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Research suggests that while racist attitudes have remained strong in Australia over the last 10 years, there has been a considerable reduction in overt racist behaviour, due in part to the development of strong social norms against openly expressing racist views. Such a shift in attitudes is backed up by comprehensive racial discrimination laws administered by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) at a federal level, as well as state and territory anti discrimination commissions.

However, the research also indicates that these social norms are not well developed in all areas of Australian life – one such public forum where racism still rears its ugly head is the sporting arena. This article discusses some key examples and makes recommendations to improve sport experiences for diverse races.