Voices Shaping the

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.

Programs and projects for young Muslim Australians

 While a number of examples of successful pilot programs and projects designed to engage young Muslims can be identified in Australia (and overseas) they are usually not sustained over time. Longer‐term funding (3 to 5 years) is needed to consolidate the benefits and build on the trust established in the first years.

 Programs designed exclusively for young Muslim Australians were regarded as providing limited opportunities for networking, making friends and developing potential. Many community workers spoke of working with young Muslim Australians in an integrated way, and of being resentful of programs that only funded ‘Muslims’ to the exclusion of others. This was regarded as potentially stigmatising Muslim communities. They preferred models that created partnerships and collaborations between Muslims and others.

 Muslim specific programs still have a place and may work well if offered by mentors or by Muslim community organizations. A repeated concern voiced by stakeholders in all three fieldwork regions was that services and funding programs should be inclusive of Muslim community members – and especially young Muslim Australians – from the outset.

 Stakeholders in all three fieldwork regions mentioned the necessity for services and interventions that encourage ‘whole of family’ approaches. Programs and projects targeting young people and that consults with and/or involves parents in some way build parental trust, which is critical for their success. This in turn opens spaces for young Muslim Australians to participate in activities that they may not normally engage in.

 Culturally appropriate services for refugee and other disadvantaged families were seen as integral to helping young Muslim Australians, whether dealing with domestic violence, family breakdown, legal issues or cultural issues, and for day‐to‐day support. Working with a

‘strengths‐based approach’, for services dealing with refugee and disadvantaged families and young Muslim Australians, would assist in developing personal abilities and skills in their clients, utilising personal motivation.

 Additionally mosques, community centres, and web‐based media spaces were mentioned as
important sites for the development of new Muslim youth projects.