Enhancing Political and Media Literacy within Chinese and South Asian Migrant Communities in Australia
Survey in English: https://melbourneuni.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8q9wnvsDLc5hPZI
Survey in Chinese: https://melbourneuni.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eyAaDSLrSdCos3I
Empowering Chinese and South Asian migrant communities in Australia with the essential tools for political and media literacy is crucial for their integration and active participation in the country’s democratic processes. By fostering a deeper understanding of the Australian political landscape and media dynamics, these communities can effectively engage with the society, make informed decisions, and contribute meaningfully to the nation’s discourse and development.
Research rationale and significance:
In Australia, the South Asian and Chinese communities demonstrate statistical, political, and economic significance. The 2021 Census reveals that ‘Chinese’ and ‘Indian’ are the most commonly reported ancestries after the UK and Australia. There is also a significant increase in migration from other countries in South Asia, such as Nepal and Bangladesh. With Australia’s increasing strategic connections with these countries, it is foreseeable that the scale of South Asian and Chinese communities will keep expanding.
Most existing research takes a top-down and monolithic approach to evaluate Chinese or Indian migrants’ political participation, and intra-ethnic diversity is neglected. This project intends to identify different factors that shape migrants’ political and media literacy and consequent engagement with Australian politics. We tentatively define political engagement as migrants’ willingness and actions in learning Australia’s system of governance, voting based on informed decisions, and engaging with political campaigns on various media platforms.
Research Aims:
- To map the current voting preferences of first and second-generation migrants from Chinese and South Asian backgrounds who have been resident in Australia for at least 2 years
- To understand what factors inform the political choices of these migrant groups
- To investigate what media sources these migrant communities use to inform themselves about socio-political issues in Australia, especially in the lead-up to an election
- To chart a pathway for community organisers and political parties to more meaningfully engage with Chinese and South Asian background communities
Researchers
Dr Sukhmani Khorana
Scientia Associate Professor in Media, School of the Arts and Media at UNSW
Dr. Sukhmani Khorana is a Scientia Associate Professor in Media, School of the Arts and Media at UNSW. Previously, she was the Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow based at the Young and Resilient Research Centre, Western Sydney University. Sukhmani has a national profile and recognition across the universities she has worked at, as demonstrated by her being named a ‘UOW Impact Maker’ in 2018, and being awarded a local ‘Research Engagement’ award at WSU in 2021. She received four overseas invites to present work and collaborate during her sabbatical in 2019, and these are testament to her growing international reputation for work on media and migration.
She has extensive experience in collaborating with media and arts organisations, young people, and government agencies on projects benefiting diverse communities. With Kate Darian-Smith and Sue Turnbull, Sukhmani was a CI on an ARC Linkage Project, ‘Migration, Cultural Diversity and Television: Reflecting Modern Australia’ (2016-2021).
Dr Fan Yang
Postdoctoral research fellow at Melbourne Law School and ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society
Dr Yang researches the effects of large scale international social media platforms in terms of cross-jurisdictional tensions and expectations, and their cross border effects on political activity and identity. She studies this through interviews and ethnographic observation with production teams that generate native content for those platforms, particularly observing decision-making and self-management in this context.
Press Release – In Chinese and English