A major survey of Australian-born and immigrant Australians finds, despite widely shared values, many people struggle to feel accepted within mainstream society.
The survey, called Australians Today, is the largest parallel survey ever undertaken of those born in Australia and immigrants.
It is a collaboration between the Scanlon Foundation -- which aims to foster social cohesion within Australia -- the Australian Multicultural Foundation and Melbourne's Monash University.
"Being a migrant, everybody has a very high expectation. But the expectation falls down just like a wall of sand. Firstly, the biggest problem is the language barrier."
"We thought life was going to be a lot easier ... finish high school, you go to uni, you get a job straightaway. But that's not the case."
Those are just some of the views expressed by participants in the Australians Today report aimed at understanding groups rarely represented substantially in more general surveys.
The goal of the Scanlon Foundation report overall is to gain a greater understanding of issues relating to immigration and cultural diversity.
Monash University research professor Andrew Markus led the project, which he says has tried to uncover feelings within groups previously little understood.
"It's the largest survey that we've done to date. More than 10,000 people completed the survey. In addition to that, we ran 50 focus groups, basically all over Australia. The objective was to better understand the experience of different groups of immigrants, and the aim of getting such a large number was to be able to understand different visa categories and, also, to understand different national groups and their experience."
The survey was available in 19 languages besides English,* and just over 14 per cent were completed in a language other than English.
Focus groups were also conducted in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, exploring issues like identity, workplace discrimination and the problems of urban segmentation.
"I have got a lot of friends who come from the affluent side of Melbourne, and they come from old Australian money. And, to them, I'm like this foreign being, because I'm half-Asian, I'm half-European, but born here. When I'm in (ethnically mixed) Broadmeadows, I'm just normal."
"They look at you like you are an alien. Everyone was just like, 'What are you doing in this area?'"
Professor Markus says there are many positive findings in the report but there are issues that clearly warrant attention.
"One of these is that some humanitarian entrants who've come to Australia are finding it particularly difficult. The issue of colour prejudice comes out very strongly in this survey, levels of discrimination that people report from African countries. There are issues with many people who've come from New Zealand on special-category visas which enable them to gain, in effect, permanent residence but not full citizenship. Another major issue relates to the level of rejection of cultural diversity that we find amongst mainstream Australians. A minority, a small minority, but, nonetheless, it's very evident in the survey. And also evident is the fact that many men are more likely to reject cultural diversity than women (are)."
The survey found marked variations between groups on key issues such as visa concerns.
That included the difficulty of obtaining work commensurate with their qualifications, as well as training, employment and discrimination.
Just 36 per cent of those who arrived in Australia on humanitarian visas said they were employed, with a relatively high proportion saying they are "just getting along" financially.
The survey also shows the level of diversity within the Muslim community is of a complexity not recognised in much public discussion.
That includes divisions between the secular and the religious, the young and the elderly, and between national and ethnic groups.
Muslim respondents reported finding much of the media biased and ill-informed.
More than half of immigrants from Africa -- 54 per cent -- also reported discrimination, and the South Sudanese community reported the highest level of discrimination at 77 per cent.
Professor Markus says the survey has successfully addressed some gaps in previous surveys where some African communities were not adequately represented.
"We were particularly successful in recruiting participation by members of the South Sudanese community. And there are some very strong findings that come out of that. On the one hand, people are well-disposed to Australia, are optimistic in most cases about their future in this country, but, on the other hand, report high levels of colour prejudice."
The South Sudanese community also had the lowest level of trust, by a large margin, in police.
Professor Markus says nearly 60 per cent indicated they had experienced discrimination when in contact with police over the past 12 months.
"The highest levels of discrimination reported in this survey were amongst several African national groups, including the South Sudanese. And these are like four, five, six times higher than for Australian-born. So really high levels. And some quite harrowing stories about the day-to-day reality of the discrimination that they face."
"When you walk to the bus station, some of the drivers, young Australian, they just put the window down and just tell bad things to you, like, 'Monkey, go to your country.'"
On the other hand, the survey has found the highest level of institutional trust comes from those born in Afghanistan.
Doctors, hospitals and the Medicare system feature high in levels of trust from all respondents.
Real-estate agents, federal parliament and political parties do not.
The report also finds, while around 60 per cent of the Australian public supports immigration, there are minorities with strongly held views.
Professor Markus says the subject evokes strong reactions, with about 40 per cent considering it too high.
"Within that 40 per cent, there are people who feel very strongly about immigration and cultural diversity. For example, we have a question in the survey which asks people, 'What do you least like about Australia?' And there were 15 different options, one of which was, 'There's too much immigration.' And nearly 20 per cent of the Australian-born respondents selected that as their number one aspect that they least like about Australia, that there was too much immigration."
The survey however, found most respondents indicating a good level of happiness in Australia.
Recent arrivals are more optimistic in their outlook than immigrants who have been in Australia for 10 or 15 years.
Further evidence of the high level of identification with Australia is reflected in the uptake of citizenship.
Half of those who have lived in Australia for between five and nine years indicated they have become Australian citizens, a percentage the survey finds increases with length of stay.
Over 70 per cent of newer arrivals keep in contact with friends or relatives back home, with nearly one in three watching television programs from their former home countries.
The report says all new arrivals face problems in the initial stage of settlement.
For many who are adults on arrival, the problems of integration can last years -- or may never be fully resolved.
In the words of one participant, immigration is a "long journey."
"Settlement is not an overnight thing. It maybe takes 20 years, 50 years or a bit more. So it's a long journey. I arrived in 2001, and I think that, still, I'm learning. I'm learning from my children and when I talk to other people."
