection of wider society, Assoc. Prof. Priest said that racial discrimination could have a negative impact on student development and academic achievement.

“We need high-quality, whole-of-school programs – built on evidence and which are tested – that act to directly prevent and appropriately respond to racial discrimination and racism when it happens,” she said.

“This is the aim of the second phase our work in SOAR – to develop and trial a bystander program that encourages students and staff to prevent and address racism and racial bullying.”