Executive Summary

This is the final report on the research project the ‘Voices Shaping the Perspectives of Young Muslim Australians Today’ to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). The aims of this research project are: 1) to provide a social ecology of the voices that inspire young Muslims, the voices they hear including their own, their peers’ and the official voices of the society and government; 2) to review the relevant literature in Australia and comparable nations; 3) to identify the plurality of voices of influence and the various ways in which young Muslim Australians mobilize religious and political symbols, and language around cultural, social and political issues; 4) to identify the relevant sources and voices of influence important for shaping the experience, attitudes, beliefs and opinions of young Muslims in Australia; and 5) to provide an assessment of current practical measures which support and facilitate voices and to identify consistent gaps in government, non‐government and individual approaches in this regard. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s expressed aim for commissioning this research is to identify and support young people in general and where appropriate.

An inter‐disciplinary research team from the UTS Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre conducted the research. The research project took a ‘social ecology’ approach whereby the point of departure was that the lives and experiences of young Muslim Australians were embedded in their social, cultural, political, theological and ideological environments. In social ecology, these relationships are understood as multi‐directional and constantly evolving.

The research report reviews the relevant national and international literature and provides the results of quantitative research in Sydney and qualitative research in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin involving young Muslim Australians and key stakeholders from Australia’s Muslim communities and other relevant institutions and organizations.

The quantitative research involved a survey of young male and female Muslim Australians conducted at the Muslim Eid Festival and Fair in Sydney. The qualitative research took the form of: focus groups of young Australians from Middle Eastern (Lebanese, Iraqi, Iranian, Afghan, Turkish), South Asian (Pakistani and Indian) and African (Somali, Nigerian, Togo, Ethiopian) backgrounds; focus groups of key stakeholders from Muslim communities and service providers who work with them; in‐depth interviews of Muslim Australians and key stakeholders; and case studies where a few selected young Muslim Australians took part in repeat, in‐depth interviews.

Key findings

 Young Muslim Australians are very diverse – despite popular stereotypes – in their background, attitudes and aspirations. This diverse character of the young Muslim Australians today, not only in terms of the school of thought and intensity of religious identification, but also ethnic and national origin, educational and occupational background, family history, social class and personal aspiration, indicates that there is no one ‘Muslim’ identity or youth culture.

 The strongest finding from our research is that the great majority of young Muslim Australians feels good about living in Australia and sees a positive future as Australians in Australia. Even youth who are recent arrivals from refugee backgrounds hold high and hopeful aspirations, viewing Australia as a land of opportunity in education and economic advancement.

 Young Muslim Australian respondents felt a strong sense of belonging to the Australian nation and a strong sense of Australian national identity. At the same time they had a strong Muslim identity. No young Muslim Australians are solely defined or confined by their religious affiliations; neither, though, can they be understood without comprehending the ways in which religion, culture and immigration experiences frame their world‐views.

 The values of young Muslim Australians consulted reflect what might be regarded as positive ideals. The highest values held were honesty, practice of religion, responsibility, tolerance and respect for others, politeness and neatness, patience and hard work.

 Discrimination was experienced by young Muslim Australians within the school setting and by Muslim youth of all ages in public areas such as streets, shopping centres and similar places: two‐thirds of young people surveyed reported experiencing discrimination within the public sphere on one or more occasions.

 The research literature, the survey, the interviews and the focus groups all point to the long‐ term debilitating effects of what many in Muslim communities see as Islamophobia. For many communities, the religious negativity they experience is intensified by, and at the same time seen as an integral part of, the racism and discrimination towards Muslim Australians that they perceive as being communicated in the broader society through sections of the Australian media.

 For many young Muslim Australians there is a constant tension between their desire for positive self‐image and the sustained and generally negative image of Muslims conveyed in elements of the mass media. Dissonance often exists between Muslim communal affirmation of national and Muslim identity, and a perception of a wider societal denigration of that identity in the non‐Muslim cultural milieu.

 Despite this, young Muslim Australians usually desire to be seen as part of the Australian polity, while also holding to a self‐affirming ethno‐moral religious code.

 Young Muslim Australians draw on their families and friends for ideas, their religious advisors for moral guidance, and their wider Muslim community and beyond for role models.

 Young Muslim Australians are not isolated from mainstream Australian society nor do they live ‘parallel’ lives. Most of the young Muslim Australian respondents had a mixture of Muslim and non‐Muslim friends and they belonged to a range of Muslim and non‐Muslim organizations. Approximately 80% of respondents reported having both Muslim and non‐ Muslim friends and being comfortable in ‘mixed’ society.

 However, the social interaction of young Muslim Australians with non‐Muslim young people can be affected by the venues where everyday social interaction often takes place in Australia – most try to avoid venues where alcohol is served, such as bars, pubs, bistros and taverns. Social networks with non‐Muslim friends formed during school age often break down when these youth reach the age when alcohol is a central feature of socialising outside and inside the home.

 In the survey conducted in Sydney when young Muslim Australians were asked ‘What people inspire you?’ the former Canterbury Bulldogs Rugby League player, Hazem El Masri, a Muslim, was named by one in two respondents. Anthony Mundine, the Aboriginal Muslim world champion boxer, was the next most popular response to this question, followed by

‘other Muslim celebrities’.

 Overwhelmingly young Muslim Australians are youth of the digital age, with extensive use of the Internet and widespread posting to their own Facebook pages. Their friendship groups are very important to them, and in the main these groups are based in extended family and community interactions, channeled by school, youth organizations and mosques.