Voices Shaping the
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Life in AustraliaThe overwhelming majority of the young Muslim Australians surveyed (93%) reported they were Australian citizens as we saw earlier (see Graph 6). There is no significant variation across age cohorts or gender in this regard. This is an important finding, challenging the ‘us’ v ‘them’ media discourses about Muslim youth. We also inquired if the young Muslim Australians felt good about living in Australia. The answer was strongly in the affirmative with 82% of young Muslim women and 78% of young Muslim men feeling very positive about Australian society and their place in it (see Graph 26). This is a very strong finding of our research and emphasizes that most Muslim youth view Australian society in a positive way. However this finding must be set against findings in relation to experiences of racism reported later in this section. Graph 26. Respondents Feeling Good Living in Australia by Gender 
One area of controversy, relating to minority immigrant youth in Australia, centres on national identity. The literature review stresses how many young immigrants of minority backgrounds in Australia and other western countries adopt fluid or hybrid identities. One study of the identities of immigrant youth in western and south western Sydney conducted in 2007 (Collins and Reid, 2009) found that only one third of the young first and second generation men and women surveyed identified as ‘Australian’, despite the fact that two thirds were born in Australia. In this survey it was found that young Muslim men and women were much more likely to identify their national identity as Australian than in the above Collins and Reid study, which included some 23 birthplace or ethnic groups of immigrant youth. Graph 27 shows that 37% of Muslim youth surveyed self‐identified as ‘Australian’ while a similar number (37%) gave their identity as ‘Australian Muslim’. Another one in five (19%) responded that they were of hybrid identity, a combination of Australian with some other ethnicity or nationality. In other words, the vast majority of Muslim youth (93%) surveyed used the identifier ‘Australian’ in part or whole of their identity. Graph 28 shows that young Muslim women were more likely (76%) than young Muslim men (31%) to identify as Australian per se and less likely to report a hybrid identity. Graph 29 shows that young Muslims aged 18 and over were twice as likely to identify solely as ‘Australian’ (49%) than those less than 18 years old (25%). On the other hand those less than 18 years old (45%) were more likely to identify as ‘Australian Muslim’ than aged 18 years and over (28%). Graph 27. National Identity Given by Respondents 
Graph 28. National Identity Given by Respondents by Gender (%) 
Graph 29. National Identity Given by Respondents by Age Group 
The survey asked young Muslim respondents to list the political issues that were important to them (multiple responses were recorded). As Graph 30 shows, health, education and human rights were identified as the most important issues, with young Muslim women slightly more likely than young Muslim men to list those issues. Other important issues were personal safety (more important to young Muslim women) and Australia’s foreign policy in the Middle East (more important to young Muslim men). Climate change, corruption and security and terrorism were also issues that young Muslim Australians were concerned about. Moreover, as Graph 31 shows, the under 18 cohort surveyed was only slightly more likely to identify education, human rights and health as critical issues that concerned them when compared to the over 18 year olds surveyed, though these age differences do not appear to be significant. Graph 30. The Most Important Political Issues Identified by Respondents by Gender(%} Human rights lndegenous people's situation
Eas t
Education system
12%
21% 2Z% - 27% 39% 35% 53%
56% 50%
Econom ic crisis Health ·system Persona I sa fety "IS% 21%
37% 61% 57%
IIMale Refugees and border pro tection Climate change and environment
30%
Cor,·uption in public life 19% 26%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Graph 31. The Most Important Political Issues Identified by Respondents by Age 
Social networks with non Muslim friends One key issue related to Muslim youth is the extent to which they ‘buy into’ Australian society. Following inter‐ethnic youth riots in the UK, where conflict between Muslim and non‐Muslim white youth emerged, the concern was raised that minority immigrant youth in the UK lived
Graph 33 shows that Muslim youth aged under 18 were much more likely to report that all of their friends are Muslim (22%) than Muslim youth aged over 18 (10%). Most of these youth are still at school, with a number attending a Muslim school. Graph 34 shows that young Muslim men were much more likely to report that most of their friends are Muslim (72%) than young Muslim women (60%). Graph 33. Muslim Friendship Networks Identified by Respondents by Age (%) 
Graph 34. Proportion of Muslim Friends Identified by Respondents by Gender (%) 
Directory: sites -> default -> files -> documents -> 01 2014 documents -> Ace abi catair customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements documents -> Mobile audio/video recording systems documents -> The south australian government gazette documents -> All public acts appearing in this gazette are to be considered official, and obeyed as such documents -> Union interparlementaire inter-parliamentary union 01 2014 -> Muslim Voices – Hopes and aspirations of Muslim Australians Centre for Muslim Minorities & Islam Policy Studies 01 2014 -> Prepared by: Kais Al‐Momani Nour Dados Marion Maddox Amanda Wise C 01 2014 -> Editors: Kerry Download 1.05 Mb. Share with your friends:
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