Community leaders, multicultural organisations and the Tasmania University Union have condemned an incident in which a Vietnamese university student and two others were subjected to racist abuse outside a supermarket.
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There are also calls for governments to launch anti-racism campaigns as incidents of racism against people of Asian appearance continue to be reported across Tasmania, and Australia more widely.
The video posted on Facebook shows several masked teenagers intimidating the group in Mowbray, a Launceston suburb, on Monday. The female victim's phone appears to be struck from her hand. In the post, the woman - who has lived in Australia for six years - said the group had thrown objects at them and repeatedly called them "corona" before she confronted them.
The post was shared widely and the victim received strong support from those commenting.
Migrant Resource Centre Northern Tasmania chief executive officer Ella Dixon said the incident was an act of cruelty that could not remain unchecked.
Northern Tasmania Development Corporation population program manager Edward Obi wanted to assure migrants that Northern Tasmania was a peaceful and welcoming region.
"Incidents like this are not helpful and quite damaging to the reputation of the region and Tasmania," he said.
Changing attitudes key to ending racism
The Multicultural Council of Tasmania (MCOT) called on all levels of government to run anti-racist campaigns to dispel myths that feed racism during the pandemic.
MCOT chair Waqas Durrani said it was imperative that action was taken now before restrictions started to be lifted, and people started to come in contact with others more often.
"Tasmanians of Asian appearance are no more responsible for coronavirus than Tasmanians with an Anglo-Celtic background," he said.
"Those individuals who unwittingly brought coronavirus to Tasmania include Tasmanians with an Anglo-Celtic background. It would be nonsense to blame all Tasmanians with an Anglo-Celtic background for coronavirus because of the travel of these individuals.
"Similarly, it is nonsensical to blame Tasmanians of Asian appearance."
Ms Dixon said an anti-racism campaign had to be long-lasting.
"Any considered campaign or strategy has to be prolonged because it takes time to develop a culture that recognises and deals effectively with racism," she said.
She said the reporting process was often difficult for victims of racism as the onus of reporting fell on the victims, who often found the outcome of their complaint was not satisfactory.
Mowbray racism not an isolated incident
The Tasmania University Union has become increasingly concerned at the growing number of reports of racism directed towards Tasmanians of Asian appearance.
TUU president Braydon Broad feared there were still more incidents that were going unreported.
"We've seen a whole lot of similar behaviour," he said.
"We've heard from our international reps, who particularly raised that it seems that whenever we have a student of Asian appearance that is wearing a mask, there seems to be a group of people out there that don't understand the cultural difference, and suspect just because you're taking precautions,that you're infected.
"The university's Safe and Fair Community Unit has seen a bit of a spike with a few instances, but that means there's dozens more that aren't reported."
Mr Broad encouraged any students who had been subjected to racist abuse to contact the student union, which could put them in touch with counselling and reporting services.