1. Professor Andrew Markus
Professor Andrew Markus

2. OVERVIEW
[1] survey and focus groups [2] Positive findings [3] Experience of discrimination – South Sudanese [4] Muslim Australians [5] Australia born [6] Local areas The report is available at the following sites and

3. The Scanlon Foundation Surveys

4. National Local Experimental
SURVEYS
SAMPLE SIZE
National
Local
Experimental
2007
2,000
1,500
2009
2010
1,800
2011
2012
2013
1,200
2,500
2,300
2014
1,070
2015a
Sub-total
14,200
7,800
3,370
2015b
51 focus groups
10,548

5. Available 20 languages, online and print
SURVEY ADMINISTRATION
Available 20 languages, online and print
Promoted over 6 months (Sept February 2016)
Partner organisations: SBS; Multicultural NSW; ECCV; Scanlon Foundation;
Monash University, Scanlon Foundation, AMF, DSS, state government departments, local government, organisations in Bendigo, CMY (Melb.), SSI (Sydney), MDA (Brisb.), Access (Brisb.), Logan Council, FECCA

6. 51 Groups + 6 interviews 4 Sydney FOCUS GROUPS
September 2015 – May 2016
51 Groups +
6 interviews
4 Sydney
4 Melbourne
2 Brisbane
1 Perth
285 Participants
11 Localities

7. POSITIVES A GOOD COUNTRY FOR AUSTRALIA BORN A GOOD COUNTRY FOR IMMIGRANT

8. AU@2015 - arrived 2001-2015 Negative response %
‘Very unhappy’, ‘unhappy’ 13
Sense of belonging in Australia, ‘not at all’ 9
‘Strongly dissatisfied’, ‘dissatisfied’ with life in Australia 6

9. EXPERIENCE OF DISCRIMINATION + (case study) SOUTH SUDANESE

10. ‘Have you experienced discrimination because of your skin colour, ethnic origin or religion over the last 12 months?’
3rd generation Australian %
African countries
SEIFA 10 7
Ethiopia 60
SEIFA 9 12
Kenya 67
SEIFA 2 25
Zimbabwe 75
SEIFA 1 27
South Sudan 77
Indigenous 59

11. SOUTH SUDANESE - BACKGROUND
A pioneer group + distinctive
Peak of arrivals
respondents – 52% arrived ; 31% arrived
Satisfied with life in Australia – 76%

12. 81 4/ 73 FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES + TRUST: SOUTH SUDANESE Question
Business 457 %
Independent Skill
South Sudanese
Financial circumstances – ‘poor’, ‘struggling to pay bills’ ‘just getting along’ 25 32 81
‘Most people can be trusted’ / ‘Can’t be too careful’
68 / 21
48/ 4/ 73

13. COLOUR PREJUDICE IN AUSTRALIA
Sudanese and discrimination
Pre-school
School
Streets
Shops/ shopping centres
Public transport
Police
Neighbours
Applying for jobs
Cultural norms – adjusting to Australian/ western ways
Individual capacity to cope

14. INSTITUTIONAL TRUST – BY COUNTRY OF BIRTH
CHINA + HK
INDIA
NEW ZEALAND
SOUTH SUDAN
DOCTORS 80 87 84 82
CENTRELINK 73 70 38
IMMIGRATION 72 77 27 35
POLICE 76 68 26
EMPLOYERS 49 64 63 20

15. Majority <> Minority
Discrimination is not simply a matter of majority/ minority relations Need to understand attitudes/ behaviour within groups Some people that just come here and they have nothing to give but love …; other people come here and they just want to start fights ... Conflict. They carry their conflict with them ... they just want to fight everyone along the way.

16. MUSLIM AUSTRALIANS

17. Attitudes: national survey Christians 1.4 2.7 4.1 Buddhists 2.1 2.5
‘Is your personal attitude positive, negative or neutral towards …’ Scanlon Foundation national surveys
Attitudes: national survey
‘Very negative’
‘Somewhat negative’
Total
Christians
1.4
2.7
4.1
Buddhists
2.1
2.5
4.6
Muslims
12.2
11.9
24.1
Mode effect: online survey +40%

18. Stereotyping in the media
It seems journalists who talk about [Islam] … don’t have a very good understanding of the religion…. It is irresponsible to publish something when you’ve got it so wrong or when there’s a basic lack of understanding… They speak about people, … [but] they don’t speak to people from the community.

19. Extent of diversity within the Muslim community – as diverse as the Australian population
Country of birth
Ethnicity
Religion
Generations
Education
Class

20. Experience of discrimination
Country of birth, Muslim respondents
Reported experience – last 12 months
Australia
51%
Iraq
46%
Iran
27%
Afghanistan
14%

21. Varied experience of Australia
I’ve been living here for nearly 19 years. I did most of my studies in this city and I have never faced any discrimination, any assaults or anything. My main transport was public transport.
I don’t think I’m going to stay here for too long, for too many years … I think we will migrate again to somewhere else actually, to a Muslim country, because I don’t want my kids to be exposed to all this racism and going to airports and being questioned. And schools, like checking on them when they’re going to pray and stuff, I just want to them to live in a free country, which Australia was a few years back.

22. AUSTRALIAN BORN

23. SEGMENTATION OF AUSTRALIA – INCREASING?
Increasing diversity – culture, ethnicity, race, religion
Increasing population size of high diversity areas
‘Growing up different’ – multicultural/ monocultural
Coming from my very white workplace, ... like extremely white, ... walking from the station to Bankstown library, ... I saw Asians and I saw a woman in hijab and I saw someone that was an Islander and I just thought ‘frigin hell, why is this not reflected in my workplace, ... Like this is actually Australia, that’s not Australia, that’s white Australia.

24. Ethnic and Cultural Tolerance Scale
Scale aggregates 9 questions
Maximum score = 45; low score = <10, indicating intolerance/ rejection of cultural diversity %
Third gen. 29
Major city 18
All Au. born 26
Inner regional 25
Au. born Male/female
35/17
Outer regional 39

25. Ethnic and cultural tolerance scale
Birthplace

26. LOCAL AREAS

27. LGA Index of Social Cohesion (score)
Local area
LGA weight
Total sample weight
Hume
116
115
Auburn/ Bankstown
112
Logan/ Inala
111
117
Brimbank 93 89
Fairfield/ Liverpool
103
Greater Dandenong 90 86
Stirling 82
Moreland 88 84

28. 2012, 2013 Scanlon Foundation social cohesion Index (variance from national, by points)
Dandenong
Bankstown
Fairfield
Hume
100
109
111
112
115
National
Shepparton
Murray Bridge
Atherton Tablelands
Mirrabooka
Logan
100
103
104
106
116

29. Focus group discussion
Positives/ potential to make a difference
Negatives: impact of relative disadvantage
Local government
Media/ reputation
Voluntary organisations
Crime/ theft
Community spirit
Lack of safety
Growth, development
Housing stock
Employment
Drugs
Schools/ leadership of Principals
Prejudice/ discrimination
Inter-group conflict
Family dysfunction
Settlement patterns/ demography

30. KEY ISSUES

31. A good country for immigrants?
BALANCE SHEET
A good country for immigrants?
Mainstream Australian attitudes – extent of segmentation of Australian society, minority rejection of diversity
Experience of discrimination
New challenges for Australian society
Minority within Muslim community
African migration – colour prejudice