Mapping Social Cohesion Survey, 2009

The Social Cohesion Survey is a series of detailed surveys on social cohesion, immigration and population issues. A prime objective of the surveys is to further understanding of the social impact of Australia's increasingly diverse immigration program. The series of surveys forms part of the Scanlon Foundation Social Cohesion Research Program (SCRP) which commenced in 2007 under the direction of the Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements (MISGM) and the Australian Multicultural Foundation (AMF). A key element of the SCRP was the conduct of a landmark Australian Social Cohesion Survey in 2007. This is the second survey of the Social Cohesion Survey series, with the aims to: • Look at current attitudes towards social cohesion, and • Assess changes over time by comparing results obtained in 2009 to those obtained in 2007. The 2009 survey used a randomly sampled 2,000 respondents with the sample stratified geographically. A minimum of 200 interviews was undertaken in each Australian state / territory (i.e. 1,600 interviews) with the remaining 400 interviews allocated across the five most populous states (i.e. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA and SA) in proportion to the population in those states. The study covered a variety of topics, including economic conditions, political participation, socio-cultural attitudes, discrimination, and local communities.