HREOC Website: Isma - Listen: National consultations on eliminating prejudice against Arab and Muslim Australias

Consultations
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|| Meeting Notes: 16 June 2003

Consultation hosted by the
Anti-Discrimination Commission of Queensland (ADCQ) and Multicultural
Affairs Queensland (MAQ), Brisbane, 16 June 2003

The meeting was chaired by Ms Susan Booth,
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Queensland. It was attended by 15 invited
participants. Dr Bill Jonas, Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner,
and Omeima Sukkarieh attended from HREOC.

Dr Jonas made the following points in an opening
address

The Isma project was initiated because racism and prejudice
against Arab and Muslim Australians continue to be a serious problem in
Australia. The consultations involve meeting with Arabic and Islamic community
organisations and individuals across Australia to discuss their experiences,
their needs and their opinions about existing and future strategies for
overcoming prejudice and discrimination.

The project involves research as well as consultation.
The research component involves finding out about existing strategies
and programs which are in place federally and at a State or Territory
level, that aim to counter anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice. HREOC
is asking government and community agencies across Australia to evaluate
existing projects and identify what more could be done.

HREOC has also commissioned a survey from researchers
at the University of Western Sydney. The survey will ask community members
in NSW and Victoria about their experiences of discrimination, vilification
and other racially-motivated incidents and also whether the incident was
officially reported. If it was, we need to get feedback on how seriously
the complaint was treated, how effectively it was dealt with and whether
there was any resolution. In cases where the incident was not reported
(the majority, we expect) we need to understand the reasons why not.

The project is the beginning of a longer term process
of engagement for HREOC. In large part we are consulting to obtain information
to assist us in changing our practices, adopting new approaches and developing
new projects to combat racism. Already, for example, there has been a
lot of support for including religious discrimination and religious vilification
in the federal anti-discrimination laws.

Ms Hurriyet Babacan, Executive Director, Community
Outcomes Branch, Department of the Premier and Cabinet, made the following
points in her opening address

Ms Babacan’s Branch covers multicultural affairs
among other issues. The Premier is also the Minister of Multicultural
Affairs in Queensland. Key planks of the Multicultural Queensland Policy
are valuing diversity and promoting opportunity, access and participation.

Australia is generally considered very good at settling
migrants and welcoming new arrivals and to have a very good multicultural
mixed population. However, there are often hidden prejudices and sometimes
those hidden prejudices come out at critical times. Some of those critical
times include economic hardship, unemployment, social change, war and
conflict around the world. Those are just some of the problems that impact
on discrimination and the acceptance of difference.

Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth
made the following points in her opening address

Queensland law makes race and religious vilification
and discrimination unlawful, unlike the situation in NSW or at the federal
level. Nevertheless the threshold is very high in Queensland – requiring
proof of severe ridicule. The federal threshold would be preferable.

The first religious vilification case brought in Queensland
involved an allegation that a candidate in a State election had published
a brochure which vilified Muslims. The Tribunal found that it was vilification
and the words which took the Koran completely out of context can’t
possibly have been anything other than vilification. However, the candidate
was covered by the exemptions because (1) during an election campaign
there is a heightened ability to discuss such issues which is protected
under the Australian Constitution and (2) the candidate had done so in
good faith.

Some of the reasons given by community members for not
making a formal complaint have included ‘I don’t want to seem
ungrateful to my new country’; ‘I’ve been vilified but
I want to contribute in a positive way’; ‘I want to succeed.
I want my family to succeed. I also don’t want other members from
my community to think that I’m a whinger by bringing a complaint’.

It is possible now for a representative community organisation
to bring a complaint of vilification so that the burden is not on the
individual any longer.

In the period after September 11th ADCQ knew a lot of
vilification was going on, but people did not know the Commission well
enough or there was not enough trust there or the relationships were not
strong enough for them to come and complain. Education and outreach are
needed to build awareness and trust.

ADCQ has run a series of anti-racism training sessions
in community languages and has published vilification cards in five community
languages [referring to the ‘Know your Rights’ cards].

The meeting then opened up to discussion among
the participants

The first speaker referred to the broader context of
prejudice in Australia.

“Going
back fifteen years ago when I came to Australia, things were happening
then but of course since September 11th it’s just the history.
At meetings we talk about acknowledging traditional owners and then
we move on. But in reality this land is under occupation. So that in
itself generates a lot of these issues where I think the government
establishes that domination and that control over this land and continues
that by victimising individuals more than groups. Really they are asserting
power over the traditional caretakers of this land. So I think there
is something to be done in regards to something like a treaty that brings
up that issue of who the land actually belongs to. And then if we have
that, then we might actually see that all of us will be welcomed here
on an equal basis. From my experiences when I first came to Australia
I was in the Townsville area and there it was for me dreadful to see
what was happening to Aboriginal people. What was happening to me was
ridiculous: I couldn’t get a unit to live in, I had to bond everything
I had, a job even, I couldn’t get a credit card, all of those
sort of things. It was clear discrimination. I suppose for me is that
we have to do something about the bigger picture otherwise we are all
in the same boat.”

Later, other participants referred to the impact of 11
September and also the additional impact of the Bali bombing.

“Racism
in Queensland and indeed Australia is not from September 11th. It was
much before. But now they have the license to say it in the open because
of September 11th. They are the same people but they didn’t dare
to say it before. Now they say these people in the Middle East are terrorists
and we have the right to tell the public.”

“You
have this in every country. Before September 11th I have lived here
and had a normal life and maybe one out of hundred would come and give
a story like that. Now I drive a taxi as well and now you get about
ninety out of one hundred. They will not just tell you that you sound
different. They will not look at you like you are a human. They look
at you like all the Muslims are involved with it [i.e. terrorism].”

Experiences of prejudice,
discrimination and abuse

Threats and harassment

“Since
September 11th the problem has extended, before that I have never had
that experience over here. I have driven a taxi, I have run a restaurant…
we have a restaurant in New Farm and we have gone through about fifty
to sixty phone calls, people threatening, people coming in with sticks.
The police know about it and we have made a few complaints.”

“A
couple of years ago we [Muslim Women’s Association of Queensland]
were working with Brisbane City Council to get our first own premises
and we were working hard for six months. We wanted to renovate the place
and were really looking forward to it, then there was a meeting in the
neighbourhood where we were asked to introduce ourselves and it went
very well and the last week before getting into the premises, we got
graffiti on the premises and because it’s a hut in the middle
of the Park we were so feared to get to those premises and then it was
to who do we complain to, what can we do so we gave up.”

Discrimination at school

“What
is worrying me is what is happening in schools. A lot of it is very
clear and obvious and a lot of it is not. Knowing that a lot of the
young people from different groups are being targeted and they are being
harassed. Some of them are showing up by reacting and fighting, not
wanting to go to school, staying away, some are put on drugs as they
are seen as depressed.”

Discrimination in the workforce

“If
you apply for a job and you do not get it they do not say it is discrimination.
But I see a lot of it. Maybe it is not just against Arabs and Muslims.
Maybe it is just against those who do not speak English as a native
language. I am driving a taxi now and I see a lot of people from other
nations. Everyone who is not from an English speaking country, they
cannot get a job easily here. When I was at a University two years ago
I overheard the receptionist saying to a friend that ‘the bloody
wog got the job’.”

“I
have finished my degree but I haven’t faced any problems during
Uni, but in getting jobs I do. You send in your C.V. and if they send
anything back it usually says you are overqualified. They don’t
ask you for an interview. They ask you for your name, place of study…and
that’s where it stops. The situation for Arabs and Muslims was
worse after the Bali bombing because it was more personal for Australians.”

Allegations against the police

“The
Logan Youth and Family Services produce cards on their rights and give
them to young people and they (the kids) were picked up in the streets
by police and made to eat the cards.”

“Police
officers are the worst offenders. Last month I was at the road and a
car in the side lane came in front of me and I had to use my brakes
and horn to warn him to stop me from being killed. A police officer
on a motorbike stopped both of us and took us to a side street. Then
he said that I must apologise to him [the other driver]. I said ‘But
he broke the law of traffic. He was going to kill me’. He said
‘You have to apologise to him’. But I said ‘I did
nothing wrong’. But he insisted I must apologise. I told him who
I was and said I will get your number and let us talk about it. He said
‘Ok you go’. I said ‘No. You book him for changing
lane without indicating’. He said ‘I didn’t see that’.
I said ‘You saw me blowing the horn but you didn’t see him
jumping in front of me and me having to use the my car’s best
brakes possible to avoid within one inch collision?’ He said ‘I
didn’t see it’. I said ‘Really?’ I know my rights,
so I asked him for his name and went to the high authorities. So I think
it is about educating the authorities who see nothing and hear nothing.
If I go to a police officer and say that man offended me and he is negative,
he will not do anything. So next time I won’t complain because
the police do not do anything. I have threatened to take more action
before. I know my rights and I stick to them and fight for them. Not
everyone is lucky enough to have contacts. People get to the point where
they take the law into their own hands.”

“A
lot of people do not have that courage, people coming from countries
where they do not practise their abilities to stand in front of policemen
even to tell them half of what you said. Unfortunately some of the experiences
we have been recording are road rage and wearing the veil. What I do
is take the number and go to the police station and give them the number
and the details. When I went to the station, the police officer wasn’t
that friendly until I told him I am part of the Police Advisory Committee.
He was then looking and saying that the details of the car do not exist.
I say ‘I’m sorry I know what I’m talking about. I
gave you all the details. I am part of the Police Advisory Committee
and I am going to complain’. He said ‘I will follow it up’.”

At home

“My
neighbours told me last night that someone like Bin Laden came to see
you. I didn’t let it go and so I educated them and they apologised.”

“About
two months ago a lady going to the school nearby parked in my driveway.
I told her to move her car then she said ‘I’ll send you
back to where you came from’. So I took a photo of her car to
give to the police.”

In public places

“Myself
and my husband since September have been abused in the city square several
times and in one instance a man threw rocks at us and cut my niece’s
face. In face to face situations it is harder to combat. Knowing your
rights in these cases doesn’t help because the perpetrator is
not known.”

“Yesterday
I had an interesting experience. Most people when they see me think
that I am from overseas. I got off the plane in Sydney and as I was
walking this fella was walking alongside me. He was trying to be nice
and he spoke to me like I was someone from overseas. It was in a loud
voice and he was gesturing. And I spoke back and said ‘G’day
mate. How’s it going?’ And he kind of stepped back. I have
had some horror stories. A young woman was saying to me she was born
here and she has had people come up to her and say ‘Why don’t
you go back to the country where you were born?’.”

In the media

“The
biggest problem we have is media. Especially when we went to war in
Afghanistan and we went to war in Iraq, the media explained it wrongly
to the people. They went the wrong way about it. If we could do something
about that and let the people know exactly what happens over there and
that this has nothing to do with the Muslims, especially the Taliban.
Taliban and Muslims are not the same thing.”

“It
is important to educate service providers, students and teachers but
the media is the problem as they create the perception as to the average
Mr and Mrs Suburbia. They are fearful of difference and that is what
we have to break down. The media is making it worse. It is frightening.”

The impacts of prejudice and discrimination

“I
think at the moment there is a lot of focus on the individuals. ASIO,
refugees, Camp X-Ray…generally we are living a culture of fear.
And in this culture of fear we try to encourage some sort of activism
or stand up for your rights. I think we are probably seeing more kind
of underground movements which in terms of fear are radical. They are
going underground because this is what we are pushing them to do because
we are not operating as an open society.”

Complaints processes

Complaints procedures were criticised as unfamiliar and
daunting.

“They
have these laws but for the average person in the street it’s
trying to access something that is not accessible. Me being confident
and being in the organisation I am in, it took me a lot of people who
I knew to go to, to get to a point where somebody was prepared to say
we will take it on from here. For me not knowing the legal system was
quite a frightening thing. And people said ‘Oh he’s gone
down that path! Watch what you are doing.’ So I suppose for me
it is what can we do to simplify these things so the average person
gets a chance to lodge a complaint and see something get done about
it. Otherwise people will just give up. It’s frightening for those
who know the legal system, so how is it for those who don’t?”

“My
friend, like many people comes from a background where she does not
have the right talk and then suddenly facing all this discrimination
in the street here because she dresses in traditional clothes and not
being able to speak in the Australian accent then she is facing discrimination
everywhere. She is frightened to drive the car by herself. I see the
positive side also from all the support from the different organisations,
from the police and from the anti discrimination people, they are still
trying to help us but we are still in the beginning.”

“There
are processes I think around this table too we should also know that
here is a Crime and Misconduct Commission and I was surprised when I
went to the IDC [inter-departmental committee] meeting at the Premiers
Department a couple of months back that so many of the public servants
around that table didn’t know about how to make a complaint. I
thought well these people are representing the wider community and they
don’t know. So I think the complaint mechanism, the carrot and
the stick approach and the complaint mechanism must be disseminated.”

Community organisation strategies
to empower community members and combat prejudice

“The
Islamic Women’s Association is encouraging women to stand up for
their rights and to set an example. Part of our objective is to give
an opportunity for Islamic women to work where they have difficulty,
to work in other areas.”

Government strategies to empower
community members and combat prejudice

The following exchange about the Queensland Premier’s
public support for the Arab and Muslim communities in that state is instructive.

“Talking
about roles in the media and the government, they went to this Anti
Racism Reference Group at the Premiers Department and they keep asking
‘Why is the Premier not doing something?’ He is there, like
this reference group is there, to react the next time there is a bomb
somewhere. He is relaying information through the reference group but
the message is not getting across. There are little media releases that
are known about. But the reality on a day to day basis is that the Premier
is silent.”

“I
think you are wrong there. I think he is probably more proactive than
any other Premier in Australia.”

“I
wouldn’t say that. When was the last time you saw him, you know,
going after in media and you know actually push one off?”

“The
media is the media. You can’t control it.”

“No.
I’m saying how many media releases have you seen since September
11th in terms of Queensland and multiculturalism?”

“And
there are people complaining or being very concerned that they do not
know anything about what the premiers are saying.”

“In
terms of the media you and I and some people around here read a lot
of newspapers. And we read in between the lines and what is the real
story. But there are frightened people out there in the suburbs who
read it as it is and how do they access it?”

“I
don’t want to be defensive at all but since September 11th the
Premier was immediately aware of the danger of a backlash. So the response
to it was immediate. Statements were made by the Premier, by Ministers,
by Principals, by Mayors, by community leaders to say that any backlash
to the Islamic community would not be accepted. It didn’t rate
much attention in the media. The media release was certainly prepared
[but] the media focused initially on another angle of the story. But
the Premier led with another strategy which was through word of mouth
leadership in making sure that community leaders, Mayors, Ministers
were saying to their spheres of influence that this is a time for Queenslanders
to come together not to fall apart. That was the same message which
went out after Bali. The fact that the media doesn’t pick up the
story is the age old issue of how do you work with the media in a way
which is going to promote the issue beyond the word of mouth. That’s
a difficult one. I don’t know if we will ever get that right answer
because the media is an independent voice that doesn’t necessarily
do what governments want it to do. If it did in fact we would be really
worried.”

“In
the same media release that talks about harmony it also talks about
how our arms and airports are in danger and the media picks that part
of it up and says our airports are in danger but there is nothing that
talks about harmony…”

“Unfortunately
harmony doesn’t sell very well. There are some things that are
not in the Premier’s control like the media, but some he does
like schools and Education Queensland. He has probably the biggest control
about giving direction to other government agencies, to make sure that
people or teachers employed under that particular structure have got
the right ideas about multiculturalism.”

The hotline established by the Queensland government
in the days after 11 September 2001 was briefly mentioned.

“It
was un-useful. I was at a function where the Premier said he received
sixteen complaints and he decided to disband the hotline because the
most serious complaint was from a British man who resented being called
a Pom. That was his statement.”

“Mainly
it is because people generally of non-English speaking backgrounds don’t
complain.”

Police initiatives in working with an Islamic community
organisation and with an Islamic school were favourably referred to. The
Youth Affairs Network and the Queensland Commissioner for Children are
working in partnership to provide advocacy training to youth workers.
The Anti-Discrimination Commissioner has alerted Queensland newspaper
editors to a NSW Anti-Discrimination Board study of reporting on Arabic
and Muslim people and community issues (Race for the Headlines).
ADCQ will provide training to community organisations on its new racial,
religious, sexuality and trans-gender vilification provisions.

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

Need for political leadership

“The
big concern is that out there, there is discrimination in our schools
and our government services and the difficulty is to get people to make
a complaint. I think we need to hear it from the highest levels in government
not only from Premiers, [also] from the chief executives, that this
sort of behaviour is unacceptable. In order to get complaints, leaders
at a national level need to speak publicly about the issue and denounce
loudly all acts of discrimination.”

With respect to a Courier Mail front page said to have
called “all people who were not Anglo Celtic the Forces of Darkness”
and NSW MP Fred Nile’s comments about Muslim women wearing chador:

“If
the government was to emphasise to everyone this is not acceptable anymore,
and tell the newspapers, perhaps this will work. Governments need to
educate down the line.”

Senior bureaucrats’ public representations were
also seen as significant.

“One
of the conditions of employment [should be] to know the law before they
speak to the public. Once they know that the government is applying
these rules, this would make everyone know that it is not black sheep
white sheep.”

“You
also have to make sure that senior public servants, chief executives,
are saying what we are saying at this level. It’s no good for
it to be said at a policy level. It’s got to be said right up
there. There should also be a reward and promotion for people in public
services. We’ve got to put the record that it should be part of
their problem initially. Or alternatively they won’t get promoted
if they don’t understand the management of diversity and that
is the case in a number of departments.”

Cultural awareness training for all service-providers

“Regarding
cultural awareness, I have been trying to raise this with the Education
Department. There are actually no mandatory requirements for teachers
to go through any cultural awareness. Even the Health Department has
something where you actually can’t do any health work before you
do that. But we are happy to have our teachers take our students and
have no cultural awareness! None at all. The individual schools do whatever
they want. So if you get a racist principal, you will get racist teachers.
And some schools have ownership over them by racist principals. So we
need a centralised model: some of this stuff has to come centrally.”

“As
service providers we must be culturally confident. There must be some
criteria that say, if you want to be a sergeant, teacher or a police
officer, what do you know about cultural issues and how do you demonstrate
that confidence. I think the University of Sydney medical school is
looking for that in Doctors now. If doctors are looking at why are the
rest of them not? It is not enough to be aware and tolerant. You’ve
got to be confident otherwise you are wasting your time.”

Need for personal contacts

“There
is a big war between the Muslims and the Muslim countries and that mostly
is because of media. To fix this you have to pass this to the everyday
Australian living around the corner. I have invited all the neighbours
in my house. I have shown them the video of what exactly happened in
Afghanistan. I have actually gone through one hundred years of history
with them and why there is a war. Why it has taken so long. Why there
is still a war. And they have a lot of information from me now which
they can pass on. That is the only thing you can do, give knowledge
to the normal people living next door.”

“We
need to show our humanity and take time to sit around a table with people,
and then you will get a lot more people on side and saying that they
are caring about me as a human being. They understand me as a person
and therefore I will listen to what they have to say. I believe - and
I don’t mean any particular department - that we have not done
enough of that.”

“I
agree. I am in an Islamic women’s group who sometimes get 20-25,
sometimes get 60. The successful meeting is always when people come
from government. A successful one was when the Police came to the centre
and we talked to them about our fears and concerns. It makes them feel
like they are very important and that’s why people come to talk
to them. It empowers the women.”

“Commonality
needs to be built and having an open frank discussion about how we can
share it.”

Need to review complaints procedures

“When
you are talking about complaints you have to make sure that they feel
comfortable first. It’s not about whether they complain or not.
They talk to workers, they talk to leaders, [with assistance] they do
directly complain. But somehow if they have to go through structure
by structure then they hesitate. It’s daunting for them.”

Need to contact community members not in touch
with community organisations

“It’s
important to get these people not represented by any organisation or
group through places of first contact, such as Legal Aid, Centrelink,
Universities, Settlement Services, and many more. Go where new arrivals
go. There are places for instance Goondiwindi where there is cotton
picking work and different people tend to go there at particular times
of year where you might get one particular group where a lot of them
are not informed about their rights. You need to follow people’s
trends at particular times. So we need to try and use other people’s
resources to get the message across.”

Need to contribute positively to Australia’s
future

“As
victims we cannot always defend ourselves. We have to think positively
for building Australia, through educating ourselves and our people how
we may behave. If you are innocent no-one can put you down. Think positive
how you may build Australia as an Australian. Everybody is a migrant
- even the Australians. Think always positively, how we may build Australia
as good people. Then if I am not Australian then I am respected by Australians,
I am welcomed by Australians. I had problems in my communities and I
restored it through good ways, my love, true love. I cannot put my enemy
in front of me and consider him an enemy. I consider him my friend.
Otherwise we will always talk about discrimination, but we may have
no answer. Think only how we may build Australia positively. Educate
our people to behave well, that’s all. If you cannot have any
job go to Centrelink and they will find a job for you. It’s easy.
We need patience. You have to prove that you are Australian and that
you are useful. And if you are useful, everyone will respect you and
accept you.”

Concluding discussion

“There
are people saying to us that ‘If you can’t be like us, then
what are you doing here?’ What do we say in response?”

“I
get asked ‘You’ve been here for 20 years and you’re
still wearing that [referring to the hijab]?’”

“We
need to keep focusing on and talking about good experiences.”

“A
lot of people believe that you should not speak another language, for
example that it’s rude to speak another language. People don’t
understand that you need to sometimes speak another language because
the person who you are talking to may not understand English.”

“Maybe
people in taxis are afraid of taxi drivers because they speak another
language to others while they have passengers.”

“When
we are sitting in the park and talking amongst each other, it happened
a lot that people are afraid and so discriminate against us. We should
be as a nation encouraging kids to speak other languages.”

“It
is a multicultural society so we need to respect that it is also a multilingual
society too.”