A NEW report paints a devastating picture of Muslim unemployment in Australia and links workplace discrimination to terrorist attacks such as the Bali bombings.

The report says that reducing the deep-seated hostility toward Muslims by a minority of Australians was hard to achieve in an atmosphere created by an open-ended war on terror.

The Newcastle University report was completed last year and quietly released on the Immigration Department's website.

Using Census data, it found that the jobless rate for Muslim men was more than double the national average and that only 57 per cent of Muslim males aged 15 and older had jobs compared with 68 per cent of all working-age men.

Suburbs with high Muslim concentrations such as Broadmeadows and Dallas had jobless rates of more than 15 per cent in 2006, said the report.

"In total, 58 per cent of Muslims earned less than $400 per week compared to 41 per cent of the Australian population," it said.

The seven-person research team, led by Prof Terry Lovat, said that Muslims faced workplace barriers including poor English proficiency, difficulty having overseas qualifications recognised and cultural and religious issues.

But they said that Muslims were also viewed as "others" by employers, and they suffered rising discrimination in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the 2002 Bali bombings.



"Muslim men have expressed concern that the negative portrayal of Muslims in the media may have a detrimental effect on the self-esteem of Muslim youth and also result in children being bullied at school," said the report.

Social researcher and Islamic Council of Victoria executive member Mohamad Tabbaa said he was disappointed but not surprised by the report's findings.

Mr Tabbaa said some discrimination was subtle, such as employers being hesitant to hire hijab-wearing Muslim women because they feared losing customers.

"There is a lot of discrimination against Muslims, and not just in employment.

"Since the terrorist attacks Islamophobia is on the rise in Western countries, including Australia," he said.

The report's authors called for a long-term concerted campaign to change societal attitudes that are reflected in workplace discrimination.

john.masanauskas@news.com.au





National unemployment rates in selected religious groups



Lutheran 4 per cent



Baptist 4.8 per cent



Orthodox 4.9 per cent



Buddist 9.6 per cent



Muslim 13.4 per cent

