Australia’s envoy to combat Islamophobia to submit recommendations to PM in August

CANBERRA, Australia (MNTV) – Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia will submit his recommendations to the Prime Minister in August, reports Australian Muslim Times. 

Aftab Malik says the recommendations are based on the feedback he received from over 100 Muslims across Australia, and critical feedback from 30 national and international experts from diverse disciplines. 

The recommendations take a whole-of-government approach to tackle the systemic and institutional nature of Islamophobia and move beyond situating Islamophobia as an interpersonal occurrence.

He says he met federal parliamentarians in July to convey to them what Australian Muslims told him about their challenges with Islamophobia, and how he intends to address that. 

“Invitations have also been sent to all Premiers and key Ministers (Police, Education, Health, and Multiculturalism) of each state and territory, to hear my findings from listening to Australian Muslims about their concerns of Islamophobia,” Malik says.

He says he is finalising details for a commercial/educational video intended for the Muslim community. It will be part of a campaign effort to encourage Muslims across Australia to report Islamophobia to community registers, and why it matters to do so. This work will be in tandem with the five national community Islamophobia registers.

He says work continues to support the two national Muslim student peak bodies, MSA Australia and ComMSA.

He says his submission to the University Chancellors Council (UCC) on strengthening safety, inclusion, and dialogue on campus, has been published. 

His office is working on an evidence-based toolkit for Muslim leaders to effectively respond to Islamophobic events. He says the evidence has been drawn from Muslim community, society, and government responses to instances of Islamophobia. 

He says he will also highlight issues around freedom of speech. “Workshops will be offered to Muslim leaders towards the end of the year, when the toolkit is complete,” he adds.

Malik says he is commissioning 12 videos to be released monthly, to challenge stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. 

He further says that work will also commence on producing videos for educators at public high schools on understanding Islam, and what they can do better to combat Islamophobia. 

He has been in conversations with UNESCO, Australian Muslim teachers, and a group of American academics who specialise in this.

Malik says work is almost complete on two Expression of Interests for The Muslim Poll, and The Islamophobia Index. These two polls will run for two years, produced annually, and will be the first effort to quantify Islamophobia in Australia. The reports will be intended for policymakers, academics and the general public. The Muslim Poll, will also be the first poll to quantify Australian Muslim’s sense of safety and belonging. 

“Most Muslims that I spoke with during my national listening tour weren’t confident to apply for roles in my Office until they knew the outcome of the election, and so since accepting this role, I have been without a team,” says Malik. “This has not been without its challenges. Support for logistics, diary, communications etc. have been provided by the Envoy Support team; a team of individuals from the Commonwealth government who assist me until I am able to hire my own team.

“I have since written role descriptions for my Office, and they are expected to be released next month.”