SA’s 21 agenda setters of 2021: South Australian of the Year Tanya Hosch says we are ready to talk about racism

South Australian of the Year Tanya Hosch says we are ready to talk about racism and its impact on Indigenous people as we reveal her place in our 21 agenda setters of 2021.

Tanya Hosch who works for the AFL in indigenous and multicultural affairs.Tanya is pictured at the Adelaide Oval. Picture by Matt Turner.

Australia is ready to have a serious conversation about the destructive legacy of racism and ongoing Indigenous disadvantage, according to South Australian of the Year Tanya Hosch.

Ms Hosch, the first Indigenous person to reach a senior executive level at the AFL, also said the sense of national unity and urgency seen when fighting emergencies such as COVID-19 and bushfires should be applied to tackling racism.

“Too often in the past (when) racism was a topic of conversation, people used to want to starve it of oxygen, which means putting your head in the sand,” she said.

“The reality is, these issues combine to have massively tragic outcomes.”

However, Ms Hosch, the AFL’s general manager of inclusion and social policy, said she had sensed a new willingness to address racism within Australia after massive rallies in all cities last year as part of the global Black Lives Matter movement.

“I am forever saying you can’t address a problem that you don’t talk about,” Ms Hosch said.

“We have got an opportunity to harness this moment and think about how do we have this conversation and can we get to the point of finishing that discussion with agreement about what we need to do to do differently.

“We have got a new opportunity to say, ‘OK, let’s look at the facts, let’s look at what the research tells us about the life experience of people and the detrimental impacts of racism and what can we do about that’.”

Indigenous Australians had higher incarcerations rates, lower life expectancy, more health problems, fewer job prospects, worse educational outcomes and made less money than other Australians.

The Advertiser spoke with Ms Hosch as part of its Agenda-Setters series, profiling people making a difference to our state and canvassing ideas to make SA a better place to live, work and do business.

Protestors at the Black Lives Matter rally in Adelaide on July 4. Picture: Morgan Sette

Ms Hosch said much good work had already been done. She pointed to the programs run by football clubs and Indigenous communities, as well as calls to action, such as the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which advocated for an enshrined First Nations’ voice in parliament.

She also said Indigenous leaders in SA had “already crafted solutions to address some of these issues, but they have not been implemented”.

Ms Hosch said the report into systemic racism issued by Collingwood last week was useful, despite the controversy over president Eddie McGuire labelling it a “proud” day for the club.

“One of the reference points in the Collingwood report was that this is a time for transparency honesty and action and I think that is a very sage piece of advice in respect to racism generally,” she said.

Ms Hosch said the state’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic had been “stunning” and she was looking forward to increasing numbers of fans being allowed back to watch the new footy season.

She said people had missed the socialisation and togetherness that a day at the footy could provide.