The Social Schism: How did we get here?

Prominent Australians shared their views on social cohesion with host Janice Petersen in an SBS special forum, The Social Schism.

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SBS Examines and SBS Insight brought together prominent leaders and community voices to discuss the state of social cohesion in Australia. They told us why they think it's taken such a hit.

Australia is facing the aftermath of a terror attack, the impact of international conflicts, rising Islamophobia and antisemitism, and a cost of living crisis.

Our sense of belonging has dropped – from 64 per cent in early 2020 to 46 per cent in 2025, according to the Scanlon Foundation’s Mapping Social Cohesion report.

In an SBS special forum, guests told host Janice Petersen there are many reasons our social fabric is under strain.

The nation is divided. These Australians say we can find common ground

Co-chair of Reconciliation Australia Kirstie Parker said: "I feel there’s sense of permission having been given to people to be terrible."

Ms Parker recounted the "awful commentary on social media" during her work on the Yes campaign during The Voice campaign back in 2023.

CEO of Cheek Media Co. Hannah Ferguson said social media is a big factor driving social division.

Social media is a binary place. It celebrates silos, it creates echo chambers.
Hannah Ferguson

While Adam Creighton, Chief Economist at the Institute of Public Affairs, said many people blame immigration for cost of living pressures and the housing crisis.

"No wonder people are angry," he said.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Savaraman said economic inequality is often a trigger for racism.

"It's much easier to blame communities or individuals, rather than actually do the hard work of systemic change," he told Janice.

In this episode of SBS Examines, we look at the factors influencing social cohesion in Australia.

Transcript

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SBS acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia.

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A lot has been happening in Australia. Bondi Beach has now been declared officially a terrorist incident.

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Terrified beachgoers run for their lives... There's been a spike in Islamophobic abuse directed at Muslims from all walks of life... Who they claim threw a homemade bomb into a crowd at a Perth Invasion Day rally. Our sense of belonging has dropped to less than 50%.

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The country is grappling with increasing polarisation across many issues. SBS Examines collaborated with SBS Insight to ask prominent Australians, how do we forge a path forward toward a more united and inclusive country. In this two-part podcast, we'll take a look at what thought leaders and community voices from across the spectrum have to say. First up, how did we get here?

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I think that in the past two-and-a-half years, Australian Jewish people have realised that the amazing place we had in this society, that time, like the last 80 years of history, were an aberration, and we are back experiencing things that our parents and our grandparents escaped to this country.

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From that's Linda Ben-Menashe, president of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia. She said October 7th, 2023 was a turning point for Jewish Australians' sense of belonging in the country. Everyone has to make a stand on and their position on October 7th and on Gaza. It has to be clear, has to be made obvious. If it isn't, then you're judged for it.

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Writer, comedian, and self-identified cultural Muslim Sami Shah said the Hamas-Israel war has impacted social cohesion in Australia, with communities connecting to different sides of the conflict, and we've seen an increase in Islamophobia and Antisemitism in Australia reaching new extremes last December.

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The two shooters used long armed weapons to open fire from a bridge onto a park. Two gunmen with links to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group targeted Jewish people celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, killing 15.

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Independent MP Allegra Spender represents the seat of Wentworth where the terror attack happened. What really frightens me is I hear from many Jewish people who talk about leaving Australia, and they just say, you know, we just don't know that we are welcome here. Muslim community leader Hana Assafiri says she was devastated by the Bondi

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attack. I have nothing to do and certainly nothing in common.

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With a guy who committed those atrocities and yet the blame that is then acutely felt by individuals and individuals who symbolically also look like Muslims places us in harm's way, and this is sadly a cycle that we've seen time and again since September 11th.

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Kirstie Parker is the co-chair of Reconciliation Australia.

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She could relate to Hannah. She says Indigenous Australians are very familiar with feeling unsafe, but something is different now. I feel that there's a sense of permission having been given to people to be terrible. During the campaign for a First Nations voice, I was a part of the yes case and was exposed to some absolutely awful commentary on social media and on traditional media, frankly.

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Hannah Ferguson is the co-founder of digital company Cheek Media. She agrees, social media is a big factor driving social division.

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When you add on the layer of the social media algorithms we're each experiencing, I think that we can acknowledge that things aren't feeling like particularly optimistic. The world that young people are growing up in, the, the future of Australia that we'll inherit, is actually a really scary prospect right now.

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And that comes from cultural elements, that comes from social media elements, that also comes from just the everyday cost of living that we're enduring right now.

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Adam Creighton is the chief economist at the Institute of Public Affairs and says Australians are facing a huge fall in living standards and cost of living pressures.

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So no wonder people are angry. We have the

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highest immigration rate in the world or the 2nd highest, I think we're up there with Canada, but it's very high, and so that is obviously going to create some social anxiety and also economic anxiety.

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Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman says economic inequality is often a trigger for racism. If

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you want to blame someone because you can't buy a house, it's easy to blame a migrant. If you want to blame someone because you're stuck in traffic, you blame a migrant. Economic inequality requires complicated, hard solutions from government.

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It requires systemic change. It's much easier to blame communities or individuals rather than actually do the hard work of systemic change.

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The impact of overseas war and violence felt by communities here in Australia, the aftermath of a terror attack, a cost of living crisis, and social media are some of the reasons we're here.

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But can we still be hopeful for unity? Always. What I strongly believe is that we need to look at, you know, what's common. Start with that commonality.

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In next week's episode, we'll hear our guests' suggestions for combating polarisation and forging a new path forward. You can watch the full episode of The Social Schism, a collaboration between SBS Examines and SBS Insight on SBS On Demand with subtitles in Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese. To find out more, head to ww.sbs.com.au/examines.

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