An AMES Australia survey has found that newly arrived refugee and migrant communities want multicultural policies to provide more practical help rather than just ‘food and festivals’.
A focus group of 32 community leaders in 21 key cohort migrant and refugee groups in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide said that while they value Australia’s commitment to multiculturalism, their communities struggled with employment opportunities and access to government services, exacerbated by a lack of interpreters and gender issues.
They reported that social cohesion is under stress, partly because of international events, including the conflict in Gaza and a rise in the cost of living, according to a ‘pulse’ community sentiment survey commissioned by migrant and refugee settlement agency AMES Australia.
While 70% of the community leaders surveyed agreed Australia was a ‘successful multicultural community’, there was a need for more access to employment opportunities and career support for skilled migrants and refugees.
First-language learning capacity in schools was also identified as a need, while libraries, local government programs and community education and training programs were identified as valued services.
Sixty per cent of respondents agreed that global events were having an impact on social cohesion and community harmony, with conflict in Gaza, repression in Afghanistan and the US’s crackdown on migrants cited as some of the factors.
A need for better access to government services was also identified. Only 55% of survey respondents said they had ‘good’ access to government services.
The community leaders identified ‘universal and equitable practices, protocols and standards across the public services, more representation of diverse communities within the public service and a multicultural ombudsman or complaints process’ as ways of improving access to services.
Asked ‘what could be done to improve community harmony, the most common responses were: support for multi-faith events and festivals, support for multi-faith groups and more employment opportunities from emerging communities.
Only 50% of community leaders said the government communicated ‘well’ with their communities, while 30% said that communication was not effective.
They identified a need for a range of interventions to tackle poor knowledge and engagement through programs and resources co-designed by communities themselves.
Thirty per cent of respondents said they had experienced racism or discrimination. A similar proportion said they had not faced discrimination, while 40% said they faced discrimination ‘sometimes’.
Community leaders cited ‘more transparency on race hate crimes and positive fact-based narratives to counter allegations of criminality in some communities’ as ways of combating racism and discrimination.
Sixty per cent of survey respondents believed there was cultural understanding and respect between communities in Australia. They identified holding festivals and events that attracted multiple communities, more access to affordable gathering places, and funding and capacity building for inter-faith groups and dialogues as ways of improving community connections.
Female community leaders were more likely to raise issues about Australia’s multicultural architecture than male respondents.
The survey found a consensus that the focus of multicultural programs should be less about ‘food and festivals’ and more about employment, equity, access to services and opportunities, as well as inter-community and inter-faith dialogue.
The surveyed community leaders said social cohesion was underpinned by social equity and access to opportunity.
Among the suggested interventions were:
- Improved access to services
- Intercultural and inter-faith opportunities for communities to build networks outside their own
- More education and employment opportunities
- More access to affordable spaces to gather
- More sustainable and easier-to-navigate grant systems
- Broader representation of communities on multicultural bodies
- Standard multicultural policies and practices across all departments
- A multicultural ombudsman or complaints mechanism
“There seems to be a consensus that people would like to see more support in terms of accessing services and opportunities for multicultural communities, and there is a desire to see communities better connect with each other and with the broader community,” AMES Australia CEO Cath Scarth said.
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Geraldine is currently the Content Producer for Third Sector, an Akolade channel. Throughout her career, she has written for various industries and international audiences. Her love for writing extends beyond the corporate world, as she also works as a volunteer writer at her local church. Aside from writing, she is also fond of joining fun runs and watching musicals.
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