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Australian Muslim Jobseekers: Equal Employment Opportunity and Equity in the Labor Market

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 33; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13602004.2013.866346

1469-9591

Terence Lovat, Pam Nilan, S. A. Hamed Hosseini, Ibtihal Samarayi, Michelle Mansfield, Wendy Alexander,

Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

AbstractThe experience of job market disadvantage is not a novel phenomenon for some in contemporary Australia, even in the face of embedded equal employment opportunity (EEO) ideals. This article addresses the phenomenon of persistent job market disadvantage for some minority groups by presenting new data from a major multi-method study on labor market obstacles for Muslims seeking jobs in Australia. Responses from jobseekers and employment service providers are analyzed together to consider how EEO principles are experienced by Muslims who engage with employment services and move in and out of the labor force. The article proposes that key EEO tenets—freedom from discrimination and support to overcome disadvantage—are not represented at present in many Muslim jobseeker experiences. Furthermore, these same EEO principles appear to be somewhat compromised in employment service provision to Muslim jobseekers and, by extension, to other disadvantaged minority jobseekers. We offer some suggestions as to how the spirit of EEO legislation might be better reflected in support of Muslim jobseekers. It is concluded that an all government approach may be needed to counter the deep mistrust of Muslims in Australian society. Notes1 R. Hassan, "Socio-Economic Marginalization of Muslims in Contemporary Australia: Implications for Social Inclusion", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 30, No. 4, 2010, p. 581.2 Australian Government, Equal Employment Opportunity (Commonwealth Authorities) Act 1987 – C2012C00896, updated 2012. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012C00896.3 A. Booth, A. Leigh, and E. Varganova, "Does Ethnic Discrimination Vary Across Minority Groups? Evidence From a Field Experiment", Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 74, No. 4, 2012, p. 549.4 See, S. Mahuteau and P. N. Junankar, "Do Migrants Get Good Jobs in Australia? The Role of Ethnic Networks in Job Search", Economic Record, Vol. 84, 2008, pp. S115–S130; A. Wise and J. Ali, Muslim-Australians and Local Governments: Grassroots Strategies to Improve Relations Between Muslim and Non-Muslim-Australians, Sydney: Department of Immigration and Citizenship and Centre for Research on Social Inclusion, Macquarie University, 2008; D. A. Cobb-Clark, "Public Policy and the Labour Market Adjustment of New Immigrants to Australia", Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 16, 2003, pp. 655–681; N. Kabir and E. Evans, "Muslims and the Australian Labour Market, 1980–2001", Immigrants and Minorities, Vol. 21, 2002, pp. 70–95.5 Booth, Leigh, and Varganova, "Does Ethnic Discrimination Vary", op. cit.6 Ibid., p. 566.7 M. Boese and M. Phillips, "Critical Review: Multiculturalism and Social Inclusion", Journal of Intercultural Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2011, p. 191.8 Ibid.9 Ibid.10 Ibid., p. 194.11 See Ibid., pp. 189–197; and J. Jupp, "From 'White Australia' to 'Part of Asia': Recent Shifts in Australian Immigration Policy Towards the Region", International Migration Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1995, pp. 207–228.12 S. Pennington, "Employers Want a 'Cheapie, Just Arrived off the Boat', Aussie IT Workers Told", Sydney Morning Herald, 16 March 2013. http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/employers-want-a-cheapie-just-arrived-off-the-boat-aussie-it-workers-told-20130315-2g515.html.13 Booth, Leigh, and Varganova, "Does Ethnic Discrimination Vary", op. cit.14 A. Saeed, Islam in Australia, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2003.15 J. Northcote and S. Casimiro, "Muslim Citizens and Belonging in Australia", in Muslims in Australia: The Dynamics of Exclusion and Inclusion, ed. S. Yasmeen, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2010, pp. 141–162.16 H. Rane, "Media Content and Inter-Community Relations", in Islam and the Australian News Media, eds. H. Rane, J. Ewart, and M. Abdalla, Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2010, pp. 104–122.17 N. Kabir, "Representation of Islam and Muslims in the Australian Media, 2001–2005", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2006, p. 313.18 Kabir and Evans, "Muslims and the Australian Labour Market", op. cit.; and Wise and Ali, Muslim-Australians and Local Government, op. cit.19 Hassan, "Socio-Economic Marginalisation of Muslims", op. cit., p. 579.20 S. Akbarzadeh, G. Bouma, and R. Woodlock, Mapping Employment and Education Among Muslim Australians. Report by Centre for Muslim Minorities & Islam Policy Studies, Monash University and Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Melbourne, 2009.21 UN (United Nations), "Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 9 of the Convention. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Australia, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Seventy-seventh Session, Geneva, 2–27 August 2010", p. 3. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds77.htm.22 Hassan, "Socio-Economic Marginalisation of Muslims", op. cit.23 R. Bloul, "Anti-Discrimination Laws, Islamophobia, and Ethnicization of Muslim Identities in Europe and Australia", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2008, pp. 7–25.24 DIAC (Department of Immigration and Citizenship), The People of Australia: Statistics from the 2006 Census, 2008. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/_pdf/poa-2008.pdf.25 ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics), 2006 Census of Population and Housing, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006.26 Ibid.27 Hassan, "Socio-Economic Marginalisation of Muslims", op. cit., p. 581.28 Akbarzadeh, Bouma, and Woodlock, Mapping Employment, op. cit.29 F. Fozdar, "Social Cohesion and Skilled Muslim Refugees in Australia: Employment, Social Capital and Discrimination", Journal of Sociology, Vol. 48, No. 2, 2012, p. 182.30 S. Kalek, A. Mak, and N. G. Khawaja, "'Intergroup Relations and Muslims' Mental Health in Western Societies", Journal of Muslim Mental Health, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2010, pp. 160–193.31 See S. Poynting and V. Mason, "The Resistible Rise of Islamophobia: Anti-Muslim Racism in the UK and Australia Before 11 September 2001", Journal of Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2007, pp. 61–86; T. Rashid, "Configuration of National Identity and Citizenship in Australia: Migration, Ethnicity and Religious Minorities", Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations, Vol. 6, Nos. 3 & 4, 2007, pp. 1–27; HREOC (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission), Isma – Listen: National Consultations on Eliminating Prejudice Against Arab and Muslim Australians, Canberra: HREOC, 2003. http://www.humanrights.gov.au/racial_discrimination/isma/report/pdf/ISMA_complete.pdf.32 See Fozdar, "Social Cohesion and Skilled Muslim Refugees", op. cit.33 Ibid., p. 168.34 See F. Tilbury, 'Because of our Appearance We Are Always Suspect': Religious Discrimination in the Australian Employment Market. Proceedings of The Australian Sociological Association and Sociological Association of Aotearoa and New Zealand combined (TASA/SAANZ) conference, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 5–9 December 2007.35 Booth, Leigh, and Varganova, "Does Ethnic Discrimination Vary?", op. cit.36 Hassan, "Socio-Economic Marginalisation of Muslims", op. cit., p. 582.37 NSW Government Public Service Commission, "What is EEO?", Sydney: Department of Premier and Cabinet, n.d. http://www.eeo.nsw.gov.au/about_eeo. (Emphasis added.)38 G. Strachan, J. Burgess, and E. L. French, "Equity in the Twenty-first Century", in Research Handbook on the Future of Work and Employment Relations, eds. K. J. Townsend and A. Wilkinson, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2011, p. 346.39 Australian Government "Employing People: Equal Employment Opportunity and Anti-discrimination", Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2012. http://www.business.gov.au/BusinessTopics/Employingpeople/Hiringpeople/Pages/Equalemploymentopportunityandantidiscrimination.aspx.40 Strachan, Burgess, and French, "Equity", p. 346.41 G. Berman and the VEOHRC (Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission), Harnessing Diversity: Addressing Racial and Religious Discrimination in Employment, Melbourne: Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission, 2008. http://www.hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/32399.42 Kalek, Mak, and Khawaja, "Intergroup Relations", op. cit., p. 189.43 J. Syed and E. Pio, "Veiled Diversity? Workplace Experiences of Muslim Women in Australia", Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 27, 2010, pp. 115–137.44 G. Bouma, "Religious Diversity and Social Policy: An Australian Dilemma", The Australian Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 47, No. 3, 2012, p. 293.45 Australian Muslim Jobseekers: Labour Market Experience, Job Readiness, and the Relative Effectiveness of Employment Support Services, Canberra: Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), 2011.46 All aspects of the mixed-method approach are described in detail in the project report available at http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/_pdf/muslim-jobseekers.pdf.47 P. Nilan, I. Samarayi, and T. Lovat, "Female Muslim Jobseekers in Australia: Liminality, Obstacles and Resilience", International Journal of Asian Social Science, Vol. 2, No. 5, 2012, pp. 682–692.48 A. Aly and D. Walker, "Veiled Threats: Recurrent Cultural Anxieties in Australia", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2007, p. 210.49 A. Mason, Levelling the Playing Field: The Idea of Equal Opportunity and its Place in Egalitarian Thought, Oxford Scholarship Online, May 2007, p. 1. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199264414.001.0001.50 Ibid.51 See Booth, Leigh, and Varganova, "Does Ethnic Discrimination Vary", op. cit.; Mahuteau and Junankar, "Do Migrants Get Good Jobs", op. cit.; Wise and Ali, Muslim-Australians and Local Governments, op. cit.; Cobb-Clark, "Public Policy and the Labour Market", op. cit.; Kabir and Evans, "Muslims and the Australian Labour Market", op. cit.52 Australian Government, Social Inclusions Principles for Australia, Canberra: Australian Government, 2008.53 C. Phillipson, G. Allan, and D. Morgan (eds.), Social Networks and Social Exclusion: Sociological and Policy Perspectives, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004.54 A. Imtoual, "Racism and Resistance: Everyday Experiences of Muslim Women in Australia, in Challenging Identities: Muslim Women in Australia, ed. S. Akbarzadeh, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2010, pp. 56–75.