Richmond Football Club is home to the Korin Gamadji Institute and Nakia is a member of the Richmond Emerging Aboriginal Leaders Program alumni. The program aims to build resilient, culturally affirmed, young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. We are proud she had the courage to tell The Age's Timna Jacks her story.

Nakia reached breaking point in a class on Aboriginal history, when another student mumbled "the Europeans should have killed them all".

In her 12 years at the Melbourne Catholic school, the Indigenous student thought she had heard it all.

She was called an "Abo", and in the same breath, told she was "too pretty" to be Aboriginal.

There were relentless accusations that she was pregnant. She wasn't.

But the incident during history class tipped her over the edge.

"To have wished we were all killed off is absolutely shattering to hear," she says.

"I just told her [the student] that what she said was wrong, and she didn't have the right to say something so putrid … and walked out."

Nakia complained to her teachers, and begged for change. As far as she is aware, the bullies – including the student promoting the massacre of Aborigines – were not punished.

She became severely depressed, anxious, and suicidal, and was treated at the Austin Hospital's psychiatric unit for several months during year 11.

After moving to a more tolerant school in year 12, she became happier and more confident. She resolved to complete her VCE.

"I wanted to be a good statistic, not a bad one," says the 19-year-old.

Nakia is telling her story publicly for the first time. This is her bid to show other students from ethnic minorities that racism should not be tolerated.

"There is no light being shone on this issue … people think it doesn't exist."

Every Victorian school preaches against racism, but a new survey of Australian students has revealed that one in four Indigenous 12 and 13-year-olds are being racially vilified.

The research, which took in 3956 young people and is considered the largest-ever national report on the issue, shows close to one in five "visible minority" students – to borrow the language of the report – are being verbally attacked due to their race.

It comes as African, Pacific Islander and Indigenous school students turn to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission for support, alleging their schools are ignoring their reports of racism.

Pacific Islander students told the Commission they were accused of having a "low IQ because they fell out of a coconut tree", and were being blamed for theft and graffiti, despite a lack of evidence.

One African student was referred to as the "black student" by teachers and students, while another was expelled over a physical fight with Anglo students, who went unpunished.

An Aboriginal student also reported she was mocked after performing a traditional dance and had been enduring a torrent of racist abuse.

Helen Kapalos, who chairs the Victorian Multicultural Commission, warned students who were exposed to racism at a young age were being marginalised and at risk of developing anti-social behaviour.

"When you are made to feel that you don't belong in society, it can displace your identity. It affects your self-esteem, you lose confidence, and you feel less safe in the community."

Australian National University's Dr Naomi Priest, who led the new report, said teachers needed more guidance on preventing and responding to bigotry.

"Teachers want to address these issues but don't always feel confident or that they are well supported to do so," she said.