Australian communities, especially those with high levels of ethnic and cultural diversity, are vibrant, cohesive, and well-connected places. This cohesiveness does not always show up in the survey data and the numbers that are collected. However, awareness of racism is rising in the community and this is a good movement of national opinion.
The 2022 Mapping Social Cohesion survey indicates Australians continue to strongly support ethnic diversity and multiculturalism, in line with a long-term positive trend.
But people also continue to experience discrimination based on their skin colour, ethnic origin, or religion. Negative perceptions also persist in Australia about different groups, including Muslim Australians and non-European migrants. While 90% of respondents have positive views about migrants from Europe or the United Kingdom, this drops to 70% for Indian immigrants, and about 60% for arrivals from Ethiopia, Lebanon, China, Iraq and Sudan.
While the problems persist, the overall trend is positive. In 2020, 52% of respondents reported having positive feelings towards Chinese immigrants. In 2022, that increased to 61%. During that same time-frame, respondents with negative attitudes towards Muslims decreased from 40% in 2020 to 29%.
The 2022 Mapping Social Cohesion Report continues to provide us with the most significant and detailed profile of social cohesion in Australia today. Again, it reveals our perceptions of immigration, trust in government, multiculturalism and our neighbourhoods. Importantly, it enables each of us to better understand how we can strengthen bonds between people and build a welcoming and cohesive society.
The Edmund Rice Centre – in collaboration with seven LGA’s and many settlement services – presents the Settlement Cities Report, a major new report by the Edmund Rice Centre about the settlement experiences of refugees in Australia. The report takes a place-based approach to refugee settlement, focusing on the LGAs where refugees most frequently settle in Australia.
Shepparton Incident Control Centre brings information about the current situation about rivers and flood levels in Northern Victoria, Shepparton in particular. Shepparton Relief Centre will close on Wednesday, 9 November; flood affected people – and families – may visit the Shepparton Recovery Centre in Welsford St.
Greater Shepparton City Council has set up a Community Recovery Hub at the Shepparton Senior Citizens Centre to provide information and support community members impacted by the flood event.
Shepparton Incident Control Centre brings information about the current situation about rivers and flood levels in Northern Victoria, Shepparton in particular. Information about donations, hardship payments, translation assistance at relief centres and finding help for mental stress, family and domestic violence situations is also given.
Embrace Multicultural Mental Health will conduct a webinar on Understanding Mental Health and Stigma in Congolese, Arabic-speaking and Mandarin-speaking Communities. This is an opportunity for you to hear about the key findings and to better understand mental health and stigma of CALD communities, in particular those from Arabic, African and Chinese communities. The zoom session will take place from 1.00pm – 2.00pm (AEDT) on Monday 14 November.
Goulburn Valley Community Legal Service are now operating in the Flood Recovery Centre at the Senior Citizens Rooms, 132 Welsford St Shepparton.
A Community Recovery Hub has opened in Shepparton, bringing 20 flood recovery services together in a one-stop shop for victims of the October floods
The hub has been set up at Shepparton’s Senior Citizens Centre – in Welsford Street – for people who need advice or support with insurance, counselling, legal or financial issues and more. 20 agencies are active in this recovery centre.