15 Apr
2025
Students Against Racism is a group of young Tasmanians from refugee and migrant backgrounds who deliver cross-cultural training on the impacts of racism and how it can be addressed.
15 Apr
In 2024, a group of 16 Hobart students spent 2 months working with Tasmanian film maker and educator, Lara van Raay. The stories are very personal with 9 young people featured in the film. They share stories of escaping across borders, saying goodbye to people and places they loved and the funny situations they find themselves while trying to build a new life in Hobart. They also discuss the impact racism has had on them. This was very hard to talk about, but the group wants people to hear how racism makes them feel.
“In this film we share our stories of leaving our homelands, travelling to Australia and the ups and downs of settling in Hobart. We want to be honest. We want to connect with you. We want to have a real conversation about our lives. We want you to understand who we are and where we have come from. We want you to know these things about us.”
-- SAR filmmakers
The 25-minute film will be followed by a Q and A panel where the film makers will talk about their experiences and answer questions from the audience. The whole event will run for 60 minutes.
Students Against Racism is a group of young Tasmanians from refugee and migrant backgrounds who deliver cross-cultural training on the impacts of racism and how it can be addressed. The group has won numerous awards including the nationally prestigious Human Rights Racism: It Stops With Me Award and has delivered workshops to over 15 000 people since its inception in 2008. The group were recognized as ABC Trailblazers for 2019 and in 2021 the group was Tasmanian Community group of the year.
Students Against Racism aims to build understanding in the wider community about the journeys of refugees and migrants and the impacts of racism. The group is comprised of young people with lived experience who work together to drive and deliver the powerful anti-racism workshops. Collaboration and skill sharing between members of the groups is integral to its success as it focuses on the young people as the experts. The workshops give them a platform to share their stories and experiences as well as offer positive contributions to the wider community. It is a two-way process in which the young members of the group gain as much as the audiences they work with.
“I used to feel isolated and misunderstood but Students Against Racism made me feel valued and that I had something to give back to Australia. It gave me power because people wanted to hear my story and listen to what I was experiencing plus I saw how it helped others,” said Nene, a founding member of Students Against Racism.
Students Against Racism is run alongside the Youth Migrant Education Program at TasTAFE and in partnership with A Fairer World.
