Imagine a typical weekday morning in Australia. You pack your child’s lunch, remind them to study well, to respect their teachers, and to stay rooted in the values you carried across oceans. You send them off believing that in this lucky country, they are safe, protected by school walls, laws, and a culture that promises “a fair go” to everyone.
Then your phone rings — and their terrified voice on the other end shatters that illusion.
What happened recently to a young Indian schoolgirl in Sydney was not “kids being kids.” It was hours of deliberate, filmed cruelty: three girls subjecting her to sustained verbal and physical abuse, humiliation, and degradation, forcing her into acts meant to break her spirit. This is not ordinary bullying; it is prolonged abuse that attacks the very idea of safety, empathy, and innocence of childhood. For many first-generation Indian and Hindu migrant parents, this is their worst fear to come to life — because we came here believing in safety and fairness, only to find that our silence can make our children more vulnerable.
At the same time, a toxic wave of anti-Indian hatred is rising across Australia, especially online, and spilling into real life. Indian Australians are facing temple vandalism, racist graffiti, AI-generated hate campaigns, and open intimidation in public spaces. In 2025, federal ministers condemned racist attacks on a Hindu temple and Asian-run restaurants in Melbourne’s suburb of Boronia, where hateful slogans like “Go home, brown” were sprayed on a place of worship and nearby businesses. Reporting from ABC, SBS, The Guardian and others has described a surge in abuse linked to inflamed anti-immigration rhetoric, while social media platforms host high-engagement posts pushing invasion, deportation, and job theft narratives targeting Indians.
These are not separate stories. The cruelty faced by a schoolgirl in Sydney and the racist attacks on Indian temples and businesses sit on the same spectrum of dehumanisation. Both are fed by the same forces: people who stop seeing others as human, group dynamics that reward cruelty, and an online ecosystem that treats real suffering as entertainment, grievance or content.
Why This Hurts Indian Families Differently
First-generation Australian Indian and Hindu migrant parents often grew up in a collectivist culture, where respect for authority was non-negotiable, speaking up was discouraged, and quietly enduring hardship was seen as strength. Reputation — “log kya kahenge?” — mattered more than confrontation. When we migrate, many of us carry this mindset into a new environment that operates by very different rules.
Meanwhile, our children live between two worlds. At home, they absorb expectations of politeness, obedience, and not “creating trouble”. Outside, they navigate peer pressure, social media validation, and a racial climate where Indians are increasingly singled out as convenient scapegoats in migration and cost-of-living debates.
So, when our children are bullied, they may hesitate to report, try to “adjust,” fear disappointing us, or worry about being seen as weak or “dramatic.” When they see racism, vandalism or slurs directed at people who look like them, they may quietly absorb the message that they are not fully welcome here. Over time, that message can seep into their self-worth, their sense of safety, and their belief that adults and institutions will protect them.
How Empathy Disappears: From Schoolyards to Social Media
When we ask, “How could those girls do this?” or “How can someone spray ‘Go home, brown’ on a temple?”, we are really asking “how does empathy disappear?”. The answer is rarely one single cause; it is a dangerous mix. In the Sydney bullying case, seven factors stand out: dehumanising the victim, pack mentality, a desire for dominance and humiliation, desensitisation to violence, social media distortion, a sense of impunity, and emotional immaturity with gaps in empathy. The victim is reduced from a person to a target, responsibility is diluted across the group, and cruelty escalates as each participant tries to impress or outdo the others. Recording and posting the abuse turns someone’s trauma into content, chasing likes and views instead of recognising consequences.
The same logic plays out on a large scale in anti-Indian racism online. On social platforms, Indian Australians are routinely portrayed through narratives of invasion, deportation and job theft, turning a diverse community into a faceless threat.
AI-generated racist memes mocking Indian Australians are circulated as “jokes” or “satire,” even as journalists warn that such content is part of a coordinated campaign to vilify an entire community. Once people are framed as a problem — or worse, as less than fully human — cruelty feels easier, whether in a classroom or on the street.
This erosion of empathy has real consequences. A schoolgirl endures nearly five hours of abuse while adults remain unaware. Temple walls in Melbourne are desecrated with racist slurs, and Indian migrants question whether this is the same Melbourne they once trusted. What begins as something small such as words or stares, can end as assaults on humans, places of worship, and livelihoods.
The Hidden Trauma Our Children Carry
For a child trapped in such prolonged bullying, the damage goes far beyond bruises. In the moment, she may feel intense fear and helplessness, confusion about why this is happening, loss of control over her body and dignity, and deep humiliation — especially when forced to commit degrading acts. The brain may shift into a freeze response as a survival mechanism, which is why victims often cannot scream, fight back, or run in the moment. This offers an explanation for when trusted adults later ask, “Why didn’t you resist? Why didn’t you fight back?”.
Immediately afterwards, the shock doesn’t evaporate when the abuse stops. There may be trembling, crying, panic, difficulty speaking about what happened, fear it will happen again, and misplaced shame, even though the victim did nothing wrong. Over time, this can evolve into anxiety, hypervigilance, loss of trust in peers or institutions, low self-worth, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When the incident is recorded and shared online, there is now a digital footprint with an extra layer of harm: a constant fear of being re-exposed, re-judged, or re-humiliated every time the video resurfaces.
Now place that personal trauma inside a wider social climate where Indian Australians are seeing headlines about racist attacks on temples, restaurants and families. ABC has reported a surge of Indian Australians facing escalating racist abuse after anti-immigration protests, with accounts from The Guardian describing Melbourne migrants struggling to understand why they are being targeted by racist messaging. SBS has reported a minister calling “March for Australia” protests “clearly racist”, signalling that people — not policies — are being targeted.
For an Australian Hindu and Indian child growing up here, the message can quietly become: “If I am bullied at school and my community is abused outside, where am I truly safe?”. The deeper cost of hate seeps into the innocent heart of childhood.
Government’s Blind Spot and the Cost of Delay
The Albanese government and other leaders have rightly condemned specific racist incidents, but the national response has often felt reactive, fragmented, and disproportionately polite for a clearly escalating problem. When attacks on temples and businesses are treated as isolated events and online hate as mere ugliness, the warning signs are missed.
Reports and commentaries have pointed out the pattern: online radicalisation and public demonisation leads to real-world attacks on places of worship, restaurants, and families. If leaders cannot draw a line between legitimate migration policy debate and racial scapegoating, they fail the very multicultural society they claim to defend. Australian Hindus and Indians should not be expected to absorb abuse, document their trauma, and wait for the next headline before anyone acts with urgency.
All migrants globally want to lead a better life and make their families feel secure, welcome and supported. As migrants, Indians and Hindus all over the world have had a reputation of being the most hardworking, highest tax paying, law abiding citizens who live mostly independent of government social support. They have also enriched the local culture and society with their vibrant traditions without imposing themselves on the so-called “original inhabitants”, much unlike other communities.
Should we as Australians be ashamed that some Indian migrants now question whether they are safe in their temples, businesses, and streets, in a country they chose to live in, swear by, and contribute to every day?
Human rights reporting has already flagged rising racism as part of Australia’s broader rights challenges. The question is no longer whether anti-Indian sentiment exists — the evidence is overwhelming — but how many more temples, families and schoolchildren must be targeted before this is treated as a national alarm bell rather than a niche concern.
What Indian Parents Can Do — Without Breaking Their
Children or Themselves
Against this backdrop, what should Indian and Hindu parents teach their children? The aim is not to make them fearful of the world, but aware, confident and prepared. We are not just trying to help them avoid harm; we are trying to raise individuals who know their self-worth, stand up for what is right, show empathy, and choose kindness even when it is not easy.
Practical shifts can and must begin at home:
1. Cultivate a trustful relationship and a genuinely safe home space
Develop a relationship with your child in their different stages of growing up in which they feel comfortable to raise and discuss topics and issues which may be uncomfortable otherwise. Children need to know they can tell you anything, even if it is embarrassing or frightening. Promise that you will listen first, not explode with anger or panic, and show them repeatedly that you are their safe place. Be ready to have uncomfortable conversations, and be a trusted confidant. Kids will ask a thousand questions – it is rare that you will have the answer for everything, but be ready to have those open conversations. Victims of bullying or racism often internalise shame. Repeat clearly and regularly: “If someone hurts you, it is never because of who you are”.
2. Recognise unacceptable behaviour early
Help children understand that repeated teasing, exclusion, threats, any physical aggression, or humiliation — especially when recorded or shared — are not normal and never acceptable. Give them simple language: “If it makes you feel scared, unsafe, or ashamed, it is not okay.”
3. Build confidence to speak up immediately
Many situations escalate because children wait. Encourage them to tell a teacher or trusted adult straight away, to call you even during school hours, and reassure them that they will never be punished for asking for help.
4. Practice real-life responses and group pressure
Role-play simple strategies at home: walking towards safe, visible spaces, staying near trusted peers, and using firm phrases like “Stop. I don’t like that” or “I’m telling a teacher.” Practising in advance makes it more likely they will act under pressure. Explain how people often behave worse in groups, and that walking away is strength, not weakness. Emphasise that real friends do not pressure them to join in mockery, bullying, or racist jokes.
5. Create understanding of group pressure
Explain how people often behave worse in groups, and that walking away is strength, not weakness. Emphasise that real friends do not pressure them to join in mockery, bullying, or racist jokes.
6. Talk about digital responsibility
Teach them never to record or share someone’s suffering and never to forward videos that humiliate others. Make it clear that being a silent viewer or sharer still contributes to harm.
7. Build empathy intentionally
Encourage your child to stand up for others when it is safe, check in on isolated classmates, and imagine how humiliation could affect someone long-term.
Empathy is a learned habit, not an automatic trait.
8. Provide understanding of their own culture and respect for others
Support activities and friendships that build self-esteem in their own culture and enhance resilience, and keep open conversations about emotions. Children who are secure in themselves, their heritage and identity, are less likely to be isolated targets and more likely to seek help early. Also important to build understanding and respect for other cultures.
A Question for All of Us as Australians
Bullying in a Sydney school and racist attacks on temples in Melbourne are symptoms of a deeper problem: a society that too often looks away until the damage is undeniable. Indian children should not have to choose between staying quiet to “fit in” and speaking up at the risk of being dismissed. Indian parents should not have to choose between protecting their children’s safety and preserving an image of being “good migrants” who never complain.
We cannot control every classroom, every social media feed, or every hateful slogan sprayed on a wall. But we can control what we normalise at home, what we demand from our leaders, and what we teach our children about their own worth. The real question, for parents and for this country, is no longer “How could this happen?” but “Are we truly preparing our children — and our institutions — for the world as it is today, and for the kinder world we say we want to build?”
References:
- https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/girl-bullied-at-sydney-high-school-begged-mum-for-help-in-texts/news-story/94ce785fc905e23253c7a2a350ada338?utm
- https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/three-teens-charged-over-horrific-attack-on-schoolgirl/news-story/8b8be89c3bdbd3efca8299dbdc1db1bb?utm
- https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/girl-bullied-at-sydney-high-school-begged-mum-for-help-in-texts/news-story/94ce785fc905e23253c7a2a350ada338?utm
- https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/education/regions/new-south-wales/esafety-commissioner-steps-in-as-kingsgrove-north-attack-sparks-questions-over-social-media-ban/news-story/f6297eaeb229696062c0afbfeba7e7a7?utm
- https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/education/regions/new-south-wales/nsw-to-expedite-implementation-of-an-antibullying-measures-after-kingsgrove-north-school-attack/news-story/453808e1da42d8fdf63f7073b8e8f112?utm
- Alleged teen bullies front court after shocking video goes viral | 9 News Australia – YouTube
- Bullied Sydney teen offered fresh start and support | 7NEWS
- Three teens charged over violent school bullying attack | 7NEWS
- Racist attacks on Asian restaurants and a Hindu temple in Melbourne
- Indians in Australia continue to face racist abuse one year on from anti-immigration protests
- Anti-Indian Racism on X (July–September 2025)
- ‘Is this the same Melbourne I migrated to?’ Indians targeted by racist messaging are asking why them
- Kids in jail, rising racism: Australia’s 2026 human rights report card
- March for Australia protests ‘clearly racist’, minister says
- Melbourne Hindu temple attacked and vandalised by Khalistan supporters
- Digital Racism Alert: Indian Australians mocked in AI-generated posts in a coordinated ‘hate campaign’
- Hindu Temple in Australia’s Melbourne Defaced with Racist Graffiti
- Australia: Hindu Temple, Swaminarayan Mandir Defaced With ‘Hateful Racist Graffiti’ In Melbourne
