This LibGuide provides resources to support you and inform you about Social Justice issues and also inspire/encourage members of the Social Justice Action Group
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Ableism: Discrimination in favour of able-bodied people.
Aboriginal: Usually refers to the First Peoples of mainland Australia but excludes those of the Torres Strait region. Sometimes used to refer to both.
Anti‐Semitism: The fear or hatred of Jews as an ethnic, religious, or racial group.
Asexual / Ace: Has little or no sexual attraction to other people.
BIPOC: (acronym) Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour. 'BIPOC' is used instead of 'POC' to acknowledge that not all people of colour face the same levels of injustice.
Bisexual: Attracted to the same gender and other genders.
Cisgender: Someone who is not transgender or gender diverse, and who identifies with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Classism: Prejudicial thoughts and discriminatory actions based on difference in socioeconomic status and income, usually referred to as class. Most particularly refers to the hierarchical striation of people by class.
Colour Blind: The belief that everyone should be treated “equally” without respect to societal, economic, historical, racial or other difference. No differences are seen or acknowledged; everyone is the same.
Colourism: Prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone.
Cultural Appropriation: Theft of cultural elements for one’s own use, commodification, or profit — including symbols, art, language, customs, etc. — often without understanding, acknowledgement, or respect for its value in the original culture.
Digital Blackface: Refers to non-black people using black gifs, memes, emoji's etc to convey their moods, thoughts, emotions etc.
Discrimination: Unfair treatment on the basis of perceived differences between people.
Equality: Ensuring that everyone has the same opportunities and receives the same treatment and support.
Equity: Equity is about giving people what they need, in order to make things fair. Giving more to those who need it. This does not mean providing someone with less but simply providing more to those who need it.This is not the same as equality, nor is it the same as inequality. It is simply giving more to those who need it, which is proportionate to their own circumstances, in order to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities.
Feminism: The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.
First Peoples: The term First Peoples is often used synonymously for Aboriginal people or Indigenous people. (Note: It is up the individual whether they wish to be referred to with this term. When you refer to an individual Aboriginal person it is better to refer to them with their language group, e.g. 'Budjalung woman Jane Smith')
Folx: Folks refers to groups of people, in the plural, without suggesting that they comprise a singular totality that could be united in one common struggle, which may be precluded by the difference of their experiences and degrees of privilege. The 'ks' in Folks is usally replaced with an 'X' to show gender inclusivity much like 'womxn' and 'latinx' etc.
Gay: Attracted to someone of the same identified gender.
Gender Diverse: Someone whose gender identity does not fit into the categories associated with their assigned sex.
Homosexual: Usually used as a bit of an insult, and shouldn’t be used to describe someone unless they use it to describe themselves first.
Indigenous: Native to a place or area, originating in and characterising a particular region or country.
Indigenous Australians: Term used to refer to the original inhabitants of Australia; always capitalised. Includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. (Note: It is up the individual whether they wish to be referred to with this term. When you refer to an individual Aboriginal person it is better to refer to them with their language group, e.g. 'Budjalung woman Jane Smith')
Intersectionality: The complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups
Intersex: People who are intersex are born with natural variations in their body that differ from what we might expect to be ‘typically’ male/female. There are heaps of ways that you can be intersex!
Land rights: The struggle by Aboriginal people to gain acknowledgement of prior ownership of this land both legally and morally and allowing all the accompanying rights and obligations which stem from this association.
Non-Binary: An umbrella term people use to describe gender that doesn’t fit squarely into male or female.
Pansexual: Describes the sexual, romantic or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity.
Queer: A common umbrella term used to mean anyone who is same gender attracted or gender diverse.
Reconciliation: A Commonwealth initiative to promote reconciliation between Aboriginal people and the wider community and to redress Aboriginal disadvantage.
Social Justice: A broad term for action intended to create genuine equality, fairness and respect among peoples.
Tokenism: The practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a particular thing, especially by recruiting a small number of people from under-represented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual or racial equality within a workforce.
Torres Strait Islanders: Refers to the First Peoples of the Torres Strait region (as compared to the mainland Aboriginal people).
Transgender: A person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth.
White Privilege: Refers to the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are White. Generally White people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it.
Women's Rights: Rights that promote a position of legal and social equality of women with men.
The following videos contain explicit language and may not be appropriate for younger students.