What do we mean by social cohesion in Australia?
When I began working at the Scanlon Foundation a little over 2 years ago, the term social
cohesion needed some degree of explanation whenever I used it. Although it had been a
focus of research in the world of academia, it was less common in the multicultural sector.
Social cohesion is a very broad term and encompasses building an inclusive society across all
aspects of diversity but today I will focus specifically on the transition of migrants and I am
going to refer primarily to the Scanlon Monash index of Social Cohesion and its supporting
research.
As many of you may be aware, the Scanlon Monash research into Australians perceptions of
multiculturalism, immigration and cultural diversity is the only longitudinal study of its kind
and with every year its credibility and the impact of the data increases.
When the research was embarked upon it was, of course, important to define social
cohesion.
Following extensive inquiry, Professor Andrew Markus of Monash University, who
undertakes our research, identified three aspects to all definitions: To achieve a cohesive
society you need:
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A clear and inclusive vision for the future
A recognition of the right and responsibilities for achieving common goals, and
It is an ongoing process.
Just as important though when surveying Australian’s views of multiculturalism was to
identify the indices that would be measured.
For the Foundation, five indices are measured to inform the Index of Social Cohesion. The
first three indices are like the foundation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. These are:
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Worth – Do I matter, does anyone care that I am here?
Acceptance – Are those around me welcoming and respectful?
Social Justice – Do I personally feel safe?
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If a new arrival, or anyone, feels that these are in place for them and for their families then
they can move onto the fourth indice – Belonging – “I feel that I can make a life for myself
and my family”
Then the final and most positive step is possible. At this stage an individual feels that they
want to make a contribution and play an active role in their community and the broader
society. This then is the 5th indice – Participation.
With 65 questions asked across these indices, the survey provides us with the data we need
to inform the Scanlon Monash Index of Social Cohesion. Remember that this survey is across
the whole population. So what did the 2015 annual Mapping Social Cohesion research
report tell us?
In Australia there is a positive attitude to multiculturalism. The surveys found a consistently
high level at 86% in agreement with the proposition that ‘multiculturalism has been good
for Australia’
We are a highly cohesive society. The Scanlon Monash surveys, together with a number of
international indicators, finds that Australia remains a stable and highly cohesive society.
For example the 2011/12 World Values Survey found that 70% of Australians were ‘very
proud’ of their nationality, compared to 56% of Americans, 24% of Germans and 21% of the
Dutch.
The survey found that 93% of respondents have a ‘sense of belonging in Australia’ either to
a ‘great extent’ or ‘some extent’.
91% of respondents agree with the proposition that ‘in the modern world, maintaining the
Australian way of life and culture is important’ and 89% indicate that they take ‘pride in the
Australian way of life and culture’.
Unfortunately discrimination continues to be relatively high at 15% of the population and
Issues concerning the economy have consistently and by a large margin, ranked as the most
important. But security and social justice and equity were second on the list of concerns in
2015. Remembering that this research was done during the Abbot government.
The Scanlon Monash surveys showed that multiculturalism attracts very positive sentiments
due in large part to its association with economic development and the encouragement of
migrants to participate as part of Australian society. When considering social cohesion let
me draw your attention to some of the nuances.
Around a quarter of Australians support assimilation, that immigrants need to fit into
Australian society to speak like us and act like us.
Around another quarter believe that Australians need to do more to learn and embrace our
cultural diversity
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But the majority, making up 40%, believe it is a bit of both. In effect that we all need to
make adjustments to make our multicultural society as strong as possible and where we can
all benefit.
From this it is clear that there are still segments of the population whose fears cause some
ambivalence in fully embracing multiculturalism even though they may publically support
the concept. We know that ambivalence derived from fear can lead to racism and
discrimination and this is an ongoing concern.
Our research over the eight years has highlighted that the experience of discrimination is
uneven across the population.
What I do want to mention here is that according to our research 15% of the population
experience discrimination on a regular and frequent basis. Those who report the highest
rates of discrimination are in younger age groups (primarily 25 – 34), they are often men,
many are those of non-English speaking background, of non-Christian faith, and are likely to
be resident in urban centres, particularly areas of immigrant concentration.
Most concerning is that 50% of this discrimination on the basis of skin colour, ethnicity or
religion occurs in the workplace (this is closely followed by “on the street” and “when
shopping”. So we all need to acknowledge that we have a responsibility to ensure that we:
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Speak up,
Review systems and processes that may support biases and
Be better leaders to champion non-discriminatory behaviours and actions.
Bear in mind particularly the issues for Muslim immigrants to Australia who have relatively
high educations and skills base with one of the highest Year 12 completion rates and one in
four has a bachelor’s degree or higher. Yet only 6.4% are in jobs earning more that $1500 a
week and only 9.2% are in managerial jobs.
We know that intolerance of cultural diversity is found within all segments of society,
although it is in higher proportion in some. Approximately 10% of the population have a
strong negative response to cultural diversity.
The highest negative response is among those whose level of education is trade or
apprenticeship, or are over the age of 75, or may self-describe that they are struggling to
pay bills or are more likely to be residents of Queensland.
There is a significant difference between young people and those over 60 in response to
questions on national identity and cultural diversity. Our youth see no issues in embracing
diversity, understand the need for us to learn more about new cultures as they enter our
society and are accepting for others to continue to live their cultures and religions in our
society.
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An increasing proportion, although still a minority, indicate acceptance that the government
should provide assistance to ethnic groups to maintain their cultures and traditions. While
such a policy divides opinion and is supported by a minority, support has increased from
32% in 2007 to 41% in 2015.
Importantly, we know that our local neighbourhoods are essential for migrant transition and
integration. It is where the majority of respondents (56 – 60%) are in agreement that
“Diversity improves life in the local area and people get on well together”.
Finally, I just want to mention one final research finding that we should find concerning.
Questions on attitudes to Christian, Buddhist and Muslim faith groups finds that, as in past
surveys, a very small proportion have negative attitudes towards Christian and Buddhist
faiths but a proportion almost five times higher (at nearly 25%) have negative attitudes
towards Muslims. This is probably not a surprise to you but what you may not be aware of is
that when this question is asked online (anonymous and in the privacy of their own homes)
the number increases to 40%.
I would like to finish by raising a few challenges with you as you consider issues and ideas
related to social cohesion and how this might relate to your own practice:
How are we going to keep expanding the percentage of people who are supportive of
multiculturalism and cultural diversity in their communities rather than simply as a brand?
Will our young people continue to remain open-minded as they grow older? How will we
enable them to influence everyone else?
How have we recognised the impact that our cultural diversity has brought to this country?
Have we modified our holiday allocations to allow us to choose at least 50% of them based
on personal religious needs? Have we embraced multilingualism in our public systems? You
may have recently heard that Yarra trams for their upcoming upgrade work are having onboard announcements, in addition to printed information, in both Vietnamese and English.
Could we see more of this?
Have we developed an Australian/Chinese model of negotiation that is being embraced
internationally? Are we teaching Aboriginal language songs in our kindergartens and
primary schools as an entry point to bilingual schools? Are we evaluating MBA students on
the politics of diversity and their role in how corporate Australia can set a standard?
How do we stop using terms like socially disadvantaged, economically disadvantaged,
refugee, asylum seekers and ‘them’ and focus less on the risks related to security and move
to an appreciation of the opportunity to increasingly learn from this influx of international
experience and new ideas to benefit economically, culturally, socially and personally?
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How do we recognise that lived religions are nothing new and are not a threat to the
Australian way of life but an enhancement of it as they emphasise, caring, giving, reflection
and identity?
When will we recognise that how we welcome and respect the parents of newly arrived and
first generation young people is as important in countering violent extremism as concern
over the young people themselves. How do we ensure that every parent can be respected,
can have employment if they want it, find learning English is easy, fun and relevant and that
access to services is fair and equal?
How can you work with receiving communities to explain that familial connections do not
get left at our coastline? Families matter for everyone and we need to acknowledge their
role in the process of settlement, transition and the ongoing well-being of migrants just as it
is for our first peoples.
We all need to be wary of the “Tyranny of Goodness” which leads us to perpetuate a
welfare mentality by not continually reflecting on the objectives of our programs or, for
example, in the way we talk to private high school students doing their ‘social responsibility’
programs for extra credit.
Finally, we are a special country with our own unique approach to multiculturalism. We all
need to understand its strengths and embrace the fact that diversity has brought us here
and that diversity will protect and enable us into the future.
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