Rewriting Australian planning from the margins

If planning is the conscious formulation of a preferred.future and deliberate actions to realise that future in the landscape, then Indigenous Australians have long been involved in planning settlements and regions. Yet such actions - pre and post-contact - are absent from the history of Australian planning, as evidenced by some major texts on the subject. That also passes without serious comment in the planning literature and contemporary practice are the theoretical implications of admitting key aspects of recent Indigenous history - such as prior occupancy, ongoing sovereignty, resistance strategies, ghettoisation and Native Title. There are, therefore, significant gaps in the history and theory of Australian planning which impact negatively on its current teaching and practice. The consequences of such omissions range.from incomplete histories to ongoing injustices in Australian planning practice. My larger research project will collate these absences before reworking the history of Australian planning from the perspective of those systematically excluded from it -women, migrants from racially marked non-white backgrounds and Indigenous Australians. This paper will consider only a small part of this larger project. It will first examine some of the key texts which construct the history of Australian planning before examining one place - Lake Condah in Western Victoria - as one site of permanent settlement by the Gundijmara people who lived in stone houses arrayed in villages around an engineered sophisticated fish farming enterprise. Here then is but one example - admittedly subject to contestation over its scale, anthropological and archaeological fundamentals - which challenges the view of indigenous Australians as not only nomadic and "primitive" but also as legitimately placed outside the history of Australian planning. I will conclude by speculating on what this example might mean to any reworking of that history.

Effect of migration on food habits of Somali women living as refugees in Australia

This study aimed to assess the dietary changes that occur for migrants moving from a low-income to a high-income country. The sample included 45 females who had migrated to Australia from Somalia within the past 5years (1996-2001). The data for the study was derived from structured interviews conducted by a bilingual interviewer and anthropometry. Usual dietary intake and frequency of consumption of 54 foods were determined both for Australia (current home) and for Somalia (previous home). In Australia, subjects maintained the structure of the diet from their country of birth. They did increase their consumption of some processed food, such as instant noodles, crisps, and pizza. However, there was little evidence that the subjects adopted ready or partially prepared meals or takeaway meals. A significant addition to the diet in Australia was the use of breakfast cereals. Significant substitutions were of ready-baked bread for traditional bread and lamb for camel meat. The mean BMI of the sample was 27.4kg/m². Sixty percent of the sample were overweight or obese (BMI>25). Some of the dietary changes observed may be consistent with increased energy intake and altered nutrient density. Given the association between transition to a high-income diet and obesity, it is important that migrants are encouraged to retain the best of their traditional diet while adopting healthy foods from host country.

Having a baby in the new land : a qualitative exploration of the experiences of Asian migrants in rural Tasmania, Australia

Introduction: Australia is a land of cultural diversity. Cultural differences in maternity care may result in conflict between migrants and healthcare providers, especially when migrants have minimal English language knowledge. The aim of the study was to investigate Asian migrant women’s child-birth experiences in a rural Australian context.

Method: The study consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 Asian migrant women living in rural Tasmania to explore their childbirth experiences and the barriers they faced in accessing maternal care in the new land. The data were analysed using grounded theory and three main categories were identified: ‘migrants with traditional practices in the new land’, ‘support and postnatal experiences’ and ‘barriers to accessing maternal care’.

Results: The findings revealed that Asian migrants in Tasmania faced language and cultural barriers when dealing with the new healthcare system. Because some Asian migrants retain traditional views and practices for maternity care, confusion and conflicting expectations may occur. Family and community play an important role in supporting migrant women through their maternity care.

Conclusions: Providing interpreting services, social support for migrant women and improving the cross-cultural training for healthcare providers were recommended to improve available maternal care services.

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.

Sociocultural factors and perceptions associated with type 2 diabetes among sub-Saharan African migrants in Melbourne, Victoria

Aim: To explore how non-diabetic sub-Saharan African migrants residing in Melbourne, construct and interpret type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its risk factors and to provide an evidence-based theoretical framework to inform community-based prevention programs. Methods: Seven focus group discussions (two with women only, two with men only and three of mixed gender) were carried out among Ghanaian, Zimbabwean, Sudanese and Burundian migrants living in Melbourne (n = 61; age range: 18 to 61 years). Results: Three distinct themes emerged: not paying much attention to the threat of T2DM and othering; T2DM being outside the individuals' control; and entrapment within rich industrialised culture and lifestyle. Participants perceived T2DM to be a disease of the wealthy caused by intake of too much sugar and sedentary behaviour, which were particularly compounded by lifestyle-related changes upon migration to an industrialised country. However, they also perceived T2DM to be associated with bad luck. Conclusions: Culturally competent prevention and education programs are needed to increase health literacy and dispel religious and cultural myths about T2DM among sub-Saharan African migrants.

Family embeddedness and entrepreneurship experience: a study of Indian migrant women entrepreneurs in Australia

GroupIndia has emerged as a major source of migrants for developed countries including Australia; yet, there is a dearth of research on Indian migrant entrepreneurs, particularly women. Using qualitative methods of enquiry, we explore the perceptions of Indian migrant women entrepreneurs (MWEs) and their partners in Melbourne, Australia, about their entrepreneurship experiences from a family embeddedness perspective. More specifically, we explore how family embeddedness of Indian MWEs is influenced by certain factors which in turn influence their entrepreneurship experience. Our findings suggest that entrepreneurship among Indian MWEs is a complex phenomenon influenced by their being an Indian, a woman and a new Australian, all of which interact and influence their family dynamics and entrepreneurial experience. Our findings shed light on the duality of Indian culture which exerts both an enabling and a constraining influence on the family dynamics of MWEs, the constraining role of gender and the positive impact of their integration into the host country’s sociocultural context which all influence their family embeddedness and entrepreneurship. Contributing to the discussion on ‘ethnic’ and ‘women entrepreneurship’ from a family embeddedness perspective, we offer policy implications for facilitating entrepreneurship in the growing but under-researched cohort of Indian MWEs.

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.