CALD backgrounds of focus group participants
Participants were women who identified themselves as being from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds. The 94 women in the groups had a range of migration histories. Some were from non-English speaking backgrounds and had migrated to Australia, others were residing temporarily in Australia. A few had been born in Australia and identified as culturally diverse because of their parent's birth place, the cultural practices within the family, or the language spoken within the family home.
Country of birth
The range and frequency of participants' countries of birth are listed in Appendix D. The women were born in 35 different countries. The largest numbers of women in the study were from Iraq (11), Japan (10), Somalia (9), and India (8), reflecting the inclusion of women from these backgrounds in the single ethnicity groups. A summary of participants, by region of birth and focus group location is below in Table 5. This shows that the highest number of women in the group were from North Africa and the Middle East (21) and sub-Saharan Africa (18).
Table 4: Participants by focus group location and region of birth
| |
Urban NSW |
Regional VIC |
Urban SA |
Regional NSW |
Total |
| North Africa and Middle East |
6 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
21 |
| Sub Saharan Africa |
0 |
0 |
14 |
4 |
18 |
| North East Asia |
0 |
0 |
10 |
1 |
11 |
| Southern and Central Asia |
8 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
11 |
| Southern and Eastern Europe |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
9 |
| South East Asia |
1 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
| Australia |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
| Oceania |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
| North Europe |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
| Americas |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Total |
19 |
14 |
37 |
24 |
94 |
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Languages spoken at home
The majority, 88 per cent (83 women), of participants spoke a language other than English at home, and twelve of the women spoke two languages other than English in their homes. The first languages spoken at home by those who answered the question are listed in Table 6.
Table 6: First language spoken at home by focus group participants
| Language |
No. women |
Language |
No. women |
| Arabic |
16 |
German |
1 |
| Somali |
9 |
Kannada |
1 |
| Dari |
3 |
Konkani |
1 |
| Chinese |
2 |
Korean |
1 |
| Filipino |
2 |
Pidgin English |
1 |
| Italian |
2 |
Pukapukan |
1 |
| Japanese |
2 |
Tagalog |
1 |
| Marathi |
2 |
Tamil |
1 |
| Swahili |
2 |
Telegu |
1 |
| Cook Islander |
1 |
Temne |
1 |
| Danish |
1 |
Urdu |
1 |
| Farsi |
1 |
Vietnamese |
1 |
| French |
1 |
|
|
Australian citizenship
Just over half of the focus group participants (48 women) were Australian citizens, 33 women were permanent residents, and the remaining 14 women were temporary visa holders.
Religion
Most women in the focus groups identified their religions as Islam (35 women) and Christianity (32 women) (see Table 7). The two major groups identifying as Muslims were from Iraq and Somalia. The majority of women with no religion or who identified as practicing Buddhism were Japanese.
Table 7: Religion of focus group participants
| Religion |
Persons |
Per Cent |
| Islam |
35 |
38.5 |
| Christianity |
32 |
35.2 |
| Hinduism |
6 |
6.6 |
| No religion |
9 |
9.9 |
| Buddhism |
5 |
5.5 |
| Other |
4 |
4.4 |
| Total |
91 |
100 |
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Other Characteristics of Focus Group Participants
Age
Most women who participated in the focus groups were aged in their 20s and 30s (55 women), 14 of the women were aged 60 and over, and 8 women were aged in their late teens.
Household structure
Of the 91 participants who answered the question about their household structure, 46 women lived in households with children. Of these women, 27 lived in couple households with children, while 19 lived in one-parent households with children. The remaining women lived in couple household with no children (19), alone (11), or in a multi-family household (7). Eight women were living in 'other' situations; most of these women were in shared housing with friends or a relative.
Disability
The majority of the women stated that they did not have a disability. Eight women identified as having a disability. All of these women named physical problems or injuries such as rheumatism or cancer remission.
Education levels
Many of the women who volunteered to participate in the focus groups were well educated. Of the 90 women who answered the question, 39 had been to university, and an additional 26 completed Year 12 or it's equivalent. Nine women had completed a trade certificate or an apprenticeship.
Income
Just over half of the women in the focus groups (48 participants) stated that their main source of income was government benefits. Over a quarter (25 women) received their main income from paid work, while 19 per cent (18 women) were supported from other sources, most commonly their husband or partner. Most of the sample was either studying or caring full-time.
Summary
Overall, the ninety-four focus group participants were born in thirty-five different countries. Amongst them, at least twenty-five language other than English were spoken. They had diverse migration histories, consisting of migrants to Australia, women residing temporarily in Australia, and women born in Australia who identified as culturally diverse. While most participants were aged in their twenties and thirties, they ranged from their late teens to over seventy, and almost half had government benefits as their main source of income.