Care Home Job Says Dark-Skinned ‘Indian Or African’ People Should Not Apply
A care home in Australia has come under fire for posting a job advert in which it was requested ‘Indian or African’ people did not apply.
The job vacancy was listed on the job searching site Indeed.com by Absolute Care and Health, a disability care provider located in South Yarra, Melbourne.
The advert sought applicants for the role of ‘in-home support and care workers’, with the company listing specifications for the ideal applicant.
Many of the details were as would be expected, explaining the ideal candidate should be someone ‘reliable, very confident and trustworthy’ with ‘2+ years of experience working in the disability sector working with clients with autism’, though the post took a controversial turn by making requests regarding the skin colour of applicants.
It read:
We request no dark-skinned (Indian or African) applicants apply for this role.
The detail was included ‘as per client request’, meaning it was not the preference of Absolute Care and Health, but of the person for whom the successful applicant would be working.
However, for the company to agree to advertise the role with the request included is shocking; to request people do not apply for a job purely because of the colour of their skin is incredibly discriminatory and a clear example of racism.
Dvir Abramovich, an Israeli-Australian academic who specialises in Holocaust studies and who is the chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, described the ad as ‘stomach-churning’.
Speaking to 7News, he commented:
This ad crossed so many lines that I stopped counting and turned back the clock on race relations.
Absolute Care and Health has since removed the advert from the job search website, issued an apology and started an investigation into the posting.
In a statement, the company said:
- We published a job advertisement which contained information that was discriminatory and offensive.
- It happened as a result of an extreme failure in our internal processes and we are so very deeply sorry for the offence and distress that our error has caused.
Abramovich said that he was glad the ‘deeply hurtful and abhorrent ad’ had been removed, but added: ‘One has to wonder how the phrasing and intent did not raise a single red flag within the organisation before it was published.’
Though the advert is extremely controversial, the request may not technically be illegal, as Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act 2010 states an employer may discriminate in determining who should be offered employment in relation to care if the care is given in the recipient’s home.
Abramovich argued people deserve to be hired based on their merit and employment history, as opposed to their cultural background.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org/talk
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