Anti-Racism Contact Officers
Caitlin
It's everyone's responsibility to take on anti-racism, and it can be done in really small, achievable steps from Kindergarten to Year 12.
John
ARCO stands for Anti-Racism Contact Officer.
Hana
As an ARCO, my role is to educate students and the community about racism, learn how to be actively anti-racist and to monitor any incidents of racism.
John
It's someone who supports students who experience racism, but also educate those that are being racist themselves.
Jacquie
And it also supports students and teachers and community members because there is a point of contact.
Marica
An ARCO is a really important part of the school. An ARCO works with the principal primarily to implement anti-racism action within the school.
Hana
The reason I became an ARCO is because of my own lived experience of racism. And I didn't want any other student to go through what I went through. And I wanted to make sure I could be that person for the students.
Jacquie
I started my career in education working with students from lots of different language backgrounds. A lot of them had refugee experiences or migrant experiences. I absolutely love working with them and I wanted them to have a positive school experience.
Marica
I think it's a common myth that an ARCO is there to deal with all instances of racism by themselves. Anti-racism or dealing with racism and responding to racism is everybody's responsibility in the school.
Caitlin
By having ongoing conversations about what anti-racism is, it makes those topics normalised. It means that kids feel more able to start those conversations to call out racism when it occurs. And really, that comes down to us as educators and up to the leaders to create and foster an environment within schools that shows that we are against racism
and promoting anti-racism as a verb as something that we all do and something that we promote for all of our students.
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Who can be an ARCO
The Anti-Racism Contact Officer (ARCO) is a teacher or executive member of staff who has been nominated by the principal to support anti-racism education in the school. The ARCO should:
- have a commitment to anti-racism education
- have good communication and interpersonal skills
- be trusted by students, staff, parents/carers and the school community.
The cultural, linguistic or religious background of a teacher is not a criterion for selecting an ARCO. Depending on the size of the school and the needs of the school community, the principal may decide to nominate several ARCOs to support wellbeing or specific learning stages.
As far as possible, principals should ensure that there is an ARCO on staff to provide support, if required, on every day of the school week. Where the nominated ARCO is a permanent part-time or part time temporary teacher, another ARCO should be nominated to ensure all school days are covered.
The role of the ARCO
ARCOs are trained to undertake their role. Principals are responsible for ensuring that newly nominated ARCOs complete the ARCO blended online training course. It is appropriate for other members of staff to complete this training, including members of the executive and other members of an anti-racism team.
The ARCO plays an important role in assisting and working collaboratively with the principal to implement major aspects of the Anti-Racism Policy:
| Promote anti-racism education | Support the reporting process | Collect data |
|---|---|---|
provide advice on incorporating whole school anti-racism education strategies in school planning facilitate professional learning to build awareness of the impact of racism on social cohesion, student learning and wellbeing assist teachers to access resources which build awareness and understanding of the impacts of racism promote upstander responses to incidents of racism for staff and students. |
provide advice to students, staff and community members about how to report racism support teachers to address reports of racism involving students through approaches such as restorative practice which promote respectful behaviours manage reports of racism made by students against other students in accordance with the Student behaviour policy and the school's behaviour procedures provide impartial support to the person making the report of racism during the process to increase the likelihood of a satisfactory outcome provide advice related to the impact of racism to the principal and/or nominated staff member managing the report. |
maintain records of reports of racism and outcomes identify which datasets regarding racism should be collected analyse significant statistical trends in relation to reports of racism. |
Resources and support for ARCOs
Funding to support the release of ARCOs is provided to schools each year through the School Budget Allocation Report (SBAR). Schools may wish to provide additional relief for ARCOs to meet local needs.
The SBAR resource hub provides information on resources allocated to schools to support the ARCO role.
Information about ARCO mandatory training and ways you can connect with other ARCOs through local networks and the Anti-Racism Education statewide staffroomExternal link are available on the Anti-Racism - Professional support webpage.
Anti-racism poster sets can be ordered from Henry Parkes Equity Resource Centre:
Student anti-racism training
Student anti-racism training packages have been developed for use in primary and secondary settings. These are designed to build understanding of racism, its impact and to help develop student confidence and skills to act as anti-racist upstanders.
Instructions about the delivery of these anti-racism education resources are included in the respective facilitator guides.
Upper primary
This training should be delivered by a Stage 3 teacher and/or ARCO who has engaged in related professional learning. Other staff assisting with the delivery of the training are encouraged to update their understanding by completing anti-racism professional learning.
- Facilitator guide – Student anti-racism training - Stage 3 (staff only) (DOCX 4.5 MB)
- PowerPoint – Student anti-racism training - Stage 3 (staff only) (PPTX 27 MB)
Secondary
This training is intended to be delivered by a trained Anti-Racism Contact Officer. Other staff assisting with the delivery of the training are encouraged to update their understanding by completing anti-racism professional learning.
Contact us
For additional information, contact antiracismeducation@det.nsw.edu.au.