Site navigation

Change font size: SmallerLargerReload

Race Discrimination navigation

Consultations Homepage || Meeting Notes: 26 May 2003

Consultation hosted by Islamic Council of Victoria, Melbourne, 26 May 2003

The meeting was attended and facilitated by Susanna Iuliano (notes) and Omeima Sukkarieh from HREOC and by 9 invited participants from the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV).

1. What are your experiences of discrimination and vilification?

General

Participants felt that Muslims in Australia have been placed under much greater public scrutiny. This has unjustly made identifiable Australian law-abiding and peace-loving Muslims feel like they are being treated like criminals by too many of the general Australian public, since 11 September 2001. As one participant explained, “You have to be careful in public and watch what you say because you’re always being stared at.” Participants described a general feeling of unease and uncertainty about how the broader public perceives and relates to Muslim Australians. They also talked more specifically about several areas of discrimination and vilification in which they believed had intensified in recent times. The main areas of concern were the media, schools, employment and the criminal justice system.

At work

Discrimination against Muslims in the workplace was seen as an increasing problem. The ICV has received isolated reports of people being sacked because they were Muslim. For example, after the Bali bombing in October 2002, the ICV learned of a case where an employer (a supermarket) told a Muslim employee that they were no longer needed at work. In dismissing the employee, the manager said, “You’re a Muslim. We don’t want your kind here.” While large companies are generally seen as more fair and professional, the biggest problems were in small and medium sized firms and trade workshops (one example given was a panel beaters workshop). To address problems of discrimination in the workplace, participants felt it is important to shift the focus away from the victim’s experiences and redirect attention to the employers themselves who a responsible for maintaining fair workplaces.

Aside from workplace issues relating to hiring and firing of Muslims, one participant talked about more subtle kinds of prejudice in the workplace. One participant described having begun her employment with a large American firm as a western-looking woman who did not wear the veil at work. After tiring of having to change in and out of her hijab coming to and from work, she decided to wear the veil at work, a decision which drew a cool reaction from her employer. After 11 September 2001, as a veiled Muslim woman working in the reception of an American corporation, she had to contend with more comments, jokes and negative attitudes about her appearance and behaviour from colleagues. For example, people commented on the fact that she had left her handtowel, used to wash before prayer, in the staff toilets or made jokes about her ‘praying to the western suburbs’.

“Maybe I’m paranoid, but I just bothered people in the office – that I dressed like this, that I would pray at lunch time.”

At school

Several participants explained that their children were in Islamic schools, despite the considerable expense, so they could be protected from what they would face in public schools. Participants were unanimous that their decision to send their children to Islamic schools was more about having their children educated in a safe, more respectful environment rather than a specifically Islamic environment.

“We’re not trying to create a ghetto by putting all our children in a safe haven…they are part of the wider community - these children are Australian Muslims. They are not being taught a particular path – they get the same education but in a private school setting.”

“There is a security issue – lots of parents don’t feel comfortable exposing their children to the stress of being teased so it’s more likely they’ll go to Islamic schools. A school shouldn’t be like a boxing-arena where the kids have to learn to fight back – we need to focus on education without having to justify our religion.”

“My daughter spent years 1 and 2 in a public school. After we moved her to a Muslim school she told her mother?, ‘Mummy I was afraid to tell you this but I felt like we were ‘wrong’ cause all the other kids were not Muslims – I was the only one’.”

“We need to allow our children to focus on their education without being distracted by the racism.”

Obtaining the best education possible for their children was seen as particularly important to Muslim parents because they felt their children needed to be extra qualified to compete with their non-Muslim counterparts in the job market.

“Unless our children are more highly educated than Australians they won’t be able to get jobs. If an employer has to choose between a Muslim and a non-Muslim ‘Aussie Joe’ or ‘Aussie Jane’ – they will choose the Aussie because of the extra trouble and negative baggage perceived in employing a Muslim.”

Parents also felt that high quality education may assist their children to start their own businesses and become employers so they could create their own employment opportunities and avoid discrimination in the job market.

In addition to educating their children in safe environments, participants felt it was important for Muslim parents to talk openly at home with their children about discrimination and for them to be conscious of the potential backlash their children may encounter “because their name isn’t ‘John’ or ‘Mary’.”

In the media

Concern over media vilification of Australian Muslims was the major topic of discussion in this consultation. Participants raised concerns about various media including newspapers, the internet, television and talkback radio. Many felt that the existing national and Victorian state anti-discrimination laws do not provide effective protection against media vilification because of exemptions in existing legislation. One participant argued, “the media seems to have the exemption to vilify…”

Participants raised several specific examples of websites or stories which they felt were particularly offensive. These included:

The media was seen to foment dissent - talkback radio in particular. One participant suggested that most Muslims are reluctant to call in for fear of being attacked or put on the spot. The few Muslims who do make their voices heard on air sometimes make controversial statements that further polarise opinion within communities and feed dissent.

“Many times there are ‘Mohammed’s’ or ‘Ahmed’s who will call up talkback radio, especially at the most sensitive times, and say outrageous things about Islam or jihad inciting further fear or hatred or repulsion. They aren’t challenged by the media – it’s not an issue that they don’t know whether that person is really a Muslim. I think it’s dangerous that there are third parties who try to inflame issues which cause more damage in our community…”

The need for community spokespeople to keep their words and emotions in check when speaking to the media particularly during sensitive times was raised. One participant argued that community representatives have to be careful and measured in their responses to media who approach them for comment on overseas conflicts. Such media solicitation drives communities to start taking positions so that international divisions manifest themselves on a local level.

“Instead of being part of a solution to bring harmony, they are the main perpetrators in dividing communities…”

Participants stressed that it is also important for community representatives to learn to speak up and participate more effectively in public debate – not just in specific discussions about religion or world politics, but in mainstream discussion about matters of general public interest like health care or education. A community leader argued that Muslims are only granted access to media when it’s a marginal issue and this contributes to further community marginalisation.

“The media only gives us access to the microphone when it’s something that is shown as being an ‘other’ not mainstream – that’s discrimination in itself.”

While one participant suggested that having better links between media and community organisations would help fight media prejudice and vilification, most felt powerless to influence change when responsibility ultimately lay with big media empires, producers and editors, not just individual journalists or talkback hosts. While all participants agreed that the media played a large part in creating the right environment for racism and discrimination, participants were divided on the subject of the role and responsibilities of the media.

“The role of the media should be to create harmony not division by putting across negative views. The media often aims to stir up racial tensions and discrimination against Muslims.”

“The media is a business – their consideration for the communities are the last of their concerns. They can’t represent us positively because nobody wants to read good stuff…”

“They should be reporting the news - not making it. Just because they’re a business doesn’t justify what they do.”

Criminal justice system

Discrimination against Muslims in the court and prison systems was raised by one participant, a Muslim prison chaplain who worked in the Victorian prison system. He noted a dramatic increase in the Muslim prison population and speculated that the number of Muslim prisoners in Victorian jails was a conservative estimate because many prisoners do not declare they are Muslim when admitted for fear of backlash.

“When I first started in the chaplaincy almost two years ago there were 120 Muslim prisoners in the system. Now, there are 165 two years later. I’m very worried about that dramatic increase…”

This speaker was unsure whether the increase in prisoner numbers was related to Muslims in the broader community lashing out in retaliation against people discriminating against them. Certainly there was much distrust of police with prisoners alleging things like police pulling veils off their wives during arrests or raids. Inside prisons, it was difficult to assess claims of discrimination or preference because such claims were rampant in prisons from all different ethnic or interest groups. He described how, during Ramadan, other prisoners often accused Muslims of getting ‘extra privileges’ because they receive their evening meal after sundown - later than the other prisoners - and have better food because they have forgone other meals during the day. Only a very small proportion of Muslim prisoners had ever actively practiced their religion.

Law

Participants were eager to find out more about the federal Racial Discrimination Act and whether it covers religious discrimination. Participants were disappointed that there is no clarity on whether Muslims are included as an ‘ethnic group’ under the Act even though Jews and Sikhs are covered.

“The law isn’t just inconsistent in its treatment of us – it’s discriminatory. Change your law – make sure that recommendation is at the top of your list.”

2. What is being done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination?

Islamic Council Victoria (ICV)

The ICV is actively engaged in a number of different initiatives particularly relating to media and policing issues. The ICV conducts media monitoring, although the organisation finds it difficult to monitor radio. The ICV also cultivates good relations with various media outlets and journalists. However, friendly behind-the-scenes relations do not necessarily influence the media to portray Muslims more positively.

The ICV has also cultivated good relations with the Victorian Police. For example, the ICV women’s group held a luncheon inviting speakers from the police to come and talk about the rights and responsibilities of Muslim women. The ICV also runs a safety ‘helpline’ which gathers information about incidents and refers people to the police in the event of emergencies or serious criminal incidents. The process of collecting and referring information from the helpline is still being developed and the ICV is encouraging the helpline workers to identify the main sites of discrimination and develop relationships with organisations at those sites. Some of the teething problems with the helpline included people using it to make inappropriate complaints and the reluctance of many people to officially report incidents to the ICV or the police

Victorian Police

The President of the ICV was confident that police leaders are committed to improving relations with the Islamic community in Victoria, however much work still needs to be done to build bridges between the police and the Muslim community. The issues that still need to be addressed are not any specific police policies, but rather the attitudes of some individuals among police and community members.

“There is a whole body of the police and a whole body in the community who don’t know much about each other and probably don’t trust each other yet. Hopefully we can build those bridges – it will take time.”

One example of how better communication with police can bring about positive outcomes was in relation to the controversy sparked by an article published in the Herald-Sun entitled ‘Spy Force Monitoring Victoria’s Radical Extremists’. The police met with the ICV and refuted the article’s allegations and set the rumours to rest.

“The police have been helpful in putting things into perspective by making themselves available to us…”

3. What more could be done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination?

Participants made suggestions and comments on ways to achieve the six Isma objectives.

Promoting positive public awareness

Participants felt that more and better public education is needed to inform Australians about Islam in order to counter negative stereotypes. One of the challenges of a public education campaign about Islam identified by one participant will be the different priority mainstream Australians give to religion in their lives. Muslims need to be mindful that the mainstream community does not prioritise religion and therefore Muslims need to adjust their expectations of what the mainstream community would understand or tolerate.

“Upholding Islam is the essence of what our life is all about. But in the mainstream Australian community it is not – it’s two different paradigms…So we can’t expect them to give religious tolerance high importance because it’s not a priority in their lives…”

Participants felt there is a particular need for better education and cross-cultural training of police and the earlier this education process is started, the better.

“Education has to start before they get into the force at the academy level – so they can challenge their prejudices earlier.”

Challenging stereotypes

“The word ‘Islam’ is always attached somehow to a negative connotation – ‘militant Islam’ – ‘Islamic terrorism’….

In order to effectively challenge stereotypes about Muslims in the media, participants felt that Muslim community spokespeople need more media training.

“Community leaders who are untrained in the media fall over or try and express themselves in a way that’s open to spin and interpretation and it causes more conflict. It whips up media frenzy and puts the whole community under further threat and creates bigger divisions.”

One participant felt that Muslim women have a particularly important role to play as community spokespeople in order to counter media stereotypes which often draw on negative images of Muslim women.

“There needs to be more Muslim women spokespeople in the media, especially veiled ones, because we’re the ones walking around with this great big sign on our heads saying ‘I’m a Muslim’… we need to express ourselves in a positive way because we are perceived as being the symbol of Islam…”

All participants felt that it is important to have more positive images of Islam in the media and they advocated different ways to achieve this. One participant felt that it is up to the community to be more proactive and provide the media with positive stories and photo opportunities which show that Muslims engage in a range of activities outside of Mosques, such as stories about Muslims playing sport. Using sport to promote a positive public image of Muslims was seen as a particularly effective strategy “because sport is Australia’s religion.” Forging good relations with media and encouraging them to present positive stories was seen as an important long term strategy. Encouraging Muslim children to follow careers in journalism was also seen as an important long term strategy to improve the media’s portrayal of Muslim Australians.

“Having Muslims in the upper echelons of the media might change things. How many Muslims are there in media today? ”

Facilitating access to alternative media channels was also seen as vital to challenging negative perceptions of Muslims portrayed via media. Participants relayed the frustration felt when the Islamic Council of Victoria failed to secure a radio license in October 2001.

Providing community support

Participants felt that community organisations initially need better government support and training to function effectively and service their communities.

“Organisations like the ICV should not be run entirely by volunteers. It is completely run by volunteers at the moment which impacts a huge amount on what we can do and what support we can offer to the community.”

Participants felt that government has a responsibility to more effectively inform communities about the kinds of funding grants available and the processes for applying. One participant expressed his frustration with the current ‘Living in Harmony’ grants system arguing that despite all the difficult issues currently facing Muslims in Australia, very few grants had been awarded to Muslim organisations. Another participant also felt that the Islamic communities themselves need to take some initiative in learning how to access resources from the government.

“It’s an education process for us as a community to understand what we need to do to get these issues up on the government’s radar.”

Strengthening relationships between communities

Encouraging solidarity with other ethnic groups and creating a united front to tackle racism was seen as the key to any effective anti-racism strategies and preventing backlash or further targeting of Muslim Australians.

“If we focus just on Muslims being attacked – they will say ‘Damn Muslims we don’t care about them – let’s get rid of the whole lot of them.’ If the Chinese community and others are feeling things because of this general racism - then it becomes a bigger issue… Let the government realise that there are multiple groups in the community with discrimination problems…”

Informing communities about their rights

Finding effective mediums through which to communicate information about rights and responsibilities to Muslim community members was seen as vital in informing communities about complaints processes (and funding processes). Over-reliance by government agencies on disseminating information through the internet was seen as a particular problem as many community members had no internet access. One participant felt the most effective way of spreading information is through ethnic media (such as radio) or through Mosques. To enlist the support of Sheikhs, it is vital to have information available in a range of languages. The need to engage people locally in their own communities, not necessarily through existing community organisations, was also seen as vital. Any campaign to inform communities about their rights needs to take into account the complex and diverse structure of Islamic communities.

“Our community don’t identify with the heads of their organisations. They don’t identify themselves with the organisations….there is a gap between the grassroots and organisations themselves. Unless you go to small clubs where people are – you might not be able to tell what people are thinking or what they want to do…”

Rather than the onus being just on informing communities of their rights, participants stressed that key players like government agencies or employers should be educated about their responsibilities under anti-discrimination laws. Getting information out to employers was seen as particularly important. While larger workplaces were judged to be more professional in the way they understand and implement anti-discrimination law, more work could be done to inform medium and small firms and trades that employ Muslims. Participants were emphatic in stressing the need to redirect the focus from the victims to the perpetrators or on both equally at least so that the issue of discrimination can be addressed in a balanced way.

Ensuring complaints are taken seriously

Participants felt that existing anti-discrimination legislation needs to be clearer and stronger (particularly in relation to alleged vilification by media) in order to encourage Muslims themselves to make use of complaints systems.

“The legislation in Victoria is a good start…But what we hate about the legislation are the exemptions [for media]…”

On the subject of the existing federal anti-discrimination law, (the Racial Discrimination Act 1975), participants were confused as to why Muslims are not covered whereas Jews and Sikhs are.

“How can Jewish and Sikh communities – being religions – be recognised under law as ‘ethnic’? The law isn’t just inconsistent in its treatment of us – it’s discriminatory.”

“Make sure that this recommendation is at the top of your list – change your law.”

4. Other issues and suggestions

The ICV president offered to facilitate further feedback on issues raised in the consultation through the Islamic Voice Radio station which reaches a few thousand households.