Asian Australian’s Experiences and Reporting of Racism During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Figures & data

Table 1. COVID-19 racism settings (%), n = 798.

	Work	Education	Housing	Police	Shops	Public transport	On the street	Health care	Online	Friend's/family’s home	Neighbours	Uber/Taxi	Provision of services	Sport	Public space
Never	28.8	39.4	40.0	46.0	16.2	32.0	23.3	53.1	33.6	58.2	51.6	58.0	52.1	50.1	28.4
Hardly ever	36.1	32.2	24.5	20.7	41.0	34.2	40.0	24.5	27.2	22.4	26.4	23.4	25.3	24.2	37.9
Sometimes	26.4	21.3	15.9	13.0	31.1	24.7	25.9	17.0	24.1	13.6	15.1	13.4	15.7	16.6	23.6
Often	6.0	5.2	5.9	6.8	8.1	6.5	7.4	4.2	9.1	4.5	4.8	4.1	5.2	6.1	6.8
Very often	2.6	1.9	2.8	2.3	3.6	2.6	3.4	1.3	6.0	1.3	2.1	1.0	1.8	2.9	3.4
N/A	−0	0	10.9	11.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Question wording: ‘Since January 2020, how often have you experienced racism or racial discrimination … ’. Response wording: Never (0 times), Hardly ever (1-2 times), Sometimes (3-7 times), Often (8-10 times), Very often (12 + times), Not Applicable (N/A).

Note: The smaller sample size reflects the fact that only participants who stated that they had experienced racism or racial discrimination in the COVID-19 context were asked to provide details in terms of context/settings.

Table 2. Types of COVID-19 racism (%), n = 2003.

	Treated less respectfully	Not trusted	Called names	Assaulted	Ignored	Treated as inferior/less intelligent	Left out	Property vandalised	Verbally abused	Denied entry/service
Never	40.4	49.5	56.8	77.5	48.1	50.7	50.4	76.7	60.6	76.1
Hardly Ever	35.4	28.3	23.9	11.9	29.3	30.4	26.4	12.1	22.3	13.4
Sometimes	17.7	15.1	12.7	6.3	16.0	12.4	16.1	7.3	11.5	7.5
Often	4.5	5.1	4.7	3.4	4.2	3.4	4.3	2.9	3.9	2.1
Very Often	2.0	2.0	1.9	0.8	2.3	2.2	2.9	1.2	1.7	0.9
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

Question wording: ‘Since January 2020, how often do you feel that because of your cultural /ethnic background, you were … ’; Response wording: Never (0 times), Hardly ever (1–2 times), Sometimes (3–7 times), Often (8–10 times), Very often (12 + times).

Table 3. Settings where COVID-19 racism was witnessed, n = 779.

	n	%
Work	179	8.9
Education	146	7.3
Housing	75	3.7
Police	62	3.1
Shops	347	17.3
Public transport	283	14.1
On the street	306	15.3
Health care	49	2.4
Online	257	12.8
Friend’s/family’s home	31	1.5
Provision of services	48	2.4
Neighbours	65	3.2
Taxi/Uber	41	2.0
Sport	31	1.5
Public spaces	126	6.3

Question wording: ‘Where did these incidents occur?’

Note: The smaller sample size reflects the fact that only participants who stated that they had witnessed incidents of racism during COVID were asked to provide details in terms of context/settings.

Table 4. Types of COVID-19 racism witnessed, n = 779.

	n	%
Treated less respectfully	399	19.9
Not trusted	173	8.6
Called names	321	16.0
Assaulted	119	5.9
Ignored	190	9.5
Treated as inferior/ less intelligent	143	7.1
Left out	128	6.4
Property vandalised	46	2.3
Verbally abused	279	13.9
Denied entry/service	66	3.3

Question wording: ‘What form did the racist incident take?’

Note: The smaller sample size reflects the fact that only participants who stated that they had witnessed incidents of racism during COVID were asked to provide details in terms of the types of racism witnessed.

Data availability statement

The data reported in this paper is available upon request. Please contact the corresponding author.