Key Points
- Many migrants from culturally diverse backgrounds experience 'feeling unwelcome, looked down upon or excluded', new report finds.
- Government preference for the use of term 'social cohesion' has weakened approaches to anti-racism work: Australian Human Rights Commission.
- Professor Barry Judd says markers of ethnicity associated with race are used by some sections of the Australian community to undermine a person’s ability to belong.
Charnamat Singh moved to Australia in 1986 and spent most of his youth here.
Yet he said his place in society is often called into question.
“I still remember an encounter with a man who asked me where I was from and when I (had) moved to Australia. He then told me that if I am a citizen here, then I should look like an Aussie,” the turban-clad Singh told SBS Punjabi.
Charnamat Singh, an Australian citizen who has Indian roots and practices Sikhism. Credit: Supplied by Charnamat Singh
The report, which gathers the views of more than 700 Victorians from culturally and racially marginalised communities, revealed experiences of racism are particularly prevalent among those who identified as being of an African background (91.1 per cent), followed by those of Indian or Sri Lankan (81.2 per cent) or other South Asian backgrounds (81.8 per cent).
Differences also emerged between those who identified through their faith or religious backgrounds. A particularly high proportion of Muslim (88.1 per cent) and Jewish (84.1 per cent) survey respondents state that they have experienced racism.
Having lived in Australia for decades now, Singh said he has learned to deal with such comments tactfully. He recalled his reply to the man who confronted him as: “You do not look Aussie to me either.”
If you can bring your culture from Britain here, then why can't I bring mine from India?Charnamat Singh
“Apart from the Indigenous people, everyone here is a migrant. Including the ones running this government,” Singh said.
Simranjit Kaur, who moved to Australia as a teenager and went to school here, said she was still treated as an outsider by some people.
"Sitting in a public place with someone who has a lighter skin colour than me, obviously it would be easier for anyone to pick me out as a migrant. Even though I am a citizen, I do not 'look' Australian to most people here," Kaur said.
A representative image of multicultural communities living in Australia. Credit: JDawnInk/Getty Images
"I believe that things are getting better and if you work hard, you will get opportunities."
Nearly 50 per cent Australians have foreign roots
According to the , 30.7 per cent of Australia’s population was born outside the country.
Further, among those who were born in Australia, nearly half had foreign roots. According to the , 48.2 per cent of Australians have at least one parent born overseas.
Barry Judd, Professor and Director, Indigenous Studies, and Deputy Vice Chancellor Indigenous, the University of Melbourne, Australia. Credit: Drew Echberg/Supplied by the University of Melbourne
“Aboriginal Australia was also multicultural and across this continent there were 250 distinctive society groups operating before British colonialism. Most people prior to 1788 spoke multiple languages, five to six are commonly recorded,” he said.
“It would be wrong to say that we are moving to multiculturalism. The normal default position has been multiculturalism. What we had in the form of white Australia for a century or two was an anomaly.
“People’s right to chose how they live, the languages they speak, was the norm in Australia for 50-60,000 years.”
Who is an Australian?
According to Judd, anyone who lives in Australia and contributes here should be considered an Australian.
Often people look for characteristics to define who is or isn’t an Australian. This (phenomenon) is a characteristic of a British settler colonialism.Prof Barry Judd
He said the concept of race was imported into this continent during the 19th century.
"The racial markers or markers of ethnicity associated with race like language or religion continue to be used by some sections of the Australian community to undermine a person’s ability to belong and be fully accepted as an Australian,” he said.
Sheetal Deo, a lawyer and founder of several social groups including Ethnic+, also questioned the definitions commonly used.
Sheetal Deo is a member of the Management Committee of the LGBTI Legal Service and serves as the State Director (QLD) for Out for Australia. Credit: Supplied by Sheetal Deo
A migrant herself, she has worked with the Diversity Council Australia and offers inclusion training with specialisation in critical race theory.
She told SBS Punjabi: "I have seen migrants who come here after getting their skills and qualifications assessed, they still do not get relevant jobs. We do not have a skills problem. We have a recognition problem."
"In fact, people have higher chances of getting through if they tweak their names a bit to sound more Western which depicts an inherent bias against people from diverse ethnic backgrounds," she said.
She claimed women, especially those from culturally and racially marginalised communities, were the most affected.
A report by revealed that an employee's attire, name, accent and any overtly expressed religious affiliations influence employer perceptions.
The findings indicate that decision makers with lower levels of exposure to diversity tend to be more concerned about people of "Indian, Southeast Asian, and Chinese" ethnicity being able to fit into roles and organisations.
They were also more likely to be negatively influenced by the non-Anglo personal attributes, according to the report.
Deo said: “People from all over the world are settling in other countries. It does not help anyone to discuss who is a national or who is not."
“If one person can be defined by multiple roles, then how can a country be defined by one word or characteristic?”
‘Australia does not want to talk about race’
A by the Australian Human Rights Commission has found governments and their departments at all levels across the country are failing to adequately identify and address racism.
The report stated that there is a reluctance on the part of government to use the term ‘racism’.
"Government preference over the past decade for the use of ‘social cohesion’ has weakened approaches to anti-racism work," it added.
Despite living in the country for decades and obtaining citizenship, people from diverse ethnic backgrounds find it hard to be recognised as an Australian. (Image by Getty)
According to Judd, Australia cannot move forward until it accepts that there is a problem.
“We are very quick to deny that Australia has an issue with various forms of racism,” he said.
The professor, who is also part of the University of Melbourne’s anti-racism action plan, said according to his research, the most common form of racism was micro-aggression, which is very nuanced and often unreported.
We need to move beyond the festival mode of multiculturalism to one which is real and empowers people to contribute to best of their abilities.Prof Barry Judd
“Within such societies (like Australia), the principle of liberalism should hold. A small number of key union values need to be shared by everyone in society and one of those should be respect for all. A principle like that needs to be operationalised in public life and particularly in politics,” he said.
Deo said the concept of race was created to "make some people superior to others" and urged more conversations so people can question their involuntary biases.
“March 21 is observed as (the) UN’s day of elimination of racial discrimination but in Australia it is celebrated as Harmony Day. It illustrates how much this country refuses to talk about race," she said.
“If we are avoiding conversation on the topic altogether, it becomes very difficult for us to draw awareness to it and then address the racism problem ... It also makes people talking about racism sound 'disharmonous'."
If we do not address what happened in the past, then we run a risk of repeating it in the future.Sheetal Deo
“We can enjoy social cohesion, but we can also acknowledge that we have an inherent and troubled relationship with race in this country.”
Click on the audio icon to listen to the full report and interview in Punjabi.
