Perceived discrimination
Definition
The proportion of people aged 18 years and over who perceived selected groups as being the targets of "some" or a "great deal" of discrimination, as reported in surveys commissioned by the Human Rights Commission.
Relevance
The freedom from unlawful discrimination is a core principle of democratic societies. Surveys on perceived discrimination towards groups of people provide one indication of the level and type of discrimination in New Zealand . As they do not measure actual levels of discrimination, it is not possible to conclude whether levels of discrimination have increased or decreased.
Current level and trends
In February 2006, just under three-quarters (72 percent) of respondents to the Human Rights Commission Survey 2006 thought Asian people were subject to a great deal or some discrimination, the highest proportion for any group. This was followed by recent immigrants (70 percent), refugees and people on welfare (both 63 percent). Perceived discrimination against all these groups has decreased since January 2004: by 6 percentage points for Asians, 2 percentage points for recent immigrants, 7 percentage points for refugees and 3 percentage points for people on welfare.
Table CP3.1 Proportion (%) of survey respondents who perceived selected groups as being subject to a great deal or some discrimination, December 2000–February 2006
| Group |
Dec 2000 |
Dec 2001 |
Jan 2003 |
Jan 2004 |
Feb 2006 |
| Asians |
73 |
73 |
79 |
78 |
72 |
| Recent immigrants |
– |
68 |
77 |
72 |
70 |
| Refugees |
– |
68 |
72 |
70 |
63 |
| People on welfare |
75 |
70 |
68 |
66 |
63 |
| People who are overweight |
72 |
65 |
65 |
68 |
59 |
| Gays and lesbians |
74 |
65 |
61 |
58 |
57 |
| Pacific peoples |
71 |
65 |
65 |
57 |
54 |
| People with disabilities |
61 |
55 |
53 |
55 |
53 |
| Māori |
70 |
62 |
57 |
53 |
51 |
| Older people |
53 |
48 |
49 |
46 |
44 |
| Women |
50 |
44 |
41 |
38 |
38 |
| Men |
– |
– |
– |
– |
30 |
Source: Human Rights Commission (2006)
Around 60 percent of survey respondents in 2006 thought overweight people and people on welfare were the target of a great deal or some discrimination. More than half thought gays and lesbians, Pacific peoples, people with disabilities and Māori were discriminated against.
Between December 2001 and February 2006, the perception that different groups were subject to some or a great deal of discrimination fell for all groups, except recent migrants. However, there was a decline for this group in each of the last three years. The biggest falls in perceived discrimination were for Māori and Pacific peoples, both declining by 11 percentage points between 2001 and 2006. There was also a big drop over the period in the perception that gays and lesbians and people on welfare were subject to discrimination.
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