Mapping Social Cohesion 2008
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Funded by the Scanlon Foundation, this report details the results of a major longitudinal survey on social cohesion in Australia. It provides insights into community attitudes to immigration, multiculturalism and social cohesion, based on findings from national and local surveys.
The report covers topics such as Australians' attitudes to immigration and multicultural society, levels of discrimination, how happy we are, how much we feel a sense of belonging and how much we trust in politicians, institutions and other people.
Among the report's key findings:
Happiness and Belonging
- 96% of people express a strong sense of belonging in Australia
- 89% of people say that taking all things into consideration, they are generally happy with their lives
- 85% expect their lives to be the same or improved in three to four years' time
- However, only 52% expected that their children's lives would be the same or improved; 43% thought their children's lives would be worse than their own
- The most common reasons given for this were the cost of living and housing, extremes of wealth and poverty, the prospect of unemployment, materialistic lifestyle, low moral standards and environmental problems.
- However, only 52% expected that their children's lives would be the same or improved; 43% thought their children's lives would be worse than their own
- 75% of Australians are happy with their financial situation, an increase over previous levels of 50-60% in previous surveys
Immigration and Multiculturalism
- 69% of Australians agree that "accepting immigrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger"
- 42% think the current intake of immgrants is about right, but 35% think it is too high
- 32% of people support government assistance to ethnic minorities to maintain their customs and traditions, but 62% oppose it
- Around 8.6% of Australians report having experienced discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity over the past 12 months
- 5% report that they experience such discrimination on a regular basis (at least once per month)
Social and Community Engagement
- About 30% of Australians volunteer at least once per month
- Australian-born people who engage in volunteer work are more likely to think that people in general can be trusted and are less likely to view immigration intake as too high
- 45% of people report frequent visits (several times a month) to the homes of people of different nationality or ethnicity to themselves
- People who report these frequent visits are more likely to see benefits in immigration, to indicate a greater level of trust in people, and to not view current immigration intake as too high
Download summary report in PDF format from the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements. OR Download full report in PDF format