Anniversary of Michael Long’s Stand Against Racism

25 April

Content note: This page discusses racism and racial abuse.

On 25 April 1995, Essendon footballer Michael Long was racially abused by Collingwood player Damian Monkhorst during the clubs’ Anzac Day match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Long challenged the treatment and sought an apology and change. His stand helped drive the AFL to introduce its racial and religious vilification policy.

What Long challenged

The match is remembered as the first of the modern Essendon–Collingwood Anzac Day fixtures. Within that sporting occasion was a demand that racial abuse be addressed rather than accepted as something players should endure. Long’s response placed responsibility on the person using the abuse and on the organisation governing the game.

The AFL’s retrospective describes an unsuccessful initial mediation and the pressure for a public apology. It also records consultation with Indigenous players as the league developed a policy over the following two months. This was a process of institutional change, rather than a problem resolved simply by two players appearing together.

From complaint to organisational responsibility

The policy established a formal response to racial and religious vilification. Players’ accounts challenged the idea that the football field could operate under different expectations of dignity from another workplace. The anniversary offers a way to ask what a complaint process actually delivers: safety, fair investigation, support and meaningful follow-through.

Long’s action followed other players’ resistance, including Nicky Winmar’s and Gilbert McAdam’s experiences at Victoria Park in 1993. Their histories should be read together without suggesting that a rule change eliminated racism, or that players should have had to carry the burden of reform.

Reflecting in schools, clubs and workplaces

Begin with the event and its date, then distinguish between an apology, a written policy and the everyday practices that make a setting safe. Ask who receives a report, how retaliation is prevented, and how the organisation checks whether its response has helped. These are questions for leaders and bystanders, as well as participants.

Avoid re-enacting racial abuse or repeating slurs as a classroom exercise. People should be able to decline discussion and should never be expected to describe personal experiences. Aboriginal students, players or colleagues are not responsible for teaching everyone else how to behave.

Sharing a date with Anzac Day

This sporting anniversary shares 25 April with commemorations of military service. Each has its own history and purpose. Keeping the accounts separately named allows people to understand Long’s stand alongside, rather than in place of, First Nations service and sacrifice.

Sources and further reading

Online sources

20 years on: the day that changed football. AFL. Retrospective on Long’s complaint and the development of the policy.
https://www.afl.com.au/news/198817/20-years-on-the-day-that-changed-football

Football program: Racism, 1 July 1995. Museums Victoria. A contemporary publication and collection record connecting the 25 April incident with the league’s response.
https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/1961707

Guide to addressing spectator racism in sports. Australian Human Rights Commission. Practical guidance for sporting organisations on preventing and responding to spectator racism.
https://humanrights.gov.au/resource-hub/by-resource-type/publications/race/guide-addressing-spectator-racism-sports-2021

Our related products and resources

We do not currently offer products or learning resources specifically for this anniversary. The reading links above are provided for background and further learning. Suitable items from our range will be added here as they become available.