Report: Victorian employers prefer Smiths

Helen Szoke, July 18, 2008
Australia, land of the fair go (as long as you're not foreign)

WHAT does it take to get a job in this state if you are Sudanese, Congolese, Burmese, Iraqi, Somali or any other recent arrival from a non-English-speaking country?

Clearly a lot, according to the Harnessing Diversity research report being released today by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

At a time when we are hearing so much about labour market shortages and skill shortages, Harnessing Diversity reveals stories of people who have lived in Victoria for some time, can't get their overseas work experience recognised and can't get a job. How can this be so, when we know that some sectors of the job market are running at 20% vacancy rates, when employers are using all sorts of strategies to retain workers because of labour market shortages?

Harnessing Diversity makes it clear that racial discrimination is behind many of the rejections people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face. While much of the blatant racism and name-calling is a thing of the past, the discrimination people face today is more subtle, entrenched and much more difficult to identify and deal with.

This sort of discrimination is so systemic that often people don't even realise their own biases and bigotry.

Take, for example, the research on people with Arabic-sounding names who failed to win an interview until they changed their names on their applications to ones that sounded Anglo-Saxon. There are even reports that some recruitment agencies recommend applicants change their names so that they can get an interview ...

There are a number of ways to tackle this.

The first is that the Government, as our largest employer, can demonstrate leadership by reducing discrimination in its own recruitment and promotion practices within the public service. This includes active recruitment of people from different cultural backgrounds, mentoring and support for disadvantaged members of culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Second, highlighting those organisations and individuals who demonstrate best practice and encouraging others to do the same will help challenge some of the negative attitudes and practices against people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds ...

The land of the fair go is an illusion for many migrants. It can only become a reality with practical initiatives that break through the systemic and often internalised racism that still exists ...

Helen Szoke on Life Matters (15 minutes in):

"What's probably more worrying is that some job placement agencies suggested that people should try to change their name after they were repeatedly unsuccessful in even getting an interview. Now, this is not new, if you think about the wave of migrants after the 2nd world war there were many who Anglocised their names ... What's worrying is that we're a very different world to 50 years ago, a much more global world, and to feel that people have to go to those lengths to at least even get a foot in the door - I mean that's astonishing ...

... in order to achieve equality you have to treat people differently ..."

July 18, 2008
Public servants may have to divulge religion and ethnicity

VICTORIAN public servants may have to divulge personal information about their religion and ethnicity under a move to crack down on workplace discrimination.

And businesses could be asked to help fund a campaign encouraging employers to adopt culturally inclusive workplaces.

The recommendations come from a State Government report that has found ongoing racial and religious discrimination at work.

The report, to be released today, calls for the state's anti-discrimination watchdog to be given power to launch its own investigations and to seek orders through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Currently, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission can act only if a complaint has been lodged with the organisation.

The report, Harnessing Diversity: Addressing Racial and Religious Discrimination in Employment, says research showed that people with non-Anglo-Saxon names often missed out on jobs because of their backgrounds.

"In Victoria, the research found that those with Vietnamese and Greek-sounding names had significantly less success in gaining job interviews than those with Anglo-Saxon names, despite the details in the applications being identical," it says ...

Helen Szoke, another of the racial deniers. She's so astonished by her findings that she presumes "people don't even realise their own biases and bigotry". And the next logical step for the denier is the move towards fascism. Whether you like it or not, they're going to ram diversity down your throat. The harnessing is of you, not diversity. But denial never works. "The land of the fair go is an illusion", yes, for Helen Szokes and the racial deniers. Race, culture, religion and identity matter to people. That's why there's white flight in suburbs and schools. That's why you can't get people to fill diversity-frontline jobs like police and nurses. That's why Hazel Rowley admitted that race cannot be transcended in America. That's why Britain is sleepwalking into segregation. That's why diversity is a flawed ideology.