C.A.R.E. - Constructing an Anti-Racist Environment

 

The university likes to claim that it ‘stands against racism’, but it discourages incident reporting by making the process confusing and the outcomes invisible, continues to honour figures who built their legacies on eugenics in its place and building names, and has just approved a scholarship partnership with the racist Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation.

We think this is unacceptable.

C.A.R.E. is a student led campaign calling on the University of Melbourne to address what we believe is an environment of racism normalisation on campus.

 

Get Involved

 

We're Demanding

1. A clear racism complaints portal with accountability and reporting on outcomes.
2. The Baldwin Spencer Building and Agar Theatre, named after eugenicists, to be renamed.
3. No partnerships or collaborations with The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation

 

Why this is important

 

1. A Clear Complaints Portal with Accountability of Outcomes

Our Racism Survey shows that 87% of students aren't reporting incidents of racism largely because they think nothing will happen, or that the process to be too difficult and arduous.

This is supported by data that shows that students' who have reported incidents of racism recieved outcomes that were mostly insufficient to address the problem, or arrived too little too late. In some cases, the outcome did not address the substance of the complaint at all, or deemed the instance not severe enough to pursue.

If there is no transparency and reporting around the way that UniMelb addresses racism, then nothing will change. A clear complaints portal for racism, with annual reporting on outcomes statistics will create a system where the university is incentivised to meaningfully respond to incidents. 

 

2. Renaming Balwin Spencer and Agar Theatre

Every time a student walks into a lecture theatre named after a man who argued their ancestors were unfit for education, the university is making a choice to honour those arguments.

Both Baldwin Spencer and Wilfred Agar carry abhorrent, racist legacies and have been documented by the University of Melbourne's own Indigenous History project as having advocated eugenic measures targeting people they classified as of "inferior" genetic stock. This is exactly the kind of environment that normalises racist ideals at the University of Melbourne.

 

3. No Partnerships with the Ramsay Centre

The Ramsay Centre has a long and well-documented history of controversy. For many students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, the framing of “Western Civilisation” has historically been associated with the exclusion or marginalisation of other histories and lived experiences.

In 2018, board member Tony Abbott published an article in the conservative publication Quadrant stating that the Ramsay Centre was “not merely about western civilisation but in favour of it”.

Now in 2026, the University of Melbourne is entering into a scholarship partnership with the centre. We must be honest about what this model of right-wing philanthropy appeases, it is a dangerous compromise of integrity. We are calling on the University to end the partnership and support students in promoting antiracism, ensuring that higher education remains a place where all histories and perspectives can be studied critically, respectfully and without political interference.