Cultural Diversity
and
Economic Development
in Four Regional Australian Communities
Research Summary with Key Findings
Chapter 1
Researched by:
Associate Prof Danny Ben-Moshe Principal Investigator
Dr Susan Feldman Project Manager and Site Researcher
Dr Santina Bertone Site Researcher
Dr Christopher Sonn Site Researcher
Dr Segu Zuhair Economics Researcher
Leo Martin Research Assistant and Site Researcher
Harriet Radermacher Research Assistant and Site Researcher
Kristy Davidson Research Assistant
Institute of Community Engagement and Policy Alternatives (ICEPA)
Victoria University
Melbourne
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research team would like to acknowledge the ongoing support and guidance from the Department of Transport and Regional Services and their Regional Women’s Advisory Council.
We would also like to thank all the participants, and other members of the communities, not only for being so generous with their time, but also for their valuable insights.
FOREWORD
Department of Transport and Regional Services
Australia has a highly diverse population, and this is reflected across all of its regions. The Department believes that this diversity is a source of economic, social and environmental strength for rural and regional areas.
The Regional Women’s Advisory Council recognised that many local communities already actively support inclusion. This research takes a snapshot of the effectiveness of informal networks, neighbourhood groups, economic and cultural activities in four regional communities and also attempts to identify what some of the costs of exclusion might be.
The findings suggest that the more socially inclusive the community, the more economically productive and entrepreneurial it is.
This research is an important contribution to the current debate on immigration to regional Australia and identifies conditions essential to sustain effective intervention or development programs.
Daniel Owen
General Manager
Regional and Indigenous Policy Branch
Regional Women’s Advisory Council
In January 2005, the Regional Women’s Advisory Council published a paper on improving welcoming strategies to support communities in welcoming new families working and settling in rural and regional Australia.
The welcoming strategies paper was sent to the Australian Government and the Australian Local Government Association and received very positive feedback from rural and regional local governments interested in attracting and retaining skilled migrants.
This new research, Cultural Diversity and Economic Development in Four Regional Australian Communities, considers the outcomes of immigrants settling in regional areas, the continued contribution of their descendants and the local Indigenous population; specifically asking how diversity and inclusion impact on the economic development and social cohesion of the area.
Through this research, and other activities, the Council hopes to encourage regional communities to be inclusive and enable the diversity of their people to strengthen their economies as well as their communities.
Anne Dunn
Chair
Regional Women’s Advisory Council
Canberra
November 2005
KEY FINDINGS
In brief, the study suggests that building community capacity in regional areas will lead to greater community harmony, which in turn leads to greater economic success, thus making it more likely to attract and retain immigrants in regional communities.
This study confirmed that immigration, if properly managed, can provide a stimulus to the local economy. The study found that harmonious communities were more likely to be entrepreneurial. These communities tended to create local initiatives to address social problems as well as initiatives of a socio-economic nature. The findings support and extend those of other research undertaken by the Department and the Council, such as The Success Factors – managing change in regional and rural Australia, a report outlined in chapter3.[1] The dividends of building community capacity in regional areas are clearly fed back to the community as economic returns.
If the integration of immigrants is poorly handled, however, the results may result in social exclusion of certain groups leading to a host of social problems which impact upon economic growth and development. Isolation of culturally diverse groups, within a community setting in particular, restricts the economic and social benefits of immigration and can, in turn, generate anti-social behaviour that compounds the problems of both the immigrant group and the community at large. Social exclusion contributes to diminished community leadership, limiting bridging social capital which is a key component of optimal economic outcomes.
It is important to recognise that communities can still experience economic growth despite exhibiting elements of social exclusivity. However, the negative impact of social exclusion means that these communities fail to realise their full economic potential. Further, communities may incur a range of other costs associated with the resultant social problems arising from exclusion. The community may experience a lower level of wellbeing, partly due to the diversion of community and economic resources to mitigate the negative outcomes of social exclusion.
Those communities that fail to integrate immigrants and to utilise their skills potentially restrict opportunities for economic growth. The failure to utilise immigrants’ skills not only reduces the potential of the local economy to grow, it also undervalues and further isolates immigrant communities. This isolation may work to decrease the prospects of immigrants completing formal training and increase the chances that they will become welfare-dependent. Further, the isolation may contribute to mental health and behavioural problems within immigrant communities.
The report notes that those communities that have a sense of civic responsibility and a willingness to identify problems and formulate solutions concerning exclusion appeared to be far more successful in integrating and retaining immigrants. Mechanisms for encouraging the integration of immigrants may be formal in nature, for example, local government to informal, such as community groups. Both of these mechanisms should be supported at a local and Australian Government level.
In terms of the Indigenous community, it is clear from this study that this is a sector of the population that continues to be both unemployed and underemployed despite residing in areas with labour shortages. Given the history and complexity of this issue, considerations are quite different to that of immigrant communities and these are beyond the scope of this study. However, Indigenous Australians are clearly not being fully integrated into the wider community, either economically or socially. The Indigenous representatives interviewed as part of this research made it clear that they wanted their communities to participate in wider social and economic life as it would benefit their specific communities.
GLOSSARY
BTRE Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics
CALD Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
DOTARS Department of Transport and Regional Services
(the Department)
ESL English as a Second Language
ICEPA Institute for Community Engagement and Policy Alternatives (ICEPA), at Victoria University in Melbourne
Immigrants An immigrant is someone who intends to reside permanently, or for a prolonged period, in another country or region and not a casual visitor or traveller. Immigrants do not always speak languages other than English.
Immigration Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently, such as, the movement of people to Australia from other countries.
LOTE Languages other than English
NAIDOC National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
NESB Non-English Speaking Backgrounds
Refugees Refugees flee their country for their own safety and cannot return unless the situation that forced them to leave improves.
RWAC Regional Women’s Advisory Council (the Council)
table of contents
FOREWORD 3
Department of Transport and Regional Services 3
Regional Women’s Advisory Council 3
KEY FINDINGS 4
GLOSSARY 6
STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT 8
BACKGROUND 9
OVERVIEW 10
ECONOMIC BENEFITS 10
SOCIAL CAPITAL 11
LINKS – CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 13
Social Inclusion And Economic Development 13
Labour Market 13
Culture 13
Business Development 14
Community Harmony and Social Capital 14
Social Exclusion And Economic Development 15
Labour Market 15
Culture 16
Business Development 16
Community Harmony and Social Capital 17
case studies 18
SHEPPARTON 18
Labour Market 18
Culture 19
Business Development 19
Community Harmony and Social Capital 20
Summary 21
GRIFFITH 21
Labour Market 21
Culture 22
Business Development 24
Community Harmony and Social Capital 25
Summary 25
KALGOORLIE 26
Labour Market 26
Culture 27
Business Development 28
Community Harmony and Social Capital 28
Summary 30
ROBINVALE 30
Labour Market 30
Culture 31
Business Development 32
Community Harmony and Social Capital 33
Summary 33
Methodology 35
CASE STUDIES 35
SCOPE 35
Literature Review 36
Interviews 36
Quantitative Data 37
Quality Control (Triangulation) 37
ANALYSIS 37
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STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT
The full research report can be accessed on the web site: http://www.dotars.gov.au/regional/rwac/.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the research, a background to the study and methods used, an analysis of the links between cultural diversity and economic development and a summary of the key findings.
Chapter 2 reports on the case studies in each community in detail, and outlines comparative quantitative data for each case study site.
Chapter 3 is a literature review of the links between cultural diversity and economic development.
BACKGROUND
The Department of Transport and Regional Services is committed to assisting regional communities in managing change, realising their potential and leading their own development. The Regional Women’s Advisory Council, whose secretariat resides in the Department, is also strongly committed to the development of vibrant and sustainable regional communities.
One way of assisting regional communities is through the provision of applicable and timely research.
The purpose of this study is to inform policy on the role and impact of the acceptance of diversity and inclusion in contributing to economic development and social cohesion. In answering this, the key research questions were:
· How has inclusion contributed to the economic development of community?
· Does the inclusiveness of diverse groups add to economic prosperity or not?
This research was commissioned to:
1. explore the role of the acceptance of diversity and inclusiveness within four Australian communities;
2. understand the implications for regional/local social and economic development; and
3. identify the policy and program implications of these findings.
OVERVIEW
This report documents the results of a pilot study, based on data collected from four regional communities. While recognising the limited results of the study, the report found clear and strong patterns that support and advance the literature about the subject matter[2]. While the findings in this report relate to the local context of these communities only, they do, however, provide a basis for the consideration of their applicability and testing in the wider Australian community.
On the basis of this research, this study indicates that communities which are more socially inclusive:
· lead to greater investment and diversity of economic activity. Economic activity and concomitant recreational activity have a positive impact on economic, social and cultural life of these communities thus making them more viable, sustainable, and adaptable to economic change;
· develop more positive learning environments and better educational and training outcomes and skills development;
· lead to less reliance on service agencies, for example, police, housing associations, transport services, educational programs, health and financial counselling etc;
· lead to more local initiatives across the community which address local social and economic issues of concern;
· lead to greater recruitment and retention of professionals including in health and education;
· help empower communities to be self-reliant;
· build stronger regional communities;
· attract immigrants and refugees that choose to settle and remain in the community;
· assist in the better delivery of services and outcomes for Indigenous Australians; and
· are strong and sustainable and have more community leadership.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
This study confirmed that culturally harmonious and socially inclusive communities appear to experience two types of positive economic benefits:
1. Receiving the economic dividend of social inclusion: such as investment, consumption, volunteerism, knowledge transfer, cultural enrichment, and building social capital.
2. Avoiding the costs of social exclusion: such as the non-use and underutilisation of labour, welfare dependency, limited education and skills training, extra policing, non-investment, and leakage (i.e. people going elsewhere to access services).
The links between economic productivity and socially inclusive societies have been conceptualised in figure 1. The model illustrates how socially inclusive societies can contribute to enhanced economic productivity, while less socially inclusive societies are less likely to achieve optimal economic productivity.
SOCIAL CAPITAL
On the basis of this research, the study found that social capital and volunteering by community members plays a pivotal role in building harmonious and inclusive communities. The study supports the contention that optimal economic benefit to regional communities is more likely to lie in ‘bridging’ social capital.
Bridging social capital refers to relations between people of different backgrounds, that is, in networks and ties amongst culturally diverse rather than homogenous groups. This results in relatively diverse networks that strengthen interaction across heterogeneous groups, increase levels of social cohesion and provide all groups with access to a wider range of resources. Networks and relations are therefore established between different sections of the community, for example, Vietnamese immigrants mixing socially and economically with other ethnic communities and the established mainstream community.
Bonding social capital refers to relations amongst relatively homogeneous groups (such as ethnic, religious or socio-economic groups) that are characteristically strong, protective and inward looking, for example, Vietnamese immigrants helping other Vietnamese immigrants in settling and remaining in a city but not extending their support networks beyond the Vietnamese community.
Bonding capital plays an important role within communities, for example, more established immigrants help those that are more newly arrived to settle and give ethnic group members an ongoing sense of identity. However, bonding capital is not enough in itself, and the bridging capital is necessary for broader positive impacts across the entire regional community.
Ultimately, however, while there is clearly strong qualitative evidence of a link between cultural diversity and economic development, the chances of the benefit being maximised appear to depend on the successful mix of bridging and bonding social capital, as illustrated in figure 1.
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