Sudanese Australians and crime: Police and community perspectives

Abstract

Migration and refugee resettlement has been and continues to be, an important element of population growth for Australia. In recent times, more than 35,000 refugees escaping the Sudan civil war have settled in Australia—with approximately 6,500 people now living in Queensland. With each wave of immigration, the capacity of new citizens to adapt and succeed in their new home has been a key societal concern. Often, there has been some focus on how law-abiding the new immigrant communities will be and their perceived level of involvement with the criminal justice system. In this paper, a summary is provided of the findings from four interdependent studies designed to explore Sudanese Australian experiences with the Queensland criminal justice system and to challenge some misconceptions. The studies provide an analysis of media representations of Sudanese Australians, views of the Queensland police regarding the relative level of offending by Sudanese people, and a survey and focus groups conducted with Sudanese Australians. Ensuring that Sudanese Australians are given a voice and a way of communicating their experiences and concerns in dealing with Australian criminal justice and civil systems, is an important dimension of the research.