10 January 2005
A growing level of discreet and covert discrimination is creeping into the work culture of Melburnians, Monash University researcher Mr Luke Howie has found.
As part of his PhD research Mr Howie interviewed workers in inner-city Melbourne about whether they had changed in their daily routines since the terrorism attacks of 11 September 2001. Mr Howie was surprised by his findings.
"I found that people in Melbourne were fearful and cautious of sitting with, or near, others on public transport who they deemed to be of foreign or middle-eastern appearance," he said.
"People are also now more concerned to travel internationally and domestically for work, but oddly they are not as wary if this travel is for leisure."
Australians have not experienced large-scale terrorism on home soil, yet many Australians are almost obsessive about a perceived terrorist threat, Mr Howie said.
"This fear and dread has attached itself to our psyche and many people living and working in Melbourne have changed their personal and professional behaviour to reflect this."
Mr Howie said many Australians identified September 11 as a turning point in their lives. Since then, acts of terrorism have continued to occur around the globe -- the Bali bombings of October 2002 and October 2005, the London bombings of July 2005 and the Madrid train bombing of March 2004 -- and public anxiety about these events has heightened.
This has not been overtly displayed but has occurred subtly, Mr Howie said. "For example, people classed as foreigners are being treated differently by areas such as the retail sector, who fail to engage in customer service with them."
Mr Howie said the perceived threat of terrorism was changing Australia to a society where people were fearful of one another.
"This dread now exists in the hearts and minds of Melburnians," he said. "A large scale terrorist attack on Australian soil is highly unlikely and instead of fearing each other we should embrace our community and look toward a united future."
For further information contact Mr Luke Howie on +61 3 9905 8654 or Media Communications on +61 3 9905 9201 or 0437 458 457.
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