Brotherhood of St Laurence lunchtime seminar - Are there barriers to Australian Muslim’s Inclusion?

This paper examines the demographic, social and economic position of Australian Muslims and its implications for their social inclusion. Although Australian Muslims come from more than 120 countries, the largest number, 38 per cent, are Australian-born and almost 40 per cent are younger than 20 years. Educationally they are high-achievers. Twenty-one per cent of adult Muslim men have a university degree compared with 15 per cent of non-Muslim Australians, yet their age-specific unemployment rates are two to four times higher than those of non-Muslim Australians. On other indicators of socioeconomic well-being Australian Muslims fall into a very disadvantaged category. For example their rate of home ownership is half the national average; 40 per cent of Muslim children are living in poverty, which is twice the Australian average; only 25 per cent of Muslim households have above-average household income while the corresponding figure for non-Muslim households is 34 per cent. These indicators suggest that a significant proportion of Muslim Australians occupy, both socially and economically, a relatively marginal position in Australian society. The paper will discuss these issues in some detail. It will argue that socioeconomic marginalisation and a sense of relative deprivation are often breeding grounds of religious and non-religious radicalisation. Theological and ideological impulses only further galvanise those who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

Riaz Hassan AM, FASSA is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology, Flinders University, Adelaide and Global Professor of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University Abu Dhabi. His recent books include: Life as a Weapon: The Global Rise of Suicide Bombings, (Routledge 2010); Inside Muslim Minds (Melbourne University Press 2008) and Faithlines: Muslim Conceptions of Islam and Society (Oxford University Press 2003).