2025–26 SRC Ethno-Cultural Officers / ACAR Convenors: Imane Lattab (she/her) & Pimala Leo (she/they)
The Autonomous Collective Against Racism (ACAR) is an activist organising space at the University of Sydney open to students who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, who come from a minority ethnocultural background, who are marked/marginalised by white supremacy, or who identify as a 'person of colour'.
This doesn’t preclude white people from getting involved with our work! We actively encourage those who benefit from white supremacy to attend and help out with the various campaigns or events that we run throughout the year. In the spirit of intersectionality, many of these will be run collaboratively with other collectives of the University of Sydney or other universities.
ACAR’s core values are anti-racism, anti-colonialism, and anti-capitalism. These principles are the focus of our campaigns and initiatives, guiding our practices as anti-racist people of colour. Thus, we recognise the need to dismantle the unjust, interwoven systems of imperialism and capitalism. ACAR actively works with and alongside other activist organisations on and off campus, understanding the importance of solidarity in the fight for the liberation of all oppressed peoples.
We acknowledge that colonisation is still an ongoing violent process occurring in many parts of the world including here in so-called ‘Australia’, we reject the belief that colonialism is a thing of the past, as this only serves to invalidate the brutality that First Nations people continue to face. We actively work to centre First Nations voices and struggles in our activism, especially as we continue to organise on stolen, unceded Gadigal Land. This involves supporting campaigns like “Land Back” and “Stop Black Deaths in Custody”. ACAR has always and continues to advocate for the self-determination and freedom of all Indigenous and/or marginalised ethnic groups across the world, including but not limited to the people of Palestine, Sudan, the Congo, and West Papua.
DM us on Instagram at @usydacar or email ethno.cultural@src.usyd.edu.au to get involved and access our organising group! Also check out our Linktree for our socials and recent projects!
ACAR acknowledges & pays respect to the Gadigal people, whose connections to lands and waters is ongoing. It is upon their ancestral lands that the University of Sydney (Camperdown Campus) is built. Sovereignty of these lands has never been ceded. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.