E/CN.4/2002/24/Add.1 page 48 4. Significant cases of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia 107. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission states in its report for 1999-2000 that during the period 1998-1999 it received 467 complaints of racial discrimination under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. In 2000, it received only 299 complaints, a decrease of 62 per cent. But the Commission states that “the overall number of complaints received in the year 2000 is, however, not dissimilar to previous years”. It explains that “employment-related complaints represented the largest area of complaint under the Act (34 per cent), followed equally by racial hatred (19 per cent) and the provision of goods and services (19 per cent) complaints”. It should be further noted that the majority of complainants are of non-English-speaking background, Aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders. Table 6 Complaints of racial discrimination received, by area Section of the Racial Discrimination Act Right to equality before the law Access to places and facilities Land, housing, other accommodation Provision of goods and services Right to join trade unions Employment Advertisements Education Incitement to unlawful acts Other sections Racial hatred Total* No. complaints 15 11 13 74 143 1 5 4 45 75 386 * One complaint may concern multiple areas. Table 7 Complaints received, by ethnicity of complainant Background Non-English-speaking background Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander English-speaking background Unknown Total No. complainants 164 63 57 15 299