Encountering the ‘other’: interpreting student experiences of a multi-sensory museum exhibition

The Immigration Museum Melbourne, Australia, launched the Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours exhibition in 2011. Aimed primarily at secondary school students, this long-term installation seeks to foster reflection on identity and belonging, as well as dialogue about racism, through an interactive, immersive museum experience. This paper describes a multi-method research project, which included narrative interviews, focus groups and video diaries with 47 Year 11–12 students from three secondary schools in Victoria, Australia, and discusses each method's contribution to an overall empirical understanding of the installation's impact on students' experiences. Emerging findings suggest the ways in which the exhibition space supports students to encounter and engage with individual stories and experiences, thus moving beyond an abstract tolerance of cultural diversity by unsettling the self and destabilising stereotyped and prejudiced interpretations of the ‘other’. The paper concludes by discussing the potential for triangulated qualitative approaches to provide rich emic perspectives on multi-sensory exhibitions.

Migration, acculturation and environment: determinants of obesity among Iranian migrants in Australia

While migration from low- to high-income countries is typically associated with weight gain, the obesity risks of migration from middle-income countries are less certain. In addition to changes in behaviours and cultural orientation upon migration, analyses of changes in environments are needed to explain post-migration risks for obesity. The present study examines the interaction between obesity-related environmental factors and the pattern of migrant acculturation in a sample of 152 Iranian immigrants in Victoria, Australia. Weight measurements, demographics, physical activity levels and diet habits were also surveyed. The pattern of acculturation (relative integration, assimilation, separation or marginalization) was not related to body mass index, diet, or physical activity behaviours. Three relevant aspects of participants' perception of the Australian environment (physically active environments, social pressure to be fit, unhealthy food environments) varied considerably by demographic characteristics, but only one (physically active environments) was related to a pattern of acculturation (assimilation). Overall, this research highlighted a number of key relationships between acculturation and obesity-related environments and behaviours for our study sample. Theoretical models on migration, culture and obesity need to include environmental factors.

A tale of two events? Media analysis of the Melbourne 2008 Homeless World Cup

In 2008, Melbourne became the first Australian city to host the Homeless World Cup (HWC), an annual international sporting event that aims to raise the profile of homelessness and social marginalisation. This article first examines relevant print media articles relating to the HWC by identifying key themes through thematic and content analysis. It then examines the polarised reporting of the HWC by two print media outlets, The Age and the Herald Sun, and argues that each outlet's coverage served to reinforce its own established position on the key political and social issues, in this instance homelessness, asylum seeking and immigration. The divergence in the discourses constructed in each paper provides a demonstrative example of the capacity of the media to use events of all sorts to consolidate their political and commercial positions.

Societal role expectations of management accounting professionals: an Australian study

Purpose This paper seeks to advance the understanding of the relevance of management accounting (MA) as a profession by examining societal role expectations of MA professionals in Australia.Methodology/approach The study presented in this paper is based on a questionnaire survey.Findings Findings of the study show that Australian MA professionals are expected to have skills in cost management, corporate social responsibility, carbon accounting, risk management, business analysis, corporate governance, and asset valuations. The demand of MA professionals exceeded the pool of MA talents in Australia. The role expectations of MA professionals from different stakeholder groups are fairly consistent.Social implications The study adds to the immigration institution discussion by demonstrating that there are inadequate professionals in Australia with the skills and experience in MA to meet the projected demand. Australia has very little option but to fill the supply-side shortfall in the short-term with overseas MA professionals.Originality/value The study adds to the literature of the societal relevance of MA by providing evidence of an increasing demand for MA skills in Australia.

Addressing migration-related social and health inequalities in Australia: call for research funding priorities to recognise the needs of migrant populations

Objective Migrants constitute 26% of the total Australian population and, although disproportionately affected by chronic diseases, they are under-represented in health research. The aim of the present study was to describe trends in Australian Research Council (ARC)- and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)-funded initiatives from 2002 to 2011 with a key focus on migration-related research funding.Methods Data on all NHMRC- and ARC-funded initiatives between 2002 and 2011 were collected from the research funding statistics and national competitive grants program data systems, respectively. The research funding expenditures within these two schemes were categorised into two major groups: (1) people focused (migrant-related and mainstream-related); and (2) basic science focused. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data and report the trends in NHMRC and ARC funding over the 10-year period.Results Over 10 years, the ARC funded 15 354 initiatives worth A$5.5 billion, with 897 (5.8%) people-focused projects funded, worth A$254.4 million. Migrant-related research constituted 7.8% of all people-focused research. The NHMRC funded 12 399 initiatives worth A$5.6 billion, with 447 (3.6%) people-focused projects funded, worth A$207.2 million. Migrant-related research accounted for 6.2% of all people-focused initiatives.Conclusions Although migrant groups are disproportionately affected by social and health inequalities, the findings of the present study show that migrant-related research is inadequately funded compared with mainstream-related research. Unless equitable research funding is achieved, it will be impossible to build a strong evidence base for planning effective measures to reduce these inequalities among migrants.What is known about the topic? Immigration is on the rise in most developing countries, including Australia, and most migrants come from low- and middle-income countries. In Australia, migrants constitute 26% of the total Australian population and include refugee and asylum seeker population groups. Migrants are disproportionately affected by disease, yet they have been found to be under-represented in health research and public health interventions.What does this paper add? This paper highlights the disproportions in research funding for research among migrants. Despite migrants being disproportionately affected by disease burden, research into their health conditions and risk factors is grossly underfunded compared with the mainstream population.What are the implications for practitioners? Migrants represent a significant proportion of the Australian population and hence are capable of incurring high costs to the Australian health system. There are two major implications for practitioners. First, the migrant population is constantly growing, therefore integrating the needs of migrants into the development of health policy is important in ensuring equity across health service delivery and utilisation in Australia. Second, the health needs of migrants will only be uncovered when a clear picture of their true health status and other determinants of health, such as psychological, economic, social and cultural, are identified through empirical research studies. Unless equitable research funding is achieved, it will be impossible to build a strong evidence base for planning effective measures to reduce health and social inequalities among migrant communities.

Experiencing differences and negotiating prejudices at the Immigration Museum Melbourne

The social agency of museums in countering prejudices and fostering respect for differences is increasingly recognised and empirical research has begun to illuminate the impacts of exhibitions devoted to difficult subjects on audiences. This paper draws on an ongoing research project conducted by two Australian universities in collaboration with the Immigration Museum Melbourne aimed at understanding the role of the Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours exhibition in countering racism and increasing the acceptance of differences among Australian high school students. The paper focuses on narrative interviews with students which offer insights into how differences are experienced and prejudices become negotiated through processes of meaning-making and embodied engagements. The empirical evidence indicates that the exhibition moves beyond the orchestration of an abstract tolerance by unsettling the Self and destabilising stereotyped interpretations of the Other. Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours creates a place and space of encounter in which differences are humanised, thus facilitating understandings of broader contexts through individual experiences. At the same time, the research findings suggest that the life worlds of students, their personal backgrounds and schools, are intertwined with their interpretive engagements with the exhibition and need to be considered for museum practices and further research.

Changing attitudes towards immigration and democracy in South Korea

If democracy belongs to 'the people', an important test of any democratic society is its treatment of non-citizens, new citizens and others who do not enjoy full civic rights. At times of economic and social upheaval, even societies where democracy is well established may witness anti-immigrant sentiment. This paper analyses how newcomers in South Korea are perceived as workers, neighbours and citizens. These modes of integration imply different degrees of commitment on the part of the host society to the acceptance of new citizens or residents, and thus to democracy. The paper finds that there is some overlap between public opinion and official immigration policy, in that both exhibit a ‘hierarchy of citizenship’, but public opinion is not monolithic. South Koreans prefer some immigrants over others, but seem open to the notion that the boundaries of the political community can and do change over time.

Lairds of suburbia: Scottish migrant settlement and housing in Australian cities, 1880-1930

Drawing on decennial population statistics from 1881 to 1933, this article evaluates the settlement patterns of Scottish migrants in Australian cities. It considers the urban nature of Scottish settlement, and argues that settlement patterns were associated with employment opportunities for working-class Scots, along with various housing, lifestyle, and religious preferences, often grounded in pre-migration experiences of city living. Furthermore, this article demonstrates that Scottish migrants in Australia at the turn of the twentieth century largely belonged to an urban industrial working class, and provides a useful correction to the traditional images of Scots in Australia as mostly rural, well-off, and conservative migrants.

Immigration Museum application: augmented reality application with animated museum guide

Starting with the Immigration Museum, this app will support Multilingual Orientation Tours to each venue of Museum Victoria.

Edge of centre: Australian cities and the public architecture of recent immigrant communities

In the late 1990s, the author undertook a survey of the public architecture of non-western immigrant communities in Melbourne (Beynon 2002). The survey was undertaken within a social context of rapid recent growth in non-Western immigration to Australian cities, coupled with a political context where at state and local level Australian governments were engaged in managing cultural diversity through multiculturalist policies. By the late 1990s, the number of overseas-born, or with overseas-born parentage, had become almost 40% of Australia's total population (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998-89). Substantial numbers of such immigrants originated from outside the 'West'. Compared to other Australian cities, Melbourne had at the time of the survey the largest communities of certain birthplace groups: notably Sri Lankans, Malaysians, Turks and Somalis. The purpose of this survey was to see to what extent Melbourne's diversifying demography had changed its architectural landscape, and more broadly, what such changes in the built environment indicated about Melbourne's (and by extension Australia's) cultural identity.

Secrecy and human rights abuse in Australia’s offshore immigration detention centres

All asylum seekers who arrive in Australia’s territorial waters by boat are subject to mandatory, indefinite and unreviewable detention on Nauru and Papua New Guinea. This offshore detention regime is characterised by a high degree of secrecy, low levels of transparency and accountability, and few opportunities for external oversight. This has created a closed, controlled environment, in which people are routinely neglected and harmed. To better understand the human impact of Australia’s offshore detention regime, this article draws on research from social psychology regarding human behaviour in closed institutions. This research – which has substantially informed prison policies throughout the Western world – demonstrates the critical importance of external oversight, openness and transparency for the protection of human rights of people in closed institutions. This knowledge has not been applied to Australia’s offshore immigration detention regime. To the contrary: creating a closed, opaque system of detention has been an explicit policy goal of the Australian government. By actively restricting transparency, this research demonstrates that not only are the abuses of detainees’ human rights hidden from the public eye, they are inevitable.

Health beliefs and practices in three generations of Greek Australian women in Melbourne.

This research explores the health beliefs of three generations of Greek Australian women in Melbourne. It describes their experience of illness and wellbeing in the context of a culture-specific understanding of health with strong cultural, religious, and linguistic bases that derive from the community’s Greek heritage.