Newly arrived refugee and migrant communities see gaps and issues with Victoria’s multicultural arrangements.

A focus group of 32 community leaders in 21 key cohort migrant and refugee groups in Victoria said that while they value Victoria’s commitment to multiculturalism, their communities struggled with employment opportunities and access to government services, exacerbated by a lack of interpreters and gender issues.

They reported that social cohesion is under stress, partly because of international events, including the conflict in Gaza, and a rise in the cost of living, the survey, commissioned by migrant and refugee settlement agency AMES Australia, found.

While 70 per cent of the community leaders surveyed agreed Victoria was a ‘successful multicultural community’, there was a need for more access to employment opportunities and career support for skilled migrants and refugees.

First-language learning capacity in schools was also identified as a need, while libraries, local government programs and community education and training programs were identified as the services that are valued.

Sixty per cent of respondents agreed that global events were having an impact on social cohesion and community harmony, with conflict in Gaza, repression in Afghanistan and the US’ crackdown on migrants cited as some of the factors.

A need for better access to government services was also identified. Only 55 per cent of survey respondents said they had ‘good’ access to government services.

The community leaders identified ‘universal and equitable practices, protocols and standards across the public service; more representation of diverse communities within the public service; and a multicultural ombudsman or complaints process’ as ways of improving access to services.

Asked ‘what could be done to improve community harmony, the most common responses were: support for multi-faith events and festivals, support for multi-faith groups and more employment opportunities from emerging communities.

Only 50 per cent of community leaders said the government communicated ‘well’ with their communities, while 30 per cent said communication was not effective.

They identified a range of interventions to tackle poor knowledge and engagement through programs and resources co-designed by communities themselves.

Thirty per cent of respondents said they had experienced racism or discrimination, a similar proportion said they had not faced discrimination, while 40 per cent said they faced discrimination ‘sometimes’.

Community leaders cited ‘more transparency on race hate crimes and positive fact-base narratives to counter allegations of criminality in some communities’ as ways of combating racism and discrimination.

Sixty per cent of survey respondents believed there was cultural understanding and respect between communities in Victoria. They identified holding festivals and events that attracted multiple communities, more access to affordable gathering places; and funding and capacity building for inter-faith groups and dialogues as ways of improving community connections.

Female community leaders were more likely to raise issues about Victoria’s multicultural architecture than male respondents.

The survey found a general consensus that the focus of multicultural programs should be less about ‘food and festivals’ and more about employment, equity, access to services and opportunities as well as Inter-community and inter-faith dialogue.

The surveyed community leaders said social cohesion was underpinned by social equity and access to opportunity.

Among the suggested interventions were:

· Improved access to services, Intercultural and inter-faith opportunities for communities to build networks outside their own;

· More opportunities for employment and education;

· More access to affordable spaces to gather;

· A grants system that is more sustainable and easier to navigate;

· Broader representation of communities on multicultural bodies;

· Standard multicultural policies and practices across all departments;

· A multicultural ombudsman or complaints mechanism.