On Tuesday, September 3, the City of Melbourne passed a historic resolution to include ‘combating caste discrimination’ in the council’s policy & practice in the council’s “Inclusive Melbourne Strategy Action Plan 2024-26”.
The council unanimously approved amendment proposed by Councillor Dr Olivia Ball to “combat prejudice, harassment and discrimination on the basis of race, colour, language, religion, national, ethnic or social origin, descent, caste or economic status.” in the council’s policy and practice.

Melbourne becomes the second Australian city after Monash to incorporate a policy to tackle caste discrimination in its policy framework. In March this year, the City of Monash became the first Australian local government council to include ‘caste’ as a protected category in their policies.
“We are so proud of our celebrated multicultural city,” said Cr Dr Olivia Ball, who moved the motion on Tuesday night. “We want our city to be a place without prejudice or discrimination on the basis of race, colour, ancestry or descent, and of course that includes caste discrimination.”
Professor Hari Bapuji, a leading scholar on caste in organisational contexts, who was consulted by Cr Dr Olivia Ball before she moved the council motion, told NRI Affairs, “Including caste, or for that matter any attribute on which individuals and groups are included or excluded, and oppressed in any organisation’s inclusion policies is a no-brainer, but it has become an issue due to lack of awareness. So, Melbourne’s adding of caste is a welcome step, and hopefully will prompt other councils and governments to follow suit.”
The Humanism Project, the Indian diaspora group that has been advocating with a number of councils and government bodies to recognise caste discrimination, has lauded the council’s decision to “recognise and act against this abhorrent form of apartheid.”
“With the expansion of Australia’s South Asian community, many experts on the issue believe it is inevitable that caste discrimination is going to turn into a major problem in Australia – not just for south asians from caste oppressed groups, but also other migrant communities, First Nations people and Australians at large.”, a spokesperson for The Humanism Project told NRI Affairs, adding, “It is, therefore, important that caste discrimination is duly recognised in the policy and legislative frameworks at all levels of Government and the private sector.”
A spokesperson for Hindus for Human Rights Australia and New Zealand told NRI Affairs, “We are the Hindu voice of resistance against caste discrimination which often exists in insidious forms within diaspora communities. This is an important step in recognising the lived experiences of the caste oppressed, and we hope it will facilitate greater understanding of the issue within the larger Australian community, aided by the language and context to recognise and address it, when it occurs.”
Earlier this year, The Humanism Project and Hindus for Human Rights ANZ had made a joint submission to the City of Melbourne to recognise caste discrimination and to adopt a policy to combat it in their Inclusive Melbourne Action Plan 2024–26.
Australian Human Right Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission is currently working towards creating a National Anti-Racism Framework. As part of their process, in December 2022, they released a Scoping Report. This Report talks about the impact of casteism in Australia (pages 73 and 74), noting, for example, a submission by The Humanism Project that explained: “We emphasise that casteism is an intersectional system of discrimination which includes but is not reducible separately to either of skin colour, religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality, ancestry/descent, work or occupation…”
The Scoping Report notes that impacts of casteism are felt in Australia today, and that impacts can be wide-ranging and severe, noting the “need to recognise caste as a protected category in anti-discrimination legislation and policy.”
City of Seattle
In February 2023, the US City of Seattle became the first city in the United States to officially ban discrimination based on caste, following the passing of an ordinance by city lawmakers.
State of California
In 2023, both the houses in the State of California passed the bills to ban caste discrimination in the state. However, the bill failed to clear the last hurdle when the state Governor, after intense lobbying by US Hindu groups against the bill, vetoed it.
What is caste?
The Hindu caste system, which is assigned at birth and determines occupations and social status, is made up of four tiers, with Brahmins or priests and teachers at the top and Dalits at the bottom. Dalits are often tasked with scavenging and street cleaning, are considered “untouchable” and are outcast from Indian society.
Castes are rigidly structured social classes that are based on socio-religious hierarchies and the concepts of purity and contamination. These caste identities have been prevalent in the South Asian subcontinent for the past 3000 years. Caste is determined by one’s lineage and is upheld through the allocation of occupations, practices of endogamy, and the presence of customary, legal, or religious barriers. Casteism, which involves the marginalisation of certain groups and the privileging of others, represents a form of social stratification.
Casteism, caste discrimination, and inequality have a significant negative impact on more than 250 million people globally, as reported by the International Dalit Solidarity Network (ISDN), a human rights advocacy organisation. Despite being outlawed, caste discrimination continues to persist as a widespread and violent reality in the South Asian subcontinent and among diaspora communities.