Figure 6. Income profile for persons with Chinese ancestry, ACT 2001.
Source: ACT Government (2003). A Social and Demographic Profile of Multicultural Canberra.
Many Chinese immigrants to Canberra have been forced to begin at the bottom of the employment ladder due to lack of English language skills and recognition of their qualifications. This also seems to influence the unemployment rate which is high at 8%. The industries in which Chinese are concentrated indicate that their employment patterns differ from the rest of Canberra. In terms of industrial concentration, the Chinese community shows a significantly higher concentration in jobs related to restaurants and cafés. For example, the suburb of Dickson has a high concentration of Asian restaurants in its Chinatown area.
In the traditional Chinese society, the family is referred to as a ‘corporate unit’.117 It is based on a strict hierarchy of age and gender, beginning with the father at the top followed by the oldest son and the grandson. In traditional Chinese families, to be an effective procreative and economic unit, the family needs clear direction from the senior male. The responsibilities of the father are to manage the family resources (business), spiritual affairs and personal affairs. The place of women depends on the relationship with her husband within the family structure. Female duties revolve around the household, including managing the finances. Child rearing practices differ in traditional Chinese families from Australian norms. Chinese custom is to emphasise and construct close bonds within the family while the Australian tradition is to develop children’s independence.
Chinese is the most commonly spoken language other than English in the ACT.
However, 24.2% of the Chinese community in Canberra consider themselves not to be fluent in English. Low English proficiency is more common in younger age groups up to the age of 30 and more so for women than men. 83.8% of the overseas-born Chinese maintain their native language, compared with only 47.6 % of the second generation.
respectively.119 The largest migration wave from Italy was in the 1950-60s when they accounted for up to 15% of new arrivals to the ACT (Figure 7). Since then migration levels have been much lower, especially in recent years. In the year 1999-00 no new Italian born arrivals to Canberra were recorded.120
The Italian community appears to maintain their traditions, including their language, and pass them on to their children. This is in contrast with other communities which arrived in Canberra at the same time (eg. Germans) but maintained their language at a much lower rate.
Figure 7. Italian-born persons as a proportion of total arrivals to the ACT, 1946 – 2001.
Source: ACT Government (2003) A Social and Demographic Profile of Multicultural Canberra.
Although the suburb of Kaleen contains the largest number of Italian-speaking residents, Stirling has the highest proportion of non-English-speaking population who speak Italian (14.5%), followed by Red Hill (13.6%) and Giralang (13.1%).121 The six suburbs with the largest populations of Italian speakers are scattered across Canberra and in order are:
1. Kaleen 2. Kambah 3. Nicholls 4. Narrabundah 5. Ngunnawal 6. Florey
The average age of overseas born Italians is more than double the average age of the Australian population overall. With an average age of 57 years, the Italians are the second oldest overseas-born population behind the Hungarians.122 The relatively low level of migration in recent years explains the much higher age of Italian-born Italians now residing in Canberra. The age profile of the Italian population inclusive of
119 ibid.
120 ibid.
121 ABS (2002) Census of Population and Housing.
122 ACT Government (2003) op cit.
overseas and Australian born is contained in Figure 8. It highlights the large numbers of children born to Italian migrants who are now in the young adult age groups.
Figure 8. Age profile for persons with Italian ancestry, ACT 2001.
Age
Source: ACT Government (2003) A Social and Demographic Profile of Multicultural Canberra.
Figure 9 indicates that the income distribution profile of the Italian population is biased towards the middle income groups. This indicates there are relatively fewer Italians at either the bottom or the top of the income hierarchy than is evident for the population in the ACT overall.
Traditional Italian gender roles are varied, depending on the part of Italy the migrant comes from. Southern Italian gender roles were, and often still are, clearly differentiated with the patriarch as supreme authority and provider of the financial needs of the family. Women traditionally play an important role within the limited sphere of the home. The reputation of the family is based on the smooth running of the household.123 Northern Italian gender roles are less strongly bound to the reputation of the family because of the strong influence of other European cultures.
123 Peristiany, J. G. and Pitt-Rivers, J. A. (1992) Honor and Grace in Anthropology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; Peristiany, J. G. (1965) Honour and Shame: The Values of Mediterranean Society. Weinenfeld and Nicholson, London.
Figure 9: Income profile for persons with Italian ancestry, ACT 2001.
Source: ACT Government (2003) A Social and Demographic Profile of Multicultural Canberra.
However, the gender roles and the ideals of loyalty and honour have changed in the Italian community living in Australia. Most immigrants expect their families to do better in the new country and have invested in the education of both their daughters and sons. Thus, the extended time that Italians have spent in Australia has led to changes in the relative status of women and men, especially in the second generation, with many Italian women making careers outside the home.124
In the 2001 census 10% of all Canberra residents claimed to speak Italian at home.
This is 1.3% of the ACT population and 8.8% of the NESB population, but much lower than the national average of 12.4%. Low English proficiency in the Italian community is most common in the age group of 65 years and older, reflecting the migration pattern in the 1950-60s. The language maintenance rate of Italians is relatively low at 41.7% compared to the other groups of interest to this study - the Chinese are the next lowest at 56.8%.125