Drugs in a Multicultural Community An Assessment of Involvement

Public Health Division Drugs in a Multicultural Community An Assessment of Involvement

Public Health Division Victorian Government Department of Human Services

 Copyright State of Victoria 2000

This work is copyright and if reproduced reference must be cited as follows: Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement, Victorian Government Publishing Service 2000.

Published by Public Health Division, Victorian Government Department of Human Services, Melbourne Victoria.

All rights reserved. Except for the purposes of education, fair dealing and use within the intended environment by health professionals in Victoria, no portion of this document should be reproduced or copied for any purposes, including general exhibition, lending, resale and hire.

September 2000

Also Published on http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/phd/0008087/

(0870800) Acknowledgments

This report was funded by the Department of Human Services and supported by a Steering Committee which provided ongoing advice and support:

Paris Aristotle Director, Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Chief Inspector Paul Ditchburn Victoria Police, Drug and Alcohol Policy Coordination Unit Robert Eldridge Director, Policy and Strategic Development Division, Department of Justice Inspector Steve James Victoria Police, Drug and Alcohol Policy Coordination Unit George Lekakis Director, South Central Migrant Resource Centre Stephan Romaniw Chairperson, Victorian Multicultural Commission Bill Stronach Chief Executive Officer, Australian Drug Foundation Adam Sutton Department of Criminology, Melbourne University Celia Wigzel Project Officer, Backgrounds Project, Department of Education, Employment and Training Department of Human Services Drug Policy Unit and Drugs and Health Protection Services

This report was produced by the Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research in Collaboration with the North Richmond Community Health Centre for the Department of Human Services

Researchers: Lorraine Beyer MA, BA, Grad Dip Data Coll Analysis Gary Reid RN, MTH

Contents

Acknowledgments iii

Contents v

Tables vii

Figures vii

Executive Summary 1 Introduction 1 Research Findings 19 Recommendations 25 Community and Parent Education and Information 25 Harm Reduction 25 Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: Resources and Services 26 Treatment Services 26 Further Research 26 Data Collection 27 Further Recommendations 27 Literature—Health and Social Impact 33 Defining Ethnicity 33 Ethnicity and Databases 34 Utilisation of Drug Treatment Services 48 Ethnic Groups Selected on the Basis of Adequate Available Literature 57 Greek 57 Italian 60 Asian 62 Chinese Language Speakers 65 Cambodian 67 Vietnamese 73 Arabic Speaking 81 Literature—Criminal Justice 87 Part 1: Setting the Scene 87 Part 2: Drugs, Crime and Ethnic Involvement 99 Trends in Drug Use 106 Drug Use Overview 112 Drugs In Prisons 116 Other Determinants Affecting Involvement in Illicit Drugs and Crime 120 Drug Trafficking/Organised Crime 122

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement v Some Solutions 130 The Media and Its Coverage of Illicit Drug Issues 135 The Media’s Construction of the Vietnamese-Australian 145 Ethnic Media Coverage of Drug Issues 148 Databases 155 Methodology 155 Results—All Databases 156 Discussion 160 Summary of Health and Drug Treatment-Related Databases 175 Background 175 General Comments on Health and Drug Treatment Related Databases 175 Key Findings 176 Alcohol and Drug Information System (ADIS) 179 Description of Database 179 Concluding Remarks and Recommendations 204 Drug of Dependency Information System Methadone Registry 205 Further Analysis 208 Recommendations for Further Research 210 Databases 213 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Surveillance Database 213 The Victorian 1996 Secondary Students Alcohol and Drugs Survey 215 The Victorian Emergency Minimum Data Set (VEMD) 219 1995 Victorian Drug Household Survey 223 Victoria Police Statistics: Illicit Drugs 228 Juvenile Justice Client Information System (SSCIS)—Illicit Drugs 233 Prisoner Information Management System—PIMS: Prison Statistics: Illicit Drugs 238 Corrections—Community-Based Court Dispositions (OASIS): Illicit Drugs 246 Statistical Profile of Victorians from Main and Non-Main English Speaking Countries, 1996 Census (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 250 The Key Informant Interview Phase: Health, Welfare and Drug Treatment Services 271 Summary of Key Informant Interviews on Health, Welfare and Drug Treatment Services 272 The Key Informant Interview Phase: Criminal Justice 293 Summary of Findings 294 Difficulties for People from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds in the Criminal Justice System 297 Backgrounds of Drug Offenders: Differences Between Anglo and Asian Drug Offenders 302 Observations on Frequency of Offending 303 Outcomes from the Community Consultation Phase 320 Reasons for Using Illicit Drugs 325

vi Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Appendices 349 Appendix 1: Persons Aged 15 to 24 Years, by Birthplace, by Proficiency in English, by Labour Force, 1996 Census, Victoria 349 Appendix 2: Non-Main English Speaking Countries, by Labour Force Status, in Select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, Aged 15 to 24 Years 357 Appendix 3 Specialist Alcohol and Drug Services—Victoria—Delivery 363 Appendix 4: Stress Factors and Issues that Impact on Illicit Drug Use/Misuse among Three Different Ethnic Groups 365 References 369 Health and Social Impact 369 Bibliography 382 Health 382 Criminology 383 The Media’s Influence on Illicit Drug Issues 395

Tables

Table 1 Number of articles appearing in The Age and the Herald Sun newspapers which contain combination key words, over four years 147 Table 2 Summary of Databases and their Ethnicity Variables 167 Table 3 Clients’ episodes of care by LGA 180 Table 4 Clients’ episodes of care by age 182 Table 5 Clients’ episodes of care by sex 183 Table 6 Clients’ episodes of care by marital status 184 Table 7 Clients’ episodes of care by services type 186 Table 8 Clients’ episodes of care by source of referral 188 Table 9 Clients’ episodes of care by language interpreted 189 Table 10 Clients’ episodes of care by employment status 191 Table 11 Clients’ episodes of care by living status 193 Table 12 Clients’ episodes of care by accommodation 194 Table 13 Clients’ episodes of care by legal status 196 Table 14 Clients’ episodes of care by period of drug use 198 Table 15 Clients’ episodes of care are by drug use status 199 Table 16 Clients’ episodes of care by injecting drug use 200 Table 17 Clients’ episodes of care by previous alcohol and drug treatment 202 Table 18 Clients’ episodes of care by concurrent methadone program 203 Table 19 Illicit drug use by COB—MESB and NESB 225 Table 20 Illicit drug use by language spoken 226

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement vii Table 21 Heroin − consumer and provider arrests, by jurisdiction and per 100,000 population, 1997–98 229 Table 22 Cannabis offences by jurisdiction, per 100,000 population, 1997–98 229 Table 23 Number and proportion of offenders aged 15–49 years arrested in Victoria for trafficking heroin, by year and country of birth 230 Table 24 All drug offences by country of birth of alleged offenders of all ages in Victoria, 1997–98 231 Table 25 Number of alleged traffic heroin offenders in Victoria, by age, by selected countries of birth, per 100,000 ethnic population 1997–98 232 Table 26 Total number and percentage of clients supervised by Juvenile Justice Service 1997–98, by ethnicity 234 Table 27 Drug offences of Juvenile Justice clients by ethnicity, 1997–98 235 Table 28 Drug offence by type of concurrent offence, Juvenile Justice clients 1997–98 236 Table 29 Juvenile Justice clients with drug and violence offences, by ethnicity 1997–98 236 Table 30 Juvenile Justice clients with drug and property offences, by ethnicity 1997–98 237 Table 31 Prisoners in custody, per 100,000 adult population, as at September 1998, by State or Territory 238 Table 32 Number of prisoners in Victoria and proportion whose most serious offence was a drug offence, by year 239 Table 33 Sentenced Victorian prisoners whose most serious offence was a drug offence, by type of drug offence, sex and year of incarceration 239 Table 34 Ethnic background of Victorian prisoners by sex and year, 1995–98 240 Table 35 Number of male prisoners in Victoria, born in Vietnam and proportion of all prisoners, by year 240 Table 36 Age distribution of prisoners by ethnicity, whose current episode most serious offence is a drug offence, 1997–98 244 Table 37 Offenders on community-based orders for drug offences, by country of birth 1997–98 247 Table 38 Stress Factors and Issues that Impact on Illicit Drug Use/Misuse among Three Different Ethnic Groups 365

Figures

Figure 1 Individual methadone permit forms by ethnic groups, Victoria, 12 February 1998 to 12 February 1999 207 Figure 2 Individual methadone permit forms by ethnicity, by country of birth, Methadone Registry, Victoria, 12 February 1998 to 12 February 1999 208 Figure 3 Prisoners’ current episode most serious offence by COB, 1997-98 241 Figure 4 Prisoners’ current episode most serious offence by COB, rate per 100,000 ethnic population 242 Figure 5 Prisoners’ country of birth/most serious drug offence 1997-98 243 Figure 6 Prisoners' illicit drug use by COB, 1997-98 245 Figure 7 Offences of offenders on community-based dispositions by COB, 1997-98 249 Figure 8 Unemployment and not in labour force rates for persons aged 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria 251 Figure 9 Unemployment and not in labour force rates for persons aged 25 to 64 years, 1996 Census, Victoria 253 Figure 10 People aged 15-24 years who arrived in Australia between 1991–1996: Proficiency in English by Birthplace, 1996 Census, Victoria 254

viii Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 11 People aged 25–64 years who arrived in Australia between 1991 to 1996: Proficiency in English by birthplace 255 Figure 12 Persons aged 15 to 24, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force, 1996 Census, Victoria 258 Figure 13 Persons aged 15 to 24, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria 259 Figure 14 Persons aged 15 to 24, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria 260 Figure 15 Total main English speaking country groups, by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria 261 Figure 16 Total non-main English speaking groups, by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria 262 Figure 17 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria 263 Figure 18 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria 264 Figure 19 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria 265 Figure 20 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force, 1996 Census, Victoria—Greece 349 Figure 21 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force, 1996 Census, Victoria—Italy 349 Figure 22 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria— Laos 350 Figure 23 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Iraq 350 Figure 24 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria— Indonesia 351 Figure 25 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria— Lebanon 351 Figure 26 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria— Romania 352 Figure 27 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria— Somalia 352 Figure 28 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Russian Federation 353 Figure 29 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Afghanistan 353 Figure 30 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Bosnia-Herzegovina 354 Figure 31 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Cambodia 354 Figure 32 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—China (excluding Taiwan Province) 355

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement ix Figure 33 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Afghanistan 357 Figure 34 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Iraq 357 Figure 35 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Somalia 358 Figure 36 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Italy 358 Figure 37 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Laos 359 Figure 38 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Bosnia-Herzegovina 359 Figure 39 Main ethnic group by labour force, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Cambodia 360 Figure 40 Main ethnic group by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—China (excluding Taiwan Province) 360 Figure 41 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Greece 361 Figure 42 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Russian Federation 361 Figure 43 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Romania 362 Figure 44 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Turkey 362 Figure 45 Victoria's Specialist Alcohol and Drug Services—The Framework for Service Delivery 363

x Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Introduction Drugs in a Multicultural Community: An Assessment of Involvement is a program of research into the involvement of ethnic communities in Victoria with illicit drugs. The research was carried out for the Victorian Government by a consortium of the Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research (MBCMR), North Richmond Community Health Centre (NRCHC) and the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health (CEH). The research was funded under the Turning the Tide program, supervised by the Department of Human Services, and based at the Centre for Harm Reduction (CHR) at MBCMR. The Project commenced in July 1998 and concluded in May 2000. The project objectives were:

ƒ To provide a framework in which the cultural attitudes, experience and expectations of Victorians can be understood and taken into account in policy and other decision making.

ƒ To develop proposals and strategies which will assist the community to understand the harm minimisation principle and its impact on communities, families and individuals of differing cultural backgrounds.

ƒ To provide data and information which can influence the design and development of drug-related initiatives of the Victorian Government.

The research has consisted of a number of stages, including:

ƒ Comprehensive literature reviews within both the health/welfare and criminal justice fields.

ƒ A review of the influence of the media.

ƒ An examination of all relevant national and Victorian health and criminal justice databases.

ƒ An examination of the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996 Census.

ƒ Interviews with key informants working within the health and drug treatment services and criminal justice sectors.

ƒ A series of ethnic community consultations.

A broad range of issues has been identified by this research, which the key informants and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLDBs) considered to be of the most value in addressing the illicit drug problem within those communities. Thirty-nine findings have been identified. These are listed

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 1 below, in the section ‘Findings of the Research’. The researchers found enormous interest in the current study and a strong desire—particularly from health and welfare and criminal justice participants—for copies of the final report. The current research is considered to represent the most comprehensive study in this area to have been undertaken in Australia. As such, there is great merit in making various aspects of the research more widely available through publication in various professional journals.

Ethnicity Variables

Country of birth can be misleading if used by itself as a measure of ethnicity.

Self-identified ethnicity is considered to be a more valid measure…

The lack of adequate definitions of ‘ethnicity’, and the absence of variables useful for assessment of ethnicity in all Victorian and national databases concerned with any aspect of drug use, are major obstacles to any accurate assessment of the extent of illicit drug use in Australia’s ethnic communities. ‘Place of origin’, commonly referred to as ‘country of birth’, is the variable most widely collected. However, this mode of identification is biased towards identifying the most recent migrant groups.

Country of birth is not an accurate indicator of ethnicity, and can be highly misleading if used by itself as a measure of ethnicity. Self-identified ethnicity is considered to be a more valid measure for most purposes, as it takes into account the shifting dynamics of ethnic identification.

Because of these limitations, interpretation of current data collected on all aspects of illicit drug use must be undertaken with extreme caution in relation to ethnicity. The section ‘Databases’, includes a summary of the results of the data analyses undertaken.

Literature Reviews

Research on illicit drug use among those of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLDBs) had methodological problems including inadequate conceptualisation, inaccuracy of definitions and inappropriate research designs.

Socioeconomic status, rather than ethnicity per se, was considered to be the major contributor to high risk behaviour and drug use.

Research on simplistic ethnic categories without regard to factors of sociocultural variables is not only scientifically meaningless, but is a great disservice to the people from CLDBs.

Although the literature reviews were extensive, it was found that there was an overall paucity of quality information about ethnicity and illicit drug use in both the health and criminal justice fields. Approximately 132 criminal justice and 200 health

2 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement and related publications were examined. Very little national research was found, and that which had been done tended to lack depth. As would be expected, most literature was from the US.

Research investigations and published literature that examines links between ethnicity and illicit drug use are rare, and therefore little is known about actual levels of drug use among people from different CLDBs. What studies have been undertaken often have significant under-representation of ethnic groups within known populations of illicit drug users. Different studies have concluded that use of illicit drugs is more common, the same, or less common, among ethnic communities than in the wider community. In addition, there are cultural preferences for the use of different drugs in different communities, which makes comparisons between groups difficult.

Almost all research on illicit drug use among people from CLDBs had methodological problems, including: inadequate conceptualisation; inaccuracy of definitions; inappropriate research designs; disagreements over basic concepts; and poor data collections related to the over-inclusiveness of ethnic groups. Studies which look at drug taking behavioural differences among people from specific CLDBs often found that their case numbers were too small to be of statistical significance.

Socioeconomic status, rather than ethnicity per se, was considered to be the major contributor to high risk behaviour and drug use. However, a common methodological and conceptual problem in the available research was that researchers commonly ignored relevant socioeconomic factors. There are numerous studies in both health and criminal justice literature that point to social and economic disadvantages as being the key factors in the vulnerability of people, whatever their ethnic or cultural background, in their involvement with illicit drugs. Physical environment, learned behaviour, low self-esteem, mental health difficulties, low income of parents, peer pressure, lack of effective parenting skills and unemployment are all factors, singly or in combination, which may lead people to drug use. In relation to people from CLDBs, there are the additional vulnerabilities of intergenerational conflict, acculturation and low proficiency in the English language.

There was a tendency of research from all countries to homogenise CLDBs to the extent that findings were all but useless, for example, using ethnic variables such as: ‘black’, ‘white’, ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Asian’. Research based on simplistic ethnic categories and without regard to all the other possibly confounding factors of sociocultural variables is not only scientifically meaningless, but a great disservice to the CLDB under examination. Within the Australian literature in both the health and criminal justice fields, few studies were found which focused on a specific CLDB. The most studied CLDB group was people of Vietnamese background. Other ethnic groups for which there was some health literature included: Greek; Italian; ‘Asian’; ‘Chinese language speakers’; Cambodian; Laotian; and ‘Arabic speaking’. For other CLDBs there was either extremely poor or no literature.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 3 Summary of Literature—Health

Drug treatment services were found to have little knowledge of the diversity of people utilising their services and less about the perceptions, expectations and needs of their clients.

…low admission rate of CLDBs into drug treatment is considered a reflection of an under-utilisation of the services by people from CLDBs, rather than a lower need for such services.

Literature consistently found that there was generally a poor understanding by people from CLDBs of how to access services; a poor understanding of what the services did; and perceptions that services were not appropriate to their needs. This was considered to have resulted in an under-utilisation of drug treatment services by people from CLDBs.

According to the literature, specific barriers to drug treatment services for people from CLDBs include: cultural and language barriers; lack of advocacy by ethnic community leaders; social pressures to be discreet about drug use; a desire to be self- sufficient in dealing with drug problems; and lack of family inclusion in the drug treatment regime. A number of further institutional barriers were identified, including ignorance by service providers that an unmet need exists, and that current services have inadvertent cultural biases built into their service delivery.

In order to target their service delivery accurately and in such a way that a variety of client needs could be met, treatment services require extensive knowledge of their client base. On both the macro and micro level, the literature found that very often, drug treatment services have little knowledge of the diversity of people utilising their services, and even less about their clients’ perceptions, expectations and needs. Without appropriate data, the ability to target scarce resources in the most productive way remains uncertain, as does the ability to identify changed demographics, emerging new groups, shrinking resources and gaps in community infrastructure. The literature considered that the best way to develop culturally relevant drug prevention programs is primarily through surveillance of the target population and interviewing its members to gain information. The literature also considered that participation by CLD young people in program planning, management and policy development would advantage drug treatment services.

The low admission rate of CLD people into drug treatment is considered, in the literature, to be a reflection of an under-utilisation of the services by people from CLDBs, rather than a lower need for such services. It has been suggested that positive outcomes are more likely where client groups are empowered, and where services have a sensitivity to the complex interrelation between ethnicity, gender, social class and factors associated with particular localities. Cultural sensitivity comes from being able to deal with diversity, and this must be incorporated into the delivery regime of drug treatment services.

4 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Summary of Literature—Criminal Justice

Rather than eliminating drug offences through their [police] activities, the users and sellers of illicit drugs appear to merely adapt.

…arrestees coming into contact with the criminal justice system [are] released without any of their health, drug dependency and lifestyle issues being addressed.

A number of reports have pointed to the inherent discrimination that exists within the criminal justice system towards people from CLDBs. In Australia there is evidence of discrimination at every level of the criminal justice system, including police attention on the streets, police processing, courts, sentencing and in prison. Indo-Chinese youth may be highly visible if they congregate in groups, and to some this projects a ‘gang’ image, and may attract police attention. Community unease about such groups, exacerbated by media scares about Vietnamese youth violence, in turn heightens these youths’ public visibility and community concern. One consequence may be that the police feel pressured to be seen to be taking action. Recent studies show that the traditional methods of policing illicit drugs may, in some cases, be exacerbating harmful outcomes. Rather than eliminating drug offences through their activities, the users and sellers of illicit drugs appear merely to adapt.

The literature considers that reduced opportunities to sell drugs to pay for a drug habit may increase property crime, and also could encourage low-grade or ‘fake’ deals, making the market a more dangerous place. Intensive policing activities may also cause users to engage in riskier behaviour, thus enhancing the likelihood of the spread of bloodborne viruses. Specialist drug units such as the Drug Squad, have adopted policies primarily aimed at drug providers but generalist police have not, and this has resulted in a disproportionate number of users arrested each year. There is an overarching problem that most arrestees come into contact with the criminal justice system only to be released again, either immediately or eventually, with none of their health, drug dependency and lifestyle issues addressed. While diversion programs exist in Victoria, at this time the number of clients involved is small and there is little data available to show what their impact has been. However, a comprehensive evaluation is planned for the future.

Media Review

…media reporting of illicit drugs has been to blame others for the problem.

Media scare mongering about drugs diverts attention and resources from the larger causal problems.

In preparing this Report, an examination of the literature about the media’s impact on illicit drug issues was undertaken. It was found that, despite frequent acknowledgement of the importance of the media in influencing public opinion and

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 5 government policy in relation to illicit drugs, little research has actually been done that examines the extent and nature of media influence.

In the absence of news that places ethnic people in many different contexts, mass media stereotypes can be particularly dangerous by giving a false perception of ‘others’. One of the dominant themes in media reporting of illicit drugs over more than a century has been to blame ‘others’ for the problem. In Australia, there has been a long history of anti-Asian sentiment incorporated into media reporting on illegal drugs. In the late 1800s people of Chinese background were consistently labelled as ‘demons’ who corrupted and tricked innocent Anglo-Australians through supply of opium. This theme is repeated in modern reporting of illicit drugs, where there is a persistent characterisation of the ‘evil supplier’ of heroin as ethnic, and the user as a victim of Anglo background. Media scare mongering about drugs diverts attention and resources from larger causal problems, particularly when it focuses on individual immorality and personal behaviour instead of endemic social and structural problems. When there is no distinction made between people with problems, and people as problems, there is a tendency to blame the victims of social injustice.

The detailed reports in newspapers which show where, when and how to buy illicit drugs, act as ‘free advertising’ for the drug market, and actually attract new users and sellers to particular localities, thus arguably turning the exaggerated original reports into reality. An examination of the literature leads to the conclusion that sensationalist media reporting of illicit drugs has, both directly and indirectly, affected the ‘illicit drug market’, public opinion (and political perceptions of public opinion) and has lead to legislative change and political policy and action.

Databases

…databases were found to need upgrading both for their own stated purposes and for the purposes of casting light on ethnicity and illicit drug involvement.

An extensive series of systems exists in Victoria and nationally which gathers data on various aspects of illicit drugs and, potentially, on the involvement of members of ethnic communities. All relevant national and Victorian databases that collect information related to illicit drugs were examined for their usefulness in measuring involvement of ethnic communities. The initial search identified 49 relevant databases, consisting of 26 in the field of criminal justice and 23 in health and drug treatment services. Most databases were found to need upgrading, both for their own stated purposes and for the purposes of casting light on ethnicity and illicit drug involvement.

Both health and criminal justice databases had limited variables indicating ethnicity. A principal problem lies in the policy of most organisations: to place very little priority or focus on ethnicity. There is widespread utilisation of crude and static concepts of ethnicity. Currently, the most common ethnicity variable used is ‘country of birth’. This means that second or further generation Victorians, even where there is a strong identification with an ethnic background, are made invisible by statistics

6 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement that aggregate them under the one ‘Australia-born’ category. The variable ‘country of birth’ is also problematic, from the point of view that it discriminates towards identification of the most recent arrivals by making them the most visible in the statistics. Other ethnic indicators used, were: ‘language spoken’; ‘language spoken other than English’; ‘country of birth of parents’ and ‘racial appearance’. Only one database used self-identified cultural/ethnic background. However, this variable was not recorded electronically in the database. On the basis that each had at least one ethnicity variable, six health and four criminal justice databases were selected for further analysis.

Drug of Dependency Information System: Methadone Registry

Thirty-one per cent of those who received a methadone permit were from CLDBs, while the rest were of Australian culture or English speaking background.

For the 12-month period from February 1998 to February 1999 there were 6,019 methadone permit forms that contained full ethnicity data. Thirty-one per cent of those who received a methadone permit were from CLDBs, while the rest were of Australian culture or English speaking background. Seventy different ethnic/cultural background groups were identified. The most common ethnic backgrounds were Vietnamese, Greek and Italian. Of those declaring Italian and Greek ethnicity, 80 per cent were born in Australia, compared with only six per cent of those with Vietnamese ethnicity who were born in Australia.

HIV Surveillance Database Of people (n=4,085) diagnosed with HIV in Victoria from 1983 to the end of 1998, eight per cent reported a history of injecting drug use (IDU). Of the 323 individuals who reported a history of IDU, 47 per cent supplied their Country of Birth (COB). Eighty-seven per cent were from ‘mainly English speaking backgrounds’, while 13 per cent were from CLDBs. Twelve ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’ countries were identified, with those born in Vietnam constituting the greatest number of individuals diagnosed with HIV.

Victorian 1996 Secondary Students Alcohol and Drugs Survey

Except for marijuana use, there are generally no contrasts in substance use between English-only speakers and those of CLDBs.

A total of 4,432 students responded to questions about drug use. Except for marijuana use, there are generally no contrasts in substance use between English- only speakers and those of CLDBs. The other substances used were heroin, LSD,

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 7 cocaine, speed and ecstasy. The prevalence of lifetime (ever used) heroin use for people from CLDBs and English-only speakers was four per cent and three per cent respectively. Marijuana use was statistically more prevalent among English-only speakers over their lifetime.

Alcohol and Drug Information System (ADIS) (Treatment for Heroin Use)

CLDB men were more likely to use residential drug withdrawal services, while men born in Australia were more likely to use an individual client service.

Caution is required when interpreting ADIS data, particularly because the unit of measurement is ‘episode of care’, not individual clients. The COBs examined were Australia, Vietnam, China, Romania, Cambodia, Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Italy and Macedonia. National groups were also re-classified into CLDB and Mainf English Speaking Background (MESB). Persons listed on the database were more likely to be from the local government areas of Greater Dandenong, Maribyrnong, Yarra, Port Phillip and Brimbank. CLDB men were more likely to use residential drug withdrawal services, while men born in Australia were more likely to use an individual client service.

The proportion of ‘English language speakers’ was high for all the COBs examined. Vietnamese language was the most frequently spoken, after English. Unemployment was lower among those of MESB (25 per cent), compared with those of CLDB (57 per cent). The median period of drug use was longer among those of MESBs (36 months, compared with 20 months for CLDBs). The proportion of those currently injecting drugs was greater for those of CLDBs (74 per cent) compared with MESB (55 per cent).

1995 Victorian Drug Household Survey

Cannabis was the most prevalent illicit drug used by both MESB and CLDB respondents.

The sample size was 1,200, which included Victorian respondents from the National Drug Household survey. Eighty-five per cent of the sample was of MESB, and 15 per cent were of CLDBs. Illicit drug use by those of MESB and CLDB was similar. For those of MESB, the prevalence of heroin use was two per cent, while it was less than one per cent for those of CLDBs. Use of amphetamines was significantly different, with seven per cent of people from MESBs using, compared with one per cent of CLDBs. Cannabis was the most prevalent illicit drug used by both MESB and CLDB respondents. Only one per cent of MESB reported ever injecting drugs, while no people from CLDBs did so. Most respondents, both of MESB and CLDB, had never sought help for a drug and alcohol problem, either for themselves or for others. Of those who sought assistance in the past five years most were from MESB.

8 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Victorian Emergency Minimum Data Set For the period January 1996 to June 1998, a total of 1,366 people presenting at hospital casualty centres (12 per cent of all poisoning presentations, and 0.3 per cent of total presentations) had illicit drug use in their ‘character text narrative’. Ninety- one per cent of those providing information about their COB were from English speaking backgrounds. More than 50 per cent of ‘preferred language’ data was missing for those entered as illicit drug users. Heroin was the illicit drug most frequently reported by people from both CLDB and MESB (89 per cent and 85 per cent respectively).

Victoria Police (LEAP) statistics

…previously police concentrated on the effects of alcohol on crime, and on cannabis…now heroin is the number one priority.

Per 100,000 population, Victoria now has the highest heroin-related arrest rate in Australia…

…drug offence statistics reflect a disproportionate number of Vietnamese-born people…[this] may be related to apparent police focus on heroin-related offences in areas of high Vietnamese residency.

There has been a significant change in Victoria Police statistical patterns for illicit drugs over the previous few years. There has been an enormous increase in heroin- related offences and a decrease in cannabis offences. Whereas previously police concentrated mostly on the effects of alcohol on crime, and on cannabis, there has now been a change in focus so that heroin is the number one priority (senior Victoria Police officers). To a large degree, drug offences are detected directly by police as a result of police initiative, as opposed to having the crime reported to them by the public. (This view is supported by the key informants and by the 97.5 per cent clearance rate recorded for drug offences.) In the case of drug crime, the figures to a large degree reflect police activity and focus. (It should also be noted that police focus, priority and activity may be influenced by government and/or public concerns.) The increased focus is clearly reflected in recent changes in the statistical pattern. For example, total arrests for trafficking heroin have increased in Victoria from 348 in 1994–95 to 928 in 1996–97; and 1,857 in 1997–98. Per 100,000 population, Victoria now has the highest heroin-related arrest rate in Australia, which is more than double that of NSW. The high priority of heroin-related offences in Victoria is also illustrated by the enormous decrease in cannabis-related crime statistics.

There were 9,034 reported cannabis offences in Victoria in 1997–98, which is a drop of 53.1 per cent from 1995–96 when 19,210 cannabis offences were recorded in Victoria (ABCI 1999: 20). Of the eight Australian jurisdictions, Victoria had the second lowest rate for cannabis offences per 100,000 population in 1997–98. This rate was similar to that of the previous year, but represents a considerable decrease from 1995–96 when the rate was 417.38 (ABCI 1999: 21).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 9 Victoria Police drug offence statistics reflect the involvement of a disproportionate number of Vietnamese-born people. The explanation for this may be because of several interrelated factors, including the apparent police focus on heroin-related offences in areas of high Vietnamese residency.

The explanation may also be related to the fact that the Vietnamese community has a very high proportion of its members in the peak offending age group. Seventy- four per cent of the Vietnamese-born community in Victoria is aged between 15 and 44 years, compared with 46 per cent of the Australian-born population. Ninety- two per cent of alleged offenders processed by police for drug trafficking/cultivation/manufacture offences are in the age group 15–44 years, and 96 per cent of offenders processed for drug use/possession offences are in the 15–44 year age group.

Another reason for the high representation of Vietnamese-born people in drug offence statistics may be due to the fact that they are a recently arrived migrant group, and ‘country of birth’ is used as the definer of ethnicity in the statistics. People of Vietnamese background show up much more than people from other ethnic communities who have been in Australia for a longer time. This is because these other communities tend to have the greatest proportion of their young people (in the peak offending age group) incorporated into the ‘born in Australia’ category.

Whether the drug offending by people from the Vietnamese community is actually any higher than other communities is very much open to debate. Certainly police crime statistics are not a good indicator of actual offending, as they may focus on police activity, as is discussed in the body of the report. To a large degree police are the gateway to the criminal justice system. As such, statistics from Juvenile Justice services and prisons also reflect the high proportion of Vietnamese-born in their statistics, as the offenders pass through the criminal justice system. What is apparent from the Juvenile Justice statistics (and it is suspected in the prison statistics too— which are yet to be finalised) is that Vietnamese drug offenders are less likely than their Australian counterparts to also have been involved with offences of violence and property. It is also suspected that a majority of the Vietnamese drug offenders being processed are involved in the lower end of the drug trafficking chain. Nevertheless, these offenders are considered by many in the justice system to be receiving custodial sentences at a much earlier stage of their involvement with the criminal justice system than do offenders of Australian background. This may represent serious inequity in the criminal justice system (Court and Juvenile Justice key informants). Certainly this area is deserving of further investigation.

Juvenile Justice Client Information System

The majority of Juvenile Justice clients with drug offences are Australian (51 per cent). This compares with 26 per cent who are Vietnamese.

It appears ‘Vietnamese’ drug offenders are much less likely than ‘Australian’ offenders to have committed violence or property offences.

10 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Of the total 1,466 Juvenile Justice clients in 1997–98, three hundred and sixty-one (24 per cent of all clients) had been charged with one or more drug offence. The majority of Juvenile Justice clients with drug offences are ‘Australian’ (51 per cent), compared with 26 per cent ‘Vietnamese’.

A large majority of the total ‘Vietnamese’ Juvenile Justice clients (84 per cent) have committed drug offences. The analysis has shown that ‘Vietnamese’ drug offence clients are much less likely than ‘Australian’ clients to have concurrent property or violence offences. Only 17 (or 16 per cent of total Vietnamese clients) have a history of drug offences, concurrent violence offences and/or concurrent property offences. It appears that ‘Vietnamese’ drug offenders are much less likely than ‘Australian’ offenders to have committed violence or property offences. (Note that the comprehensiveness and accuracy of offences recorded on the database rely on the clerk of courts, who may list only the major offences, particularly where there are multiple offences. Therefore the figures reported will be an under-representation of offences).

Prisoner Information Management System

Victoria has the lowest rate of imprisonment for drug consumption in Australia…usually resulting in a community-based order rather than imprisonment.

On the night of 30 June 1998, Victoria had 2,422 prisoners in custody. This represents the second lowest per capita rate of imprisonment in Australia. The rate is almost half that of New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia—and of Australia as a whole. Victoria has the highest proportion of secure custody prisoners. Victoria has the lowest rate of imprisonment for drug consumption in Australia, with these offences usually resulting in a community-based order rather than imprisonment.

In 1998 the number of Victorian prisoners with ‘traffic drug’ as their most serious offence increased dramatically in 1998 to 254 prisoners. This compares with 176 prisoners in the previous year, and is an increase of nearly 50 per cent. The only ‘country of birth’ category which showed a consistent rise in numbers and proportions was Vietnam. The number and rate of Vietnamese-born prisoners rose steadily from 22 prisoners in 1989 (0.5 per cent of the total prison population), until 1997, when it rose to 98 prisoners. It then doubled in 1998 to 139 prisoners, or 5.1 per cent of the total prison population.

The rise in the number of prisoners and offenders on community-based orders who are born in Vietnam is consistent with the enormous increase in heroin-related arrests by police in Victoria and the concentration of Victoria Police on areas of high Vietnamese population, including Footscray, Frankston, Springvale and Dandenong (ABCI 1999: 39). The figures are also consistent with the apparent trend in courts to sentence higher proportions of drug traffic offenders to incarceration than any other category of offender (Criminal Justice Statistics and Research Unit, 1998).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 11 Community-Based Court Dispositions (OASIS) Overall, the patterns found in the OASIS database mirror those of the police, prisons and Juvenile Justice databases. Vietnamese-born offenders are more likely than any other group to be in the criminal justice system as a result of drug offending. They have a higher rate of drug-only offences; they tend to have committed fewer violence-related offences or other types of offending; and they are of a younger age than are offenders of other backgrounds.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victorian Census Data 1996

…youth unemployment among the MESB compared with CLDB was lower (16 per cent and 29 per cent respectively).

The high rate of youth not in the labour force may be a result of some being engaged in studies, house duties or family responsibilities. However, it can be equally assumed there may be ‘hidden’ unemployment among this group…

Over 40 per cent of youth born in Vietnam indicated poor English proficiency… [for] those from Laos, Cambodia and Turkey the rate was approximately 50 per cent.

As a result of the examination of the literature it became clear the present study should examine the socioeconomic variables which may make particular ethnic communities more vulnerable to illicit drug use. A comprehensive examination was made of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data related to ethnic communities.

In 1996, the combined unemployment rate for those aged between 15–24 years (youth) from mainly English speaking backgrounds (MESB) and non-English speaking backgrounds (CLDBs), was 16 per cent. For those aged 25 to 64 years (adults), the combined unemployment rate for MESB and CLDB was eight per cent. Examined separately, youth unemployment among the MESB compared with CLDB was lower (16 per cent and 29 per cent respectively).

A similar pattern was found among the adult population of both MESBs and CLDBs (seven per cent and 13 per cent respectively). Although population numbers were small from Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan, over 50 per cent of their youth labour force was unemployed. Youth unemployment rates for those from Indonesia, Lebanon, Turkey, Vietnam, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania were above 35 per cent. In comparison, the unemployment rate for Australian born was 15 per cent.

MESB youth not in the labour force was 33 per cent, compared with 60 per cent among those from CLDBs. A smaller, though still significant disparity was found among the adult population (22 per cent for MESBs and 33 per cent for CLDBs). The high rate of youth not in the labour force may be a result of some being engaged in studies, household duties or family responsibilities. However, it can be equally assumed that there may be ‘hidden’ unemployment among this group, where many

12 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement would like to work but are no longer actively seeking work, and therefore not in the unemployment statistics. Local government areas (LGAs), which had high concentrations of CLDB populations, had significantly higher levels of unemployment among the CLDB residents compared with MESB residents living in the same areas. The largest disparity was in the LGA of Melbourne, where the total MESB unemployment rate was 15 per cent. This compares with 39 per cent for the total CLDB population.

Among those who arrived in Australia between 1991–1996, approximately 20 per cent from CLDBs spoke another language and their English was poorly spoken or not at all. In the same period (of arrival) over 40 per cent of youth born in Vietnam indicated poor English proficiency, and for those from Laos, Cambodia and Turkey the rate was approximately 50 per cent.

For Vietnamese and Turkish youth with poor English and looking for employment either full-time or part-time it was higher (26 per cent and 30 per cent respectively). While poor English proficiency was relatively high for youth of CLDBs, there was nevertheless a significant percentage of youth from CLDBs attending University or other tertiary institutions, compared with those from MESB (29 per cent and 14 per cent respectively). The proportion of people born in Vietnam attending tertiary education was 25 per cent, compared with the Australian-born rate of only 14 per cent.

Key Informant Interviews

[Although] key informants…considered that the high visibility of the Asian community had contributed to a community perception these groups were more involved with illicit drugs than others…this was not necessarily the case.

Cannabis, heroin, amphetamines and hallucinogens were considered to be the most commonly used illicit drugs…

Sixty key informant interviews were conducted with senior people from criminal justice and health, welfare and drug treatment services, between September 1998 and April 1999. The interviews were conducted one-on-one, or one-on-two, in a semi- structured format. People were encouraged to speak frankly on the basis of their own personal opinions and observations. As many of the opinions from criminal justice were contrary to the public positions their various organisations have had to take, agreement to participate was on the understanding that no comments would be attributed to identifiable individuals. Many of the opinions expressed were based on perceptions and direct observations, while other comments were based on knowledge of internal statistics.

Key informants from both health/drug treatment and criminal justice considered that the high visibility of the ‘Asian’ community had contributed to a community perception that these groups were more involved with illicit drugs than others, although according to key informants, this was not necessarily the case. Age of starting illicit drugs was considered to be mostly during adolescence. Polydrug use

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 13 was considered to be widespread depending upon availability and price. Cannabis, heroin, amphetamines and hallucinogens were considered to be the most commonly used illicit drugs, and steroid misuse was also mentioned. The most commonly misused pharmaceutical drugs were considered to be Valium, Temazepam, Serepax and Rohypnol.

Many key informants from health, welfare/drug treatment and criminal justice considered that more imaginative, radical and innovative solutions—such as safe injecting places and prescription heroin—should be trialled because of the obvious failures and flaws of the current approach.

Health, Welfare and Drug Treatment Services

Common themes relating to illicit drug issues…affecting…CLDBs include: high rates of youth unemployment…poverty; drug trafficking as a viable alternative employment…increased accessibility of illicit drugs; and coping with refugee experiences and life trauma.

…drugs were an issue in many communities, although no more than for the wider Australian community.

…[there was] unanimous agreement that the current approaches of drug treatment services were not meeting the needs of CLDBs.

…a comprehensive educational approach was imperative for a better understanding of illicit drug use and addiction…

Key informants from health, welfare and drug treatment services considered that reasons for involvement in illicit drugs were complex. Common themes relating to illicit drug issues which are affecting many people from CLDBs include: high rates of youth unemployment and low job opportunities; poverty; drug trafficking as a viable alternative employment; lack of effective parenting skills; increased accessibility of illicit drugs; and coping with refugee experiences and life trauma. (These issues were also mentioned by a number of criminal justice key informants.) According to key informants, the apparent dismantling of settlement services, educational difficulties and racism also caused people to feel marginalised.

Key informants thought drugs were an issue in many communities, although no more so than for the wider Australian community. Key informants believed there was a high rate of denial about the drug problem and widespread ignorance and confusion about illicit drugs and drug treatment services generally. (The perception that CLDBs denied they had a problem was contrary to the findings of the community consultations.) The concept of harm reduction was considered to be able to be successfully understood and accepted by drug users from all CLDBs. However, it was considered that the perceptions of the wider ethnic communities were that harm reduction promoted drug use and that the only acceptable outcome of treatment for drug use was abstinence.

14 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Key informants thought that clients had unrealistic expectations of drug service providers and that there was often ignorance and misunderstanding about the complexity of illicit drug use and issues of addiction generally. People from both CLDBs and MESBs expected ‘quick fix’ solutions to their long-standing problems. It was considered that there were not enough service/treatment options available for people, given the complexity of the issues, and that what was available was too narrow in focus. This was considered to be a significant reason for the repeated failures and relapses observed by many of the key informants.

There was unanimous agreement among the interviewees that the current approaches of drug treatment services were not meeting the needs of CLDBs. Reasons for this were numerous, including: language difficulties; layout and design of the clinic; inappropriate food; lack of support during the process; lack of information about the process; prolonged waiting times (also mentioned by criminal justice key informants); fear of a lack of confidentiality; and an increasing awareness of treatment failures by the drug users themselves.

It was considered that services were under-utilised by people from CLDBs because there was ignorance that the services existed, or because people were ashamed to seek help outside the family, or because they were uncertain of the legal ramifications. Many key informants had been told by CLDBs they did know what services were available, and that they were reluctant to use the services because they perceived them to be inflexible and insensitive to their cultural needs.

Most of the interviewees believed a comprehensive educational approach was imperative for a better understanding of illicit drug use and addiction, not only for drug users themselves, but also for parents, the wider community and for all health and welfare service providers.

The involvement and incorporation of families into the drug treatment process were considered to be vital to the success of treatment. Home detoxification, with appropriate support, was considered by a number of key informants to be a ‘good’ approach, which should be expanded. Most key informants recommended community development strategies should be implemented based on primary health care principles incorporating CLDB drug users.

Criminal Justice

…the illicit drug market was never going to be eliminated.

Police considered themselves to be ill equipped to tackle the drug problem…

…the reasons for the drug use were not addressed and post-detoxification support services were not adequately provided…

…a considerable concern [that] young drug users and low level street dealers— particularly those of Asian backgrounds—were not receiving humane responses or adequate services.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 15 The view of all criminal justice key informants was that the illicit drug market was never going to be eliminated. A number of reasons for this were put forward, including that it was impossible to control ‘pleasure’ by legal means. While police and intelligence agencies have to observe jurisdictional boundaries and make decisions based on how much operations will cost, the importers and higher level drug distributors were extremely mobile, well financed and not bound by any rules or procedures. Lack of coordination and information sharing within agencies and between jurisdictions, were also considered to be major obstacles.

Police considered themselves to be ill equipped to tackle the drug problem and unable to keep abreast of the volume of calls and information being received. They felt they lacked the resources, the appropriate specific legislation and 24-hour drug services to which they could refer people.

(Police felt that this last issue was forcing them to evaluate if someone has a health problem—a role they were uncomfortable about.) Utilisation of existing powers was considered problematic. For example, electronic surveillance was often needed for the more serious drug offenders but justification for its use needed considerable evidence that was often impossible to obtain without electronic surveillance.

Police and court key informants believed that police needed the power to take people found under the influence of heroin or other illicit drugs into protective custody (that is, to a holding facility). If this power existed it was believed that young people could be placed in a safer situation, and their details could be taken down and their parents notified. This was a strategy considered to be helpful for many young people with alcohol problems where this power existed.

There was considerable scepticism about the efficacy of the current drug treatment services, and concern that there was a lack of services to refer people to, particularly after hours when most of the drug activity occurred. This resulted in police often being tied up for extended periods with a drug user and unable to get back out on the road. Services were considered to be Anglo-Saxon and middle class in their orientation and generally not appropriate for adolescents.

Two of the most serious gaps in the treatment of drug users considered, were that the reasons for the drug use were not addressed, and that post-detoxification support services—which might assist people to keep away from a lifestyle with illicit drugs after detoxification—were not adequate.

Law enforcement key informants expressed considerable concern that young drug users and low level street dealers—particularly those of Asian backgrounds—were not receiving humane responses or adequate services. ‘Asian’ drug dealers were often considered to have little or no history of violence or property offending, and yet they are entering the criminal justice system at a much higher level than are offenders from other backgrounds. This may be because of the higher penalties attached to drug dealing. Sentences were considered to be frequently more severe for low level ‘Asian’ drug trafficking offenders than for Anglo offenders, who most typically presented at court with long histories of violence and property offending committed over extended periods of time. The humanity of placing young, non-

16 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement violent men into adult remand centres and adult prisons was considered highly questionable and needing urgent attention.

Almost all key informants believed that illicit drug users should be treated as a health rather than as a criminal problem; even though a number of these people may be involved in some low level street dealing to support their own habit. A shift in focus would enable criminal justice to concentrate on the higher level dealers, rather than being under pressure to focus predominantly on the more visible, low level street dealers and users, as was currently the case. A number of key informants thought that most of the harms associated with drug use were largely due to its illegality, and that providing heroin to those users who were addicted and safe places to use the drug was sensible. Some key informants were at a loss to understand why there was such enormous reluctance to introduce safe houses and heroin on prescription. The only thing that was considered to be realistically achievable in controlling the damage of illicit drugs was to implement strategies designed to shape the drug market in such a way that it did least damage.

Ethnic Community Consultations

All ethnic groups thought drugs were a problem in their community.

All communities consulted said they had little or no knowledge of the existence of specialist drug treatment services.

…communities perceived drug services to be fragmented and poorly coordinated with other services, particularly ethnic based services.

…ethnic communities would understand and accept harm reduction, but only if benefits were clearly and comprehensively explained to them.

Articles and programs about drug issues rarely appear in ethnic newspapers and radio, and seldom gave any depth to the issues.

The community consultation phase has included two ethnic community leaders’ information forums, fifteen community consultations, and focus group discussions with eight different CLDBs. The eight communities chosen to participate were from Italian, Greek, Turkish, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Timorese, Somali and Eritrean backgrounds. These communities were considered to cover a range of sizes and various settlement time periods in Australia. Time and resource constraints prevented any further communities being selected for involvement. The community consultations and focus group discussions were conducted during June and July 1999. It needs to be emphasised that the following text is a summary of what the communities told the researchers:

All ethnic groups thought drugs were a problem in their community. Participants from the Eritrean, Greek, Lebanese and Vietnamese communities considered that the problem was severe in their communities. Participants from the Italian and Turkish communities were divided about the severity of the problem. People from the

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 17 Eritrean, Somali and Timorese communities thought the drug problem was less in their communities than other communities, but the impact was probably greater because their community was so small. People from Greek and Turkish communities thought the illicit drug problem was the same in their community as in other communities. People from Lebanese and Vietnamese communities tended to think the illicit drug problem was the same or greater in their communities. Views of people from the Italian community varied.

The most at risk groups for using drugs were considered to be young males. Heroin and cannabis were mentioned as being used within all ethnic communities. Reasons for using illicit drugs included: peer pressure; management of psychological difficulties; poverty; lack of discipline for the young people; unrealistic pressures on children to succeed; lack of communication in families; lack of effective parenting skills and supervision; broken families; generational/cultural conflict; low self- esteem; unemployment; low career prospects; living in neighbourhoods where there is visible drug use; difficulties at school; lack of life goals; gambling; boredom; escapism; ignorance of the dangers; laws not strict enough; and male shows of ‘bravado’.

All communities consulted said they had little or no knowledge of the existence of specialist drug treatment services. Some individuals within a number of communities had heard of drug treatment services, however expressed a lack of faith that the services were of any use. People from the Turkish, Lebanese, Vietnamese and Greek communities said it was common for parents to send a drug using child back to their home country (the researchers were not able to determine this action numerically). Some people of Somali background also considered this option.

Obstacles to accessing services were considered by communities to be due to: difficulty in admitting that there was a problem; the fact that users’ families were perceived to be excluded by the services; difficulties with communication and language; cultural inappropriateness and insensitivity by the drug services; and perceptions that there might be a lack of confidentiality. A number of communities mentioned that they perceived drug services to be fragmented and poorly coordinated with other services, particularly ethnic based services. Others thought that drug services were too bureaucratic.

Many communities mentioned that the government should be more creative and flexible with their approaches to illicit drugs and that they should be trying multiple solutions because of the complexity of the problem. A number of suggestions were made by the various communities about how drug services could be improved. A frequently mentioned suggestion was that support services after detoxification were essential. Many communities mentioned that they considered pamphlets (even in another language) to be useless unless they were part of an education campaign involving personal interaction and explanation. Some communities have attempted to address the problem of illicit drug use in their communities; however, these efforts were considered to be sparse and sporadic.

About half of the community representatives understood the concept of harm reduction and agreed with it. Most of these were ethnic welfare and health workers.

18 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement After a full explanation of harm reduction was provided to those who had not heard of it, or did not understand the concept, most agreed with it. Participants from all the communities consulted thought that their wider community did not understand the concept of harm reduction. Most believed their wider ethnic communities would understand and accept harm reduction but only if the benefits were clearly and comprehensively explained to them.

Most community participants already knew of and supported needle and syringe programs (NSP), although many were not fully aware of the objectives behind them in relation to preventing bloodborne viruses. Many thought that NSP should be only a small part of a bigger response to illicit drugs. Many community participants thought their wider community might be less accepting of NSP. However, it was considered that if information and education, which took into account the perspectives and prejudices of the various ethnic groups, was provided, most participants in the wider ethnic communities would support NSP.

Except in the case of young people, people from CLDBs who are proficient in English nevertheless still consider ethnic newspapers to be a more important source of information than mainstream English language newspapers. Articles and programs about drug issues were considered to appear rarely in ethnic newspapers and radio and seldom gave any depth to the issues. There was widespread support by the older, more established ethnic groups for inclusion of ethnic identification in government and other databases. These communities found it impossible to obtain any statistics about the size or level of involvement in illicit drugs by their second and third generation youth population because they were included in the category ‘born in Australia’. Such information was considered important for program development and for ensuring that funding goes where it is needed.

Research Findings

…while there is a severe drug problem among sections of the Vietnamese community…it is directly related to the degree of socioeconomic disadvantage they experience. That is, the greater the disadvantage, the higher the likelihood of an illicit drug problem.

As a community, the Vietnamese experience a higher degree of socioeconomic disadvantage than does the general Victorian population.

…illicit drugs are a problem, particularly among the young…[for] responses to have any expectation of success, then each interrelated vulnerability must be addressed in a simultaneous, integrated and comprehensive manner.

The following findings have been identified after an extensive examination of the issue of illicit drugs in CLDBs. The findings are based on the perceptions, observations and knowledge of workers in the fields of health, ethnic welfare and drug treatment services. The findings also include the views of a wide range of criminal justice areas and ethnic community members. The recommendations and

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 19 broader issues listed below are those considered to be of most value in addressing drug-related issues among CLDBs. These are, to a large degree, supported by the literature. Many important issues for policy makers have been identified by this research, but many of these are beyond the current project’s brief. Therefore, findings have been divided into recommendations and other important issues that have a wider scope and may be addressed at a later stage.

There is a widely held perception that people from the Vietnamese community are involved with illicit drugs to a greater degree than are other communities in Victoria. The evidence from health and criminal justice databases suggests that this perception is correct. However, a number of deficiencies in the databases—and the fact that the Vietnamese are more visible, and thus more easily targeted than other groups— means that it is impossible to say confidently to what degree their involvement with illicit drugs is higher than that of other communities. What can be said with confidence is that the Vietnamese community does have a high rate of involvement— especially by young Vietnamese—in both the use and the sale of heroin in Melbourne. Like any community though, involvement in illicit drug use is directly related to the level of socioeconomic disadvantage and level of exclusion from the legitimate economy experienced within that community.

It needs to be emphasised that all this evidence is, in a sense, indirect and subject to major biases. In our investigations we have found that there are several factors underlying and influencing this perception. A first factor is the commonly held belief that as drugs come from overseas, there must be greater involvement of people whose origins are overseas. The criminal intelligence key informants interviewed in this study confirm that this is not necessarily the case. The media magnifies such perceptions—that people from Vietnamese backgrounds are more involved with illicit drugs—through their focus on the Vietnamese community more than any other group. In part this is influenced by the greater visibility of drug offending by Vietnamese: by virtue of their ‘Asian’ appearance; the fact that have a high profile in some geographical areas; and that they tend to sell drugs in public places (unlike others who may make their transactions in clubs, bars, private homes and the like).

Their high visibility, together with their role as the focus of media reporting and explanation, and the resultant public concern, are perhaps also reasons why Vietnamese have increasingly become the subject of police attention. Police arrest rates for drug offenders of Vietnamese background have increased more than for any other group in the past three years and, as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system, this has led to their over-representation in the criminal justice system as a whole.

This investigation has found that, while there is a severe drug problem among sections of the Vietnamese community, it appears that it is no more or less than any other community—whether from other CLDBs or English speaking backgrounds. It is directly related to the degree of socioeconomic disadvantage they experience—the greater the disadvantage, the higher the likelihood of an illicit drug problem. As a community, the Vietnamese experience a higher degree of socioeconomic disadvantage than does the general Victorian population.

20 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement What appears to make people of any cultural background vulnerable to illicit drug use (and subsequently vulnerable to participating in street level selling of drugs and other revenue raising crime) is young age, level of peer influence on behaviour, high level of youth unemployment and low levels of literacy. For people who are new migrants there are additional vulnerabilities related to coming to terms with the effects of refugee trauma, lack of proficiency in English, trying to establish themselves in a different culture and in a climate of diminishing opportunities for unskilled labour, and cultural and generational conflict. Most of these vulnerabilities are complex issues. Determining which factors are more influential than others is difficult. What is known is that these factors all contribute to make young people vulnerable to illicit drugs, and that the factors are often closely interrelated.

The conclusion of this research is that illicit drugs are a problem within the entire community, particularly among the young. If responses are to have any hope of success then each interrelated vulnerability must be addressed in a simultaneous, integrated and comprehensive manner.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 21

Recommendations

Recommendations

Community and Parent Education and Information ƒ Extensive CLD parent education and information programs (similar to the Department of Education, Employment and Training ‘Backgrounds Program’) should be established to inform parents about illicit drugs and addictive behaviours, the complex issues which lead to addiction, to explain harm reduction, and to provide assistance to families to develop strategies to overcome cultural/generational conflicts.

ƒ Information about drug services and drug-related issues should be provided to community leaders, bilingual general practitioners and ethnic welfare providers within CLDBs. These groups should be consulted and used as advocates in the development and promotion of drug services. Harm reduction strategies should target their communities.

ƒ Undertake extensive targeting of ethnic newspapers and radio and ethnic newsletters to get information out to ethnic groups, particularly to parents. Ethnic media should be encouraged and assisted to provide balanced and informative information about illicit drug issues and available services.

ƒ Informing CLDBs about the risks of sending their drug using child to their home country in the hope they will stop using illicit drugs.

ƒ Service and communication strategies should take into account the enormous shame associated with drug use within CLDBs, and emphasise professional confidentiality.

ƒ Young offenders of ethnic background should be provided with court orders in their native language as well as English so that they, and their parents, can be clear about the court order’s contents and requirements.

ƒ Information and education should be provided about strategies that can assist new migrants/refugees who are parents. Support should be provided to them in their parenting role, particularly for families with adolescent boys.

Harm Reduction ƒ The concept of harm reduction should be promoted to CLDBs as an interim measure while people are trying to stop using illicit drugs. The important and successful role harm reduction is playing in reducing the spread of bloodborne viruses and other harms associated with drug use should be emphasised.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 25 Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: Resources and Services ƒ Ethnic communities should be provided with resources to enable them to use their own community members as drug educators.

ƒ A central state drug resource and education/training centre should be established. This will improve access to services and information. Services provided should include: telephone advice for ethnic health and welfare workers; bilingual information; networking facilitation; and training and resources for ethnic community development and education.

ƒ Ethnic welfare agencies should be provided with a bilingual drug liaison officers whose role would be to access drug information and resources, provide advice and referral and form partnerships with drug treatment services, including case management where required.

Treatment Services ƒ Individual drug treatment services should form interagency partnerships and establish working protocols with ethnic welfare service providers to ensure seamless service to drug users and their families from CLDBs.

ƒ Individual drug treatment services should be continuously improving management strategies to improve the services’ understanding of the needs of clients and tangibly improve the flexibility of service provision to meet the needs of clients from CLDBs (perhaps implementing this through service level agreements with contracted services).

ƒ Drug treatment services should be required to record electronically individual clients’ demographic and other relevant details (including the recommended culture/ethnicity variables), and conduct half-yearly analyses to identify the size and nature of the client base.

Further Research ƒ Research should be conducted on data from the Direct Line telephone drug information service and the Drug of Dependence Information System (Methadone Registry) to establish the extent of second-generation CLDBs’ involvement in illicit drugs and their social profile.

ƒ Resources should be provided to enable criminal justice and health databases to be analysed, and the results made widely available for the purposes of better management, planning and service improvement, rather than merely for accounting purposes.

26 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Data Collection ƒ All health, criminal justice and other government databases should contain at least the following two variables, together, to identify ethnicity: ‘country of birth’ and ‘self-identified cultural/ethnic identity’.

ƒ Managers in charge of each of all criminal justice and health databases should be given an explanation and information about the need for ethnicity information that captures second generation CLDBs.

ƒ Managers of all criminal justice and health databases should be encouraged to feed information back to their data collectors to encourage accuracy and completeness.

Further Recommendations The researchers found an enormous amount of interest in the current study and a strong desire, particularly from health and welfare and criminal justice participants, for copies of the final report. Therefore, it is recommended that:

ƒ The final report of Drugs in a Multicultural Community should be made available to all participants and be widely disseminated, particularly among drug treatment services, ethnic welfare agencies and criminal justice agencies.

ƒ The various specific issues arising from the project should be submitted to criminology and health journals in order to increase the level of knowledge, awareness and debate in the field.

Other important issues for policy makers:

ƒ Bilingual outreach workers who work with drug users should be employed on three-year contracts to enable skills development and continuity of care for clients, particularly those from CLDBs.

ƒ Drug treatment services should be expanded to meet the demand, including expansion of services specifically designed for adolescents.

ƒ As a result of the relatively large numbers of Vietnamese young people using heroin, treatment services need to have a multicultural focus that meets the specific needs of Vietnamese people and those from other CLDBs.

ƒ Supported accommodation should be expanded and made more available for adolescents not living at home.

ƒ Post-detoxification services should be provided to assist people, and their families to develop coping strategies.

ƒ Ongoing counselling should be provided to assist people to develop coping strategies after detoxification, and to assist their families to cope.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 27 ƒ Greater utilisation should be made of bilingual case managers in the treatment of drug users. This is particularly so in cases where clients have a range of complex issues (some of which may be related to cultural issues).

ƒ Drug treatment services should take a less clinical and more holistic approach to drug treatment. They should continue to develop and implement other treatment options that better meet the needs of the client base, such as the expansion of home detoxification programs and programs that actively involve the parents/loved ones.

ƒ A service management and continuous improvement framework should be developed for implementation by all drug services to assist in their ability to monitor and evaluate their services and continuously improve their services to meet the different needs and expectations of clients

ƒ Alternative, flexible education centres should be established to cater for young people who are behind in their studies in mainstream schools and/or are unable to cope with the discipline and routine of traditional schools. Education should be made available until the young person reaches year 12 standard or until they turn 25 years of age, whichever is the sooner.

ƒ Bilingual workers should be used extensively to assist migrant parents understand:

• How the school system works and what they can expect

• How they can best support their child with their school work at home

• Their child’s progress

• What careers are realistically available to their child and the difficulties of the job market

• General parenting skills, including understanding the cultural differences their children will be exposed to and how to lessen their impact.

ƒ As a matter of urgency, a youth remand centre (for young men aged 18 to 25 years) should be established for non-violent young offenders.

ƒ Research should be conducted of the background characteristics of people of Vietnamese background incarcerated in adult and juvenile facilities for drug offences, to establish if their treatment in the criminal justice system is equitable and desirable.

ƒ Magistrates Courts should be provided with bilingual workers who can explain the legal and court proceedings, the nature and meaning of the dispositions and the seriousness of a repeat offence.

ƒ Legislation is needed to allow police to take drug-affected persons into protective custody if found to be under the apparent influence of a drug in a public place, and where they may be a danger to themselves or others.

28 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement ƒ Drug users, including lower level drug dealers/users, should be treated primarily as a health responsibility. This would prevent greater harms occurring and would allow criminal justice to concentrate their resources on higher level drug dealers and importers.

ƒ A number of different strategies, including ‘safe injecting’ places and heroin on prescription, should be trialled to address the issue of illicit drug addiction.

ƒ English language classes should be available, free of charge, to all new migrants for a number of years after settlement.

ƒ In locations where there is a significant proportion of school age children of new migrant parents, homework centres should be established which involve both the child and the parents.

ƒ Job training and assisted job seeking programs should be established for the children (15–25 years) of new migrants to assist them into employment.

On arrival in Australia there should be clarification to new migrants/refugee parents of the difference between reasonable chastisement of children, and what would constitute an assault, unlawful imprisonment, etc.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 29

Literature Health and Social Impact

Literature—Health and Social Impact

Defining Ethnicity Ethnicity is closely linked with culture and identity and has long been acknowledged as a complex phenomenon. A working definition of an ‘ethnic group’ is where a portion of the population holds in common a shared culture or tradition that is not shared by the population as a whole (De Vos 1982; Barthwell et al, 1995). What sets one ethnic group apart from others can be primarily based on shared cultural traditions or characteristics. These shared traditions or characteristics include religious beliefs, certain cultural practices, language, nationality, a sense of historical continuity and common ancestry or place of origin (De Vos 1982; Encel 1981; Cheung, 1990–91; Jenkins, 1997).

While ethnicity involves group membership, it can also imply cultural differences that may (or may not) exist within the group. This supports a theory elicited from the literature that an ethnic community is not necessarily an ethnically homogeneous entity (Cheung, 1993; Barthwell et al, 1995). Considering the complexity of ‘ethnicity’, many of the so-called indicators of ethnicity used—or more importantly, not used— in databases fail to provide researchers with adequate information to determine accurately a person’s ethnic or cultural orientation.

The problem of accurately determining ethnicity is further complicated by an individual’s level of identification with a particular ethnicity, which can range from a weak to a strong association (Smith, 1980). When an individual identifies with two cultures, whether strongly or weakly, ethnic identity may become multi-layered, possibly resulting in inaccurate information collected from databases about different ethnic groups (Collins, 1996). Identifying with a particular ethnicity does not necessarily mean an individual, or ethnic subculture, is representative of all members of that ethnic group. It must be emphasised that generalisation of any research results from databases to all members of an ethnic group should not occur. The failure to acknowledge the heterogeneity of ethnic groups could pose a source of measurement error, which may obscure significant differences between and within certain ethnic groups (Collins, 1992). Conscientiously avoiding what Trimble (1990– 91) calls the ‘ethnic gloss’ will increase validity and reliability of research findings.

The common definition of ‘ethnicity’ within an Australian context stems from the concept that those with an ethnic background are different from that of the majority—the wider Anglo-Australian population—that is, those who do not originate from the British Islands nor embrace either Anglo-Saxon or Celtic ethnicity. The indigenous Aboriginal population, while clearly constituting a distinct minority group, is not categorised as an ‘ethnic minority’, largely because of their unique status as the first peoples of Australia (Zelinaka, 1995).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 33 Ethnicity and Databases Many databases incorporate a range of variables to elicit ethnicity. These variables include: race, place of origin, language and, albeit rarely, an individual’s perception of ethnic identity. However, many of these variables are flawed when used in isolation because there is a frequent and pervasive lack of understanding of the complexity of ethnicity, as alluded to above.

Some databases have used ‘racial appearance’ as a variable to suggest an ethnic group categorisation. Race involves physical characteristics, including (for social classification) skin colour (Cheung, 1990–91). The shortcoming with this variable is that people of the same race can actually belong to different ethnic groups and therefore are likely to have different cultural values and behaviours (Cheung, 1990– 91; Almog et al, 1993). Some databases, such as those used for the Australian notification of HIV, are often grossly over-inclusive with ethnic/racial backgrounds (that is, Asian, African, European), totally ignoring the diversity that exists within each different ethnic/racial group. (Almog et al, 1993). It is precisely because of these highly flawed factors that race in itself should no longer be considered an ethnic variable.

The ‘place of origin’, commonly referred to as ‘country of birth’, is another variable widely used to determine a person’s ethnic identity. However, the literature disputes this variable as an accurate indicator of ethnicity, since ‘country of birth’ implies that country’s cultural values and norms belong to that person (Cheung, 1993). Some databases do, however, inquire about the birthplace of the mother and father as a more in-depth indicator of ethnicity, even though there is no guarantee that there will be a continuum of cultural retention and practice. For second, third or even fourth generation ethnic groups the relevance of their parent’s county of birth is dubious. There may be absolute immersion and maintenance of the parent’s culture; there may be a possible rejection of the cultural and ethnic heritage of the parents; or, as is not uncommon, there may be a development of a bicultural identity (Cahill and Ewen, 1982).

Language is another variable often cited as a major component and characteristic feature in the maintenance of a separate ethnic identity (De Vos, 1982). Many databases collect information regarding primary language or a language spoken other than English in an attempt to determine a person’s ethnic orientation. This is in view of Rissel and Rowling’s (1991) suggestion that the frequency with which the native tongue is spoken at home reflects the degree to which an original culture has been retained, or the extent to which a person has been acculturated to the norms of Australian-born people.

In recent years questions regarding perception of ethnicity or ‘ethnic identification’ has been used by some databases as a variable to determine a person’s ethnicity. Ethnic identification asks that a person express a feeling of psychological attachment to a particular group on the basis of cultural origin or heritage (De Vos, 1982). As a social identifier, ethnicity may be collective as well as individual, and may be formed initially through social interaction and then internalised through a process of self- identification (Spathopoulas and Betram, 1991; Jenkins, 1997). A major limitation of

34 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement this variable, as suggested by Cheung (1993), is the fact that a person may not be able to identify easily with a particular ethnic culture the further removed they are from the first generation.

The dimensions of ethnic identification may be multilayered, and each layer of identification may function independently (Kim et al, 1992). It is important to remember that the retention of, and identification with, an ethnic culture by an ethnic person is not a static quality and remains a dynamic process (Cheung, 1990–91; Romios and Ross, 1993; Morrisey, 1994). As suggested by Trimble (1990–91), ethnic identification changes over time depending on varied social circumstances or cultural contexts. This needs to be recognised when analysing ethnicity data.

Many databases provide little opportunity to assess ethnicity identity accurately, due to the restrictive nature of the variables in use. It must be emphasised that ethnicity is a multidimensional, complex concept—something that is rarely acknowledged in current databases. Consequently, there exists a widespread paucity of appropriate data on ethnicity. What is available should be interpreted with caution.

Multicultural Australia Since the time of British colonisation, Australia has experienced the immigration of many different national groups. This immigration has been dominated, however, by those of British and Irish descent—largely due to the ‘White Australia’ policy that was active up until the early 1970s. Nevertheless, from the mid-1940s through to the 1960s there was a predominant influx of Western Europeans to Australia, particularly from Italy and Greece. By the early 1970s there were nearly 300,000 Italian- and Greek-born people settled in Australia (Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research [BIMPR], 1996).

In 1973 a dramatic shift in immigration policy occurred which resulted in non- discriminatory selection of newcomers that no longer resorted to race, colour or nationality. Immigration from the United Kingdom and the European continent was on the decline, while people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Background (CLDB) countries were arriving in large numbers. During the 1980s the greatest proportion of migrants to Australia were born in CLDB countries. By 1995–1996 these people represented around 70 per cent of the migrant intake (Williams and Batrouney, 1998).

Furthermore, the dismantling of the ‘White Australia’ policy in the early 1970s meant that Asia became the main source of immigration (Williams and Batrouney, 1998). It was at this time of rapidly changing social realities that the national policy of ‘assimilation’ was replaced by a policy of ‘integration’. By 1996, 45 per cent of all Victorians, regardless of ethnicity, were either born overseas or had at least one parent born overseas. Of these Victorians, 73 per cent were born in Australia while 17 per cent were born in CLDB countries. Victoria was now made up of a population of people from 208 countries who spoke 151 languages (Multicultural Affairs Unit, 1997).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 35 The broad policy of multiculturalism adopted during the 1980s has remained throughout the 1990s. Currently there are more than 100 different ethnic groups in Australia, each with their own distinct characteristics, making it impossible to validly classify them as a homogeneous group (Boss et al, 1995).

Illicit Drug Use in Ethnic Communities Research investigations outlined in the literature fail to adequately examine the link between ethnicity and illicit drug use. This is largely due to this fact that little is known about the actual levels of drug use among different ethnic groups, particularly where there is a significant under-representation of any one ethnic group among a known population of illicit drug users (Smith and Citta, 1994; Pearson and Patel, 1998).

Some of the literature suggests that the rate of illicit drug use among ethnic groups is not significantly higher than among Anglo-Australians. However, drug use within an ethnic group may be just as proportionally prevalent as in the mainstream group (Alcorso, 1990; Johnson and Carroll 1995; Ezard, 1997). Other writers propose that the percentage of illicit drug use is in fact higher in these groups than in the general community (Van de Wijngaart, 1997).

The literature also suggests that the lack of any systematic data examination of illicit drug use and addiction among minority groups may be due to a reluctance to emphasise ethnic/racial undercurrents, and this may inadvertently result in ethnic and racial stereotyping (Ezard, 1997; Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998; Khan, 1999).

The persistent conjecture surrounding the extent of illicit drug use among ethnic groups exists largely because of the paucity of available data on this topic. Although information, including statistical data, has been collected by drug treatment services, the amount and quality of the information is not detailed, adequate or accurate enough to draw any significant conclusions because assistance is often only sought when a drug problem manifests itself beyond the control of the individual or their family (Hatty, 1990).

Given that the extent of illicit drug use among ethnic groups remains unknown, Hunt (1992) nevertheless, suggests that the consumption of illicit substances increases among ethnic groups once they have experienced a period of long-term settlement in the country of their adoption. There is a belief that the use of illicit drugs varies between those who have recently arrived and those who are first or second generation migrants (Smith and Citta, 1994).

The obstacles and complexities (such as those indicated by the variables above) which become apparent when attempts are made to measure the extent of illicit drug use in Australia’s ethnic communities are major impediments to any meaningful research in this area. As previously discussed, the inability of most existing databases to define ethnicity comprehensively is problematic, and remains an unresolved issue for both government agencies and researchers. Even when study data are made available, statistical analysis cannot permit any firm conclusions about comparative

36 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement rates of illicit drug use among the different ethnic groups (Catalano et al, 1992; Romios and Ross, 1993). Additionally, allocating people into neat ethnic categories purely for simplicity also poses problems. Smith and Citta (1994) and Morrisey (1994) suggest that ethnic identity does not remain static. For example, it is possible for an individual to embrace the ethnic identity of their own group while at the same time adopt (and have an integral sense of belonging to) the characteristics of the mainstream community in which they live.

International literature is not necessarily illuminating, nor does it prove to be relevant to the Australian context. Much of the research in the area of illicit drugs in ethnic minority groups has been done in the United States. Most of these studies categorise ethnic groups into Afro-American, Hispanics (a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuba, Central or South American or other Spanish culture regardless of race) and Chicano (a name applied to Mexicans residing in the US) (Ezard, 1997). None of these categories is relevant to the Australian context.

Another major limitation of the many American-based studies that focus on ethnicity and illicit drug use is the tendency to classify ethnic groups into five main racial categories. These include:

1. American Indian/Alaskan Native

2. Asian/Pacific Islander

3. African-American

4. Hispanic

5. White (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1995).

Such racial classifications totally and blatantly deny the heterogeneity existing between and within the different ethnic/racial groups. The ‘Asian/Pacific Islander’ category, for instance, comprises more than 60 separate racial/ethnic groups and sub-groups, while ‘white’ refers to a person originating from any one of the vastly diverse countries of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1995). Subsequently, when, for example, drug use among the Asian- American community is reported to be low, it would be appropriate to question the validity of any suggestion that a low level of drug use in one Asian community is the same for all Asian groups (Seal, 1992).

Much of the data collected in Australia regarding drug use does not prioritise the origins of a person’s ethnicity. Nor is it collected for the purpose of identifying any differences in patterns of drug use between ethnic groups. However, when ethnicity has been examined, ethnic groups tend to be classified together (possibly as an attempt to boost sampling numbers) which only results in flawed conclusions.

For example, in the recent 1997 New South Wales Drug Trends Survey a number of diverse ethnic groups were identified as injecting drug users. This survey comprised 154 injecting drug-user clients, of which 23 were of CLDB, and 22 of these, 23 clients were living in areas with the greatest concentration of ethnic groups of south-west Sydney. Unfortunately, however, the CLDB group was not further defined by

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 37 country of birth, making it difficult to correlate a client’s ethnicity with their drug use accurately (Hando and Darke, 1998).

As well as the obvious cultural differences there are a number of more subtle ethnic differences which should be taken into account by researchers and service providers. For example, social and economic vulnerability factors faced by one ethnic community may not be encountered by another, or may not prove to be important to the same degree. Consequently, adolescents from different ethnic groups (as purported by the literature) may have different prevalence and patterns of drug use (Maddahain et al, 1988). Much of the research undertaken on illicit drug use and ethnicity fails to analyse any socioeconomic characteristics comprehensively. Therefore, theories relating to the impact of socioeconomic variables, as opposed to ethnicity, often lack supporting evidence. Sociocultural variables are essential to any substance use study and should always be considered in analysis of research results (Collins, 1996). This is particularly so when social problems identified in many ethnic communities are considered to enhance the likelihood of experimentation with illicit drugs (Alcorso, 1990; Van de Wijngaart, 1997).

Another factor contributing to social vulnerability is that feelings of affiliation with one’s ethnic background may change with time and may affect how one responds to a particular issue or arrives at a particular solution to any given problem.

Cultural clashes between and within an ethnic group (depending on the individuals involved) may also contribute to subtle cultural differences among ethnic groups.

Determining the perceptions and needs of people from CLDBs is particularly problematic when surveys exclude people whose English language fluency is poor or where there is no response to questions. The 1991 Census found, for instance, that Vietnamese-born people (44.7 per cent) lacked English fluency more than other groups (NSW Health, 1993).

The degree to which some ethnic groups are at greater risk of, or are vulnerable to, illicit drug use (and the reasons for their vulnerability) require much more detailed analysis than has been attempted to date.

Key Vulnerability Issues Common to All Ethnic Groups Since the early 1980s research in the United Kingdom has shown that higher concentrations of illicit drug use exists in areas of unemployment and social deprivation. For instance, in Britain it was believed the heroin epidemic coincided with the recession and a period of deindustrialisationsocial changes that actually devastated many lower socioeconomic areas (Pearson and Patel, 1998).

By extrapolation to an Australian context the literature suggests that, even without looking at ethnicity, illicit drug use is more widespread among neighbourhoods which encounter a higher degree of social exclusion in terms of poverty, housing depravation, unemployment and educational disadvantage. Adding racial discrimination to that list, particularly in employment, the outcome will be an even greater denial of access to the various social, economic and political institutions that

38 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement exist, severely hampering an ethnic group’s structural assimilation to the larger society (Cheung, 1989; Pearson and Patel, 1998).

In some ethnic groups the stresses of migration and aspirations for assimilation may result in a decline of religious and cultural unity, as well as an erosion of social control within the ethnic community, due to a possible weakening of the family structure. Importantly, there are many people of CLDBs, particularly since the late 1970s, who have experienced stresses which may affect how well they adjust to a new cultural environment, such as living as refugees (sometimes extended periods of time) before their arrival in Australia. Among these people, there may be many who have suffered major stressors, such as war, loss of home, broken families, deaths of relatives, repression, torture, rape and imprisonment (Viviani, 1996; Jordens, 1996).

When immigrants from CLDBs arrive in a new country, they experience varying degrees of language and cultural difficulties as well as unemployment, under- employment and social and health difficulties. The social, psychological, emotional and family pressures associated with being new arrivals may be exacerbated by being generally financially poorer than the mainstream community, not understanding the language well and being a minority group in an unfamiliar society. The result is a myriad of challenges to be faced while adjusting to a new life (Kuramato, 1997). Immigrants, particularly those who do not speak English or who have been refugees, often face inadequate housing and increasing socioeconomic hardships resulting from a lack of those vocational skills commonly considered desirable by the new wider community. Some of the literature suggests that families may become dysfunctional in the process of immigration due to a culmination of the various stresses encountered (Ja and Aoki, 1993). The stressors of migration are numerous and may lead to feelings of separation, cultural dislocation and confusion with the new environment and society (Jackson and Flaherty, 1994).

The interaction of a range of complex factors increases the vulnerability of ethnic groups to illicit drug use. The age structure of a population may be important, since drug use can be more or less relevant for different age groups (Rissel and Rowling, 1990). For instance, socioeconomic factors, poor academic achievement, low religiosity, chronic low self-esteem, poor relationship with parents, sensation seeking and peer drug use all have the potential to place young people of CLDBs at risk of illicit drug use. (Maddahain et al, 1988; Van de Wijngaart, 1997). However, Newcomb et al (1990) suggest (for good or bad) that illicit drug use for many contemporary teenagers, regardless of ethnicity, has simply become a natural curiosity and a rite of passage.

Specific vulnerabilities to illicit drug use are discussed below.

Social and Economic Factors Research has indicated that many ethnic groups within the community have comparatively low socioeconomic status. Ethnicity is often used to explain social behaviours. However, social behaviour may actually stem from class, educational attainment, age or residential environment (Almog et al, 1993; Collins, 1996). It is important to recognise that the macro social structures, and an individual’s position

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 39 in them, can shape behaviour and values. These in turn may explain health behaviour and illicit drug use. Ignoring macro socioeconomic factors in any health assessment or research data will limit any potential of change in lifestyle or the health status of an individual, ultimately giving rise to various risk factors for bad health behaviours (Takeuchi and Young, 1994).

However, as suggested by Syme (1998) social class has rarely been studied in public health because this factor, if not adjusted for statistically in the research, would often merely overwhelm everything else under study. Consequently, as suggested by Syme (1998), ‘why study the risk factor of social class if this problem cannot be resolved?’

Recent research found that poverty and low income exists to a greater extent in CLDB families than in the broader community, and that this problem has been significantly increasing over the past two decades. This compares with the opposite trend for those classified as main English speaking families (Williams and Batrouney, 1998; Healy, 1998). Williams and Batrouney (1998) believe a large proportion of recent migrants in Australia would now be classified as poor, compared with 20 years earlier. Poverty, of course, can be multifaceted, and may be linked to unemployment, barriers to employment, lack of English proficiency or the hardships associated with accessing income support.

During the 1970s, for young people of CLDBs, the main disadvantages or vulnerabilities were based primarily on language difficulties and relative poverty. However, policy and service changes in the 1990s, together with advances in technology and changes to the job markets, appear to have increased these difficulties even more for immigrant families facing absolute, rather than relative poverty (Mitchell, 1998). The changes to policy and service include:

• A restriction of unemployment and sickness benefits for recently arrived immigrants for the first two years (other than refugees and special humanitarian intakes).

• The introduction of fees for English classes.

• Cost recovery arrangements for interpreting services imposed upon service providers.

• Changes that have been implemented for asylum seekers.

Additionally, rising unemployment rates (particularly for youth), restrictions on income support and the downsizing of a broad range of services to those needing assistance have all affected disadvantaged people in general (Taylor and MacDonald, 1994; Collins, 1998).

The 1990s saw an apparent increase in family breakdown, street frequenting behaviour and homelessness—particularly for young immigrants of Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese backgrounds (Frederico et al, 1997; Williams and Batrouney, 1998). Such trends affect all communities. However, the literature suggests that people of Asian backgrounds are at the lower end of the income distribution

40 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement spectrum more often than other migrant groups (Williams and Batrouney, 1998). Minority ethnic groups who experience discrimination and a sense of powerlessness and social exclusion from the formal economy may find a convenient niche in the informal economy (Pearson and Patel, 1998). As suggested by Cheung (1989), socially and economically deprived people face greater separation between aspirations and opportunities. The result is greater pressure into deviance from mainstream lifestyles, which may include the supply and use of illicit substances.

European studies have suggested that there is an increasing connection between socially excluded minorities (including ethnic groups) and various forms of informal and illicit economies (Pearson and Patel, 1998). The growth of an underclass, due to the socioeconomic disadvantages outlined above, might that mean selling drugs to make a living becomes a legitimate occupation, particularly perhaps for young people who possibly perceived that they have nothing to lose (Ethnic Youth Issues Network [EYIN] et al, 1996).

In Britain, two decades of aggravated social deprivation has resulted in what was once a lower crime rate among Asians during the mid 1970s to what is now comparable with crime rates for ‘whites’. Following an examination of a British housing estate during the mid 1990s where heroin became available in ‘two pound deals’, it was found that when an illicit drug was brought within the economic reach of even the poorest, albeit in tiny amounts, the problem of drug use became worse (Pearson and Patel, 1998).

Proficiency in the English Language English proficiency is of great importance when accessing services. Research has indicated that CLDBs frequently have poor proficiency in English (NSW Health, 1993). Having poor English language skills inhibits people from asking questions and from talking about fears and anxieties. This potentially further ostracises such people from a much-needed service which, to the ethnic group, may already seem out of reach (Jackson and Flaherty, 1994). As Jacubowicz and Buckley (1975: 16, citing Williams and Batrouney, 1998) write: ‘If lack of resources is one measure of poverty then the absence of language skills or inferior language ability will prevent or restrict access to those resources and contribute to poverty.’

It is of particular concern that those who lack basic English skills are ill-equipped to deal effectively or expediently with a health crisis. Not only may people of CLDBs who have poor language skills have difficulties in seeking help, but they may also have trouble understanding the explanations and recommendations from health professionals (Health Department Victoria, 1988; National Health Strategy, 1993). The problem of inadequate language skills is a challenge for all health professionals.

A number of obstacles to improving proficiency in English for people of CLDBs have been identified. For example, in more recent years, some immigrants have been excluded from assisted English-language training services because they were considered to have been in Australia ‘too long’ irrespective of their level of need. The government funding cuts to adult migrant education centres have only exacerbated

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 41 the difficulties of acquiring English proficiency (Taylor and MacDonald, 1994; Collins, 1998).

CLDB job seekers whose English may be limited often perform the least well in the labour market, making English training sessions of even greater importance (Stevens, 1998). However, even where English proficiency is at a higher level among those of CLDBs there still remains a crucial need for more creative employment opportunities (Taylor and MacDonald, 1994).

Employment Ethnic communities are often in positions of social and economic disadvantage for significant periods of time (Smith and Citta, 1994; Van de Wijngaart, 1997). This observation was also made in Australia by the National Health Strategy (1993), which reported that groups from CLDBs tend to be more socially and economically disadvantaged than their English speaking counterparts. Van de Wijngaart (1997) found that unemployment among ethnic groups was higher than in the wider community, that average net incomes were lower and that most of the jobs this group had undertaken required less schooling. Alcorso (1990) writes that many medical doctors who have close associations with ethnic groups firmly believe that unemployment, along with the difficulties of entering a highly structured and inflexible job market, place such people at greater social risks increasing the potential to use illicit drugs.

The impact of unemployment can adversely affect health, self-esteem and confidence, and may instigate boredom and depression. This in turn may significantly influence the desire to use drugs (Health Department Victoria, 1988; Parker et al, 1995). Unemployment and underemployment impact upon all communities, but those of CLDB appear to be more seriously affected. Whether or not a person originates from a mainly English speaking country appears to affect employment prospects. In Australia in 1996, unemployment rates for people from the Middle East and North Africa rose more than 40 per cent. This compares with people from the United Kingdom, where unemployment was estimated at that time to be seven per cent (Williams and Batrouney, 1998).

Unemployment rates have generally continued to rise over the past three decades. In 1974 unemployment rates for Australian-born people was 1.6 per cent while for those born overseas it was 1.8 per cent. In 1996, the unemployment rate for Australians was 8.4 per cent and for those born overseas it was 10.3 per cent. These figures can be partially explained by changes in the industrial composition of the country (Hogan 1984; Williams and Batrouney, 1998). Long-term unemployment for those of CLDB has become increasingly bleak. Unemployment as a major concern emerged during the late 1970s. The average duration for unemployment at that time among both Australian-born and CLDB-born was 24 weeks. By 1995 a significant change occurred. The average duration of unemployment for an Australian born rose to 52 weeks while for those of CLDB it more than tripled to 74 weeks (Watson, 1998).

Ethnic groups are frequently engaged in low status-type work, which is most susceptible to retrenchment during periods of an economic downturn. People of

42 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement CLDB are often under-represented in professional, administrative, clerical and sales occupations. They are over-represented in production, factory and labouring occupations (Health Department Victoria, 1988). Recent migrants in particular are often concentrated in the most poorly paid, monotonous, dangerous and dirtiest jobs throughout both male and female dominated segments of the labour market— particularly in the manufacturing industries (NSW Health, 1993; National Health Strategy, 1993). In Australia, there have been major changes to the manufacturing sector, and this has resulted in a considerable reduction to the traditional employment base of CLDB migrants (Viviani et al, 1993; NSW Health, 1993). Healy (1998) reports that in 1966 the manufacturing industry accounted for 28 per cent of Australia’s employment. By 1998 this same industry accounted for only 14 per cent.

Research shows that young people generally have a high level of unemployment and that this is probably compounded when the young person has a CLDB. It has been suggested that young people have a need to build self-confidence by taking risks and surviving them. For young unemployed people unable to establish economic independence or occupational competence, there is potential for illicit drug involvement to become an attractive economic alternative (Westermeyer 1987; Kim et al, 1992).

Education Research suggests that educational attainment and the age of leaving school can be related to the use of illicit drugs among adolescents. Recent reports suggest the rates of lifetime substance use are much higher among those who drop out of school compared with those who remain at school (Swaim et al, 1997; Office of Applied Studies, 1998). One hypothesis is that students from ethnic backgrounds are at an increased risk of dropping out of school since they may be more likely to encounter learning difficulties as well as being more likely to be economically and socially disadvantaged.

While it can be true that some ethnic groups are doing particularly well with education, there are others within the same ethnic group encountering severe learning difficulties due to various social factors. Consequently, they do not achieve higher education standards. However, while there has been increasingly optimistic changes in educational outcomes for CLDB students, staying longer at school does not necessarily imply educational success or upward mobility in the wider community (Vasta, 1995). As reported by Watson (1998), having acquired a tertiary education does not always provide protection against unemployment for those of CLDB, and this is evident from the incidence of long-term unemployment in 1993 which was 35 per cent—nearly double the figure for those born in Australia.

Intergenerational Conflict Many studies have shown that the children of immigrant parents frequently adapt more quickly to the new culture than their parents. Cultural adaptation by young people to a new environment may result in a culture gap between parents and their children, which could in turn lead to growing tension and conflict between parents,

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 43 grandparents and extended family (Health Department Victoria, 1988; Frederico et al, 1997). Cultural-generational clashes within a family may compound communication problems where communication is already severely compromised by external and social difficulties related to adaptation and adjustment in a foreign culture (Hatty, 1990; Kuramato, 1997).

Some youths from CLDBs are believed to be required to adopt adult roles and responsibilities prematurely, by acting as translators or intermediaries between the older generation of their family and the wider community. This has its own set of stresses, which may be overwhelming for the child or adolescent (Hatty, 1990; Kuramato, 1997).

Parents may expect their young people to take on adult roles and yet simultaneously remain deferential, obedient and respectful towards their parents. Possible stresses felt by young ethnic groups may manifest in acts of unacceptable juvenile behaviour, attracting parental punishments. Keeping in mind that cautious interpretations of American studies are required due to ethnic/racial categorisations, it is interesting to note that one American study found that Asian parents were more likely than white or black parents to revoke privileges for misbehaviour, rather than talking about problems in an open way. This lack of open dialogue about problems by Asian families was further supported in research where Afro-American and white children were found to have better family communications than Asian children (Catalano et al, 1992). Examinations of certain family predictors and risk factors for behaviour problems, the use of restrained punishment by parents and the open or closed lines of family communication is complex, and any findings that emerge need to be interpreted with caution.

While family tension is common in all communities, intergenerational conflict for ethnic youth may be more extreme and have more adverse consequences. The rapid social changes that are occurring in many urban centres may inspire ethnic youth to abandon the mores and values of their perceived traditional and conservative elders. The traditional patterns of behaviour of particular ethnic groups, which in the past have generally served them well and have been pivotal in determining their sense of identity, may in fact not be appropriate or relevant in tackling the contemporary problems and circumstances facing ethnic youth in Australia (Westermeyer, 1987; Kim et al, 1992).

It has been reported that a number of Asian background youths, both in Australia and in other Western countries, have, due to intergenerational conflicts, separated from their families to create their own support networks with peers. Ethnic youth, in the light of various social stresses, appear to be easily driven from the traditional values of their parents towards peer groups with markedly different social and moral codes. A move toward autonomy and independence by youth can lead to rebelliousness and reliance upon peers for assistance and guidance (Ja and Aoki, 1993; Ho, 1994). Some of the literature suggests that CLDB youths do not want to have any association with new immigrants. However, without family and community support they drop out of school at an earlier age and may live on the streets with their peers. Peer pressure has consistently been found as a strong predictor of illicit drug use among adolescents (Gilmore et al, 1990; Hunt, 1992).

44 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Additionally, immersion into ‘street culture’ may eventually lead to a number of serious vulnerabilities, of which the potential to become involved in illicit drug use is an important one (Kim et al, 1992).

Acculturation and Peer Pressure The process of acculturation into the host country may result in the loss of a person’s traditional cultural values and norms as they adopt the behaviours and attitudes of the dominant group. This process, which can have both a positive and negative impact, emerges as a result of exposure to a cultural system that is often significantly different from one’s own (Oetting and Beauvais, 1990–1991; Collins, 1992).

While each migrant will experience the acculturating process to some degree, all migrants will not experience it in the same way—nor will it occur over a similar period of time (Trimble, 1990–1991).

Immigrants who adopt the customs and practices of the host society or their patterns of drug use will often, over time, parallel those of the new environments. It has been suggested that migrants are less likely to develop illicit drug use habits if they adapt to their new social environment at the same time as retaining important elements of their native culture (Johnston, 1996). However, retention of one’s native CLDB cultural norms can be undermined by the impact of peer pressures. Bankston (1995) suggests that young people initiate illicit drug use when the behavioural norms, values and beliefs of their primary reference group encourage such behaviour. A recent study in Cabramatta, Sydney (where up to 70 per cent of the population were born overseas) indicates that peer pressure was high and that up to 88 per cent of drug users had been introduced to illicit drugs by their friends. Among young drug users, peer influence was a major determining factor in the decision to use drugs. Although financial, social and family problems also contributed (Rebach, 1992; Patton, 1995; Le, 1996), peer groups tended to have a more direct influence on potential drug use than family relations:

Simply stated, the greater the influence on adolescents of their peers, the greater incidence of problem behaviours. This finding is well established in the adolescent delinquency area and is theorised to reflect the natural outcome of poor family relations. In the absence of positive family relations, the child turns to peers for support and involvement. In the health area, greater peer influence is associated with alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use, and lack of adequate exercise and nutrition. (Raphael, in press.)

A recent study among Vietnamese youth in the US supports this trend. It found that ties between parents and children had little influence on illicit drug use when close relationships between other adolescents are taken into account (Bankston, 1995).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 45 Knowledge of and Access to Drug Services In a recent study in Cabramatta, Sydney, where a high proportion of the population were of CLDBs, it was found that most injecting drug users (IDUs) had not used any drug services. Their knowledge about drugs was limited and many adolescents had no idea of the health risks associated with using drugs. This lack of knowledge is attributed to: cultural and language barriers which limited access to drug treatment services; and social pressures to be discreet about drug use since most families and communities consider the issue taboo (Le, 1996). Other reasons for the observed low utilisation rates of drug services by people of CLDB may be that migrants are used to being self-sufficient in dealing with problems and issues which affect them and tend to utilise their family or ethnic community contacts first, wherever possible (Hatty, 1990; Kim et al, 1992).

Effective implementation of treatment depends on drug treatment services having a thorough understanding of the sociocultural factors at play with different types of clients. Cultural factors not only affect a person’s reason for drug use but also the level and type of parenting skills, cognitive and social skills, the extent of peer influence and family disruption or conflicts. With the more traditional family, for example, the issues surrounding the use of drugs may be perceived as akin to the issues surrounding a mental illness. The level of fear about shame and loss of face are also issues that greatly affect some clients (De Leon et al, 1993; Kline, 1996).

Other issues that affect utilisation of drug treatment services by people of CLDBs include whether or not the service has staff who can communicate in the person’s first language. Studies in the US have shown that the provision of bilingual and bicultural personnel in the mental health field has dramatically increased the utilisation of these services by Asian-Pacific people (Zane and Kim, 1994).

Involving the family in a drug treatment regime was also considered by the literature to be very important, particularly for people from CLDBs. It is reported that where interventions are sensitive to cultural issues, treatment utilisation rises dramatically (D’Avanzo, 1997).

A number of institutional barriers have prevented people of CLDBs from successfully accessing services, which may explain some of the low utilisation rates. These include ignorance or denial by service providers that a need exists or that current services have cultural bias inadvertently built into their service delivery. Treatment services need a good knowledge of their client base in order to accurately target their service delivery in such a way that a variety of client’s needs are met. Despite perceptions, expectations or needs of clients, drug services very often do not know the extent to which different types of people are utilising their services on both the macro and micro level (Zane and Sassao 1992; Zane and Kim, 1994).

The lack of data about illicit drug use in ethnic groups has a number of serious ramifications. In the United States lack of data has helped perpetuate the myth that Asians do not need treatment, even in the face of strong public perceptions that drug use and sale has been increasing among this group. Second, lack of data has resulted in few attempts to develop cultural specific approaches to services, and thus

46 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement perpetuated the assumption that general and universal approaches (for example, the ‘one size fits all’ approach) are adequate. However, if the Asian cultural base, as an example, is not examined, there will continue to be an inability to enrol and then retain Asian background clients. Third, without data, the problem of using scarce resources in the most productive way continues—as does an inability to identify changes in demographics, emerging new groups and gaps in community infrastructure (Ja and Aoki, 1993; Finn, 1996; Kuramato, 1997).

Research Methodologies: Ethnicity and Illicit Drug Use Over the years, many studies have failed to come to grips with the complexity of ethnic demographics. Research into illicit drug use among ethnic groups has encountered a number of methodological problems, including: inadequate conceptualisation; inaccuracy of definitions; inappropriate research designs; disagreements over basic concepts and poor data collections related to the over- inclusiveness of ethnic groups (Spathopoulos and Bertram, 1991; Almog et al, 1993; Ja and Aoki, 1993; Jackson and Flaherty, 1994). Studies looking at drug-taking behavioural differences among specific ethnic groups often involve sample sizes too small to be of statistical significance (Morrisey, 1993). Because of the scarcity of population-based studies comparing co-occurrences between drug risk behaviours across diverse ethnic groups, inaccurate estimates of the prevalence of ethnic drug use patterns are frequent (Almog et al, 1993; Ja and Aoki, 1993; Neumarch-Sztainer et al, 1996).

The fact that investigations into socioeconomic status, level of parental care and supervision, education and geographic location are limited, prompts questions about whether any observed differences are truly related to ethnicity—or if they are more related to socioeconomic variables. As suggested by Neumarch-Sztainer et al (1996), it is more probable that lower socioeconomic status rather than ethnicity is the major contributor to high risk behaviour and drug use. A disregard for the relevant socioeconomic factors is considered by the literature to be both a methodological and conceptual problem when interpreting drug use research results. Undertaking research based on simplistic ethnic categories, without attention to all the other possibly confounding factors of sociocultural variables, is considered to be not only scientifically meaningless, but a great disservice to the ethnic groups under examination (Collins, 1992; Collins, 1996).

A significant problem among known drug users has often resulted in the inevitable exclusion of unknown drug users in both the ethnic and general population.

Key problems that have been identified when examining self-report studies by illicit drug users include the propensity for various errors, such as user memory failure, lying and the social compulsion not to publicly acknowledge an illicit activity. Results from these types of studies often reflect a significant under-reporting of illicit drug use (Cheung, 1989).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 47 Utilisation of Drug Treatment Services

Discussion The available literature commonly reports that illicit drug use among people from CLDBs is often associated with denial, shame and stigma. For some youth of CLDBs the sharing of information with family members would not occur for fear of being ostracised by both their family unit and ethnic community (Smith and Citta, 1994; Frederico et al, 1997). If a drug problem did become obvious, many ethnic families were considered more likely to seek help from their informal network of friends and family rather than ‘outside’ services, and they are often more likely to only access services when a crisis occurred (such as an overdose). Accessing outside help for an illicit drug problem was frequently thought to be not only logistically difficult but also possibly considered a betrayal to the family and the community (Hatty, 1990; Kim et al, 1992; Ja and Aoki, 1993; Kuramato, 1997). Ultimately, for a drug user to seek help, they need to perceive that they actually have a problem, that it is a serious disruption to their life, that beneficial results will be gained by using drug treatment services and that the cost of treatment is affordable (Kline, 1996).

When help from services was the required, the literature highlights that access to these services was difficult. Research indicates that few ethno-specific agencies or ethnic groups were actually aware of the drug services available to them. This may be a result of publicity that services were rarely multilingual. Consequently, accessing services was not easy (Romios and Ross, 1993; Kuramato, 1997; Success Works, 1998a). Ethnic groups needed comprehensive and understandable information about the available services so as to facilitate service access by youth and their families (Schick, 1991; Smith and Citta, 1994). Communities believed that consultation opportunities and adequate communication were obstructed where the community was isolated from services and unable to receive effective delivery of services (Health Department of Victoria, 1988, Success Works, 1998b).

In recent years there has been an increase in demand for inpatient detoxification services. Consequently, in the past few years, major providers of inpatient detoxification services have seen their waiting lists for client admissions increase from 10–14 days to 4–6 weeks (Parsons, 1999).

Where ethnic communities were aware of the existence of services, ethnic leaders were ambivalent as to how they could serve their communities appropriately, or how the community would actually approach them for help (Hatty, 1990; Spathopoulos and Bertram, 1991; Finn, 1996). Examination of the minimal available data has shown that the admission rates of CLDB people into drug treatment services was small in number (Johnson and Carol, 1995; Van de Wijngaart, 1997). This is more likely a reflection of under-utilisation of the service by people of CLDB, rather than a lower need for such services (Sasao, 1992; Legge, 1993; Zane and Kim, 1994; D’Avanzo, 1997). Language and interpreting services were believed to be crucial if a high quality of service was to be achieved. Frequently, however, such services were limited— either through lack of resources or because of inadequate or appropriate staff numbers (Health Department Victoria, 1992; National Health Strategy, 1993).

48 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement For a number of decades, drug treatment services have recognised that barriers to service are experienced as a result of language and cultural differences. They have been aware that these issues were not being adequately addressed. In the 1980s it was reported that information imparted to those of CLDB should be linguistically and culturally appropriate, but rarely was this the case (Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1988; Beninati et al, 1989). Some years later it was again inferred that too few drug treatment centres were able to cater for people who spoke languages other than English. The importance of a heightened awareness and sensitivity of treatment workers to the lifestyles, culture and language of various ethnic groups required even greater emphasis. It is important that materials and strategies within drug treatment services reflect the existence of diversity in the population and it is recognised that neither a minority nor majority culture in society remains static (Spathopoulos and Bertram, 1991; Longshore et al, 1993; Johnson and Carol, 1995). A recently commissioned project in Victoria, Australia identified barriers to access and effective care by drug treatment services. This has led to the production of a cultural diversity workbook for service providers outlining practical and innovative solutions in addressing systemic issues. However, its recent publication has not provided scope for an assessment into the effectiveness of this workbook, or its impact upon service providers towards culturally diverse ethnic groups (Success Works [C], 1998). Hatty (1990), Deitch and Solit (1993) and Sue et al (1994) all suggest that it is important to recognise the very fine line between cultural sensitivity and stereotypic thinking, in order to avoid reproducing conservative ideologies which may ignore the heterogeneity and complexity of ‘minority groups’.

Even if a comprehensive level of knowledge about a particular aspect of a culture exists it would still be impossible to know about all of the sub-cultures within it. Cultural sensitivity comes from being able to deal with diversity, a skill that needs to be incorporated into the practice of drug treatment services (Hatty, 1990). People of CLDBs need to feel better equipped to participate in drug issue discussions and in research which uses community development strategies, since positive outcomes are more likely to occur by providing a method which allows people to solve problems for themselves and take responsibility for their own affairs (Majors, 1993). Major (1993) suggests the empowerment of client groups needs further promotion—while remaining sensitive to the complex interrelation between ethnicity, gender, social class and various other factors associated with particular localities.

Issues of Communication Perhaps the lack of publicity for drug treatment services in languages other than English prevents many people of CLDBs from discovering the service in the first place. Then, once the service is discovered, the lack of appropriate material in their language prevents them from communicating with drug treatment workers in a way which proves the service to be sensitive to their particular cultural needs. Apart from written material, lack of translation services also continues to obstruct the flow of effective information (Success Works, 1998a/b). As suggested by Amodeo et al (1997), the non-availability of interpreters frequently results in a reluctance of clients to return to treatment services. Even where translating and interpreting services are available, anecdotal reports suggest that their expense makes drug treatment services

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 49 reluctant to use them. The lack of priority given to language services by either the Commonwealth or the State governments further compounds the under-utilisation of interpreters in drug treatment services (National Health Strategy, 1993; Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1995). Bilingual staff employed by services might informally assist with assessment, counselling and referrals, but their ability to do this effectively is limited by their unfamiliarity with drug issues (Health Department of Victoria, 1988).

A number of service providers were found to have assumed that clients of CLDBs receiving treatment possessed highly developed communicative skills. Research into this area indicates that in reality English proficiency among those of CLDBs is often poor and that misunderstandings are frequent (Hatty, 1990; NSW Health Department, 1993; EYIN et al, 1998). Most service workers believed that the recruitment of bilingual workers as interpreters was adequate in overcoming the problem of low availability of professional interpreters. Non-specialist translators could not deal effectively or appropriately with the volume or content of translations. For example, a bilingual receptionist or domestic worker, unfamiliar with drug- related issues, might still be used as an interpreter. Family members were another source for interpreting (Beninati et al, 1989; Health Department of Victoria, 1988). The use of bilingual people who have no experience as interpreters is inappropriate because it can result in inaccurate translations, erroneous clinical conclusions and the compromising of confidentiality. In addition, some of the literature suggests the principle of confidentiality is frequently misunderstood in some Asian cultures as well as those from other CLDBs (Nguyen NG, 1992; Amodeo et al, 1997).

Type of Service Guarantee of confidentiality in the use of drug treatment services is deemed crucial if ethnic youth are to openly speak about these sensitive issues (Success Works [A], 1998). According to the literature, people of CLDBs only seek assistance when a drug problem has reached a crisis stage, such as when there is a physical breakdown. Aside from feelings of shame, attending mainstream treatment services can be daunting, with potential for distrust and fear of officialdom. Consequently, telephone services might be a preferable mode of contact, as it is more able to guarantee anonymity (Zaparas, 1988; Jackson and Flaherty, 1994; Johnson and Carol, 1995). The literature points to local doctors or general practitioners (GPs) as a common option for many people of CLDBs seeking either advice or assistance about illicit drug matters. The doctor’s rooms were believed to be less formal and less intimidating (Spathopoulos and Bertram, 1991; Jackson and Flaherty, 1993). However, it was suggested that many doctors were not functioning with maximum efficacy in prevention, detection or early intervention with regards to drug-related problems. Alcorso (1990) suggests that many GPs’ knowledge of and liaison with drug treatment services is generally poor, with most GPs in need of more information and education.

Both state and federal governments have adopted the philosophy of mainstreaming with regard to all migrant services. The literature highlights that services, including drug treatment, should be flexible enough to cater for the whole community and be

50 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement sensitive to both social and cultural differences (Alcorso, 1990; Romios and Ross, 1993; Dent et al, 1996). However, due to a lack of appropriate staffing, ethnic groups often saw a number of drug services as remote and inaccessible and the need for staff trained in cross-cultural issues (Amodeo and Robb, 1997; Pearson and Patel, 1998; Success Works, 1998a). It has been reported that many drug treatment professionals were not knowledgeable, or had little affinity with, those from CLDBs. Some suggest that these concerns should be addressed by treatment staff adopting interactive styles that reflect the cultural values of ethnic groups in the community (Longshore et al, 1993; Van de Wijngaart, 1997). As reported by Finn (1996), treatment services have a moral obligation to enlighten themselves about the life experiences of disadvantage groups where CLDBs are included. The literature presented firm beliefs that services on offer needed to be friendly, welcoming and that people seeking assistance were valued. The need for open, honest and non-judgmental staff was seen as crucial before an attitudinal change towards using any service could occur (Smith and Citta, 1994).

Hatty (1991) suggests that treatment practices that excluded families in the consultative process deprived the family of the opportunity to demonstrate the importance of kinship ties that exist. Involvement of either the whole family or a family member in the intervention process was thought to be crucial both at a local doctor level and during any other treatment process (Alcorso, 1990; Dejong et al, 1998). As suggested by Martin and Zweben (1993), family ties of ethnic youth were often fundamental reasons either to comply with treatment or to drop out of treatment. Therefore, inclusion of family was essential. For many ethnic groups the family unit can be viewed as sacrosanct. Therefore, counselling which focuses an individual alone was widely believed to be a difficult process (Major, 1993; McGoldrick et al, 1996).

Service Effectiveness The Western concept of counselling and self-disclosure does not exist in many ethnic communities. Therefore, there exists widespread scepticism that personal problems can be best handled by professionals (Major, 1993; Sue et al, 1994; McGoldrick et al, 1996). Counselling can be very individually centred, with an underlying assumption that a client will act as an independent and assertive person who makes their own decisions (Finn, 1996). This may not be true for people of CLDBs. Restraints on strong feelings are often highly valued, particularly in Asian cultures. This results in a very limited sense of confidence in the process of talking about any problems (Sue and Sue, 1990; Lee, 1996). While researchers and practitioners often assume that counselling is not as effective with people of CLDBs, it is not possible to establish for certain whether this is in fact the case, due to the paucity of information available (Sue and Sue, 1990; Sue et al, 1994). While challenges to counselling are great, recent research of treatment services indicates a perception that various approaches have improved engagement with ethnic youth (EYIN et al, 1998). Whether an ethnic person would prefer a non-ethnic counsellor (because of an assumption that they might not trust a member of their own ethnic group to maintain confidentially) remains a moot point (Finn, 1996).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 51 Research has shown that clients of CLDBs were less likely to complete treatment and less likely to reduce or eliminate drug use during or after treatment (Maddux and Desmond, 1996; Van de Wijngaart, 1997). Research indicates that the treatment methods utilised were predominantly based on Anglo-Saxon models, perhaps resulting in those of CLDBs feeling uncomfortable in treatment programs and quitting before the completion of detoxification (De Leon et al, 1993; Van de Wijngaart, 1997). Anglo-centred strategies that may alienate the cultural needs of the client should be avoided. Culturally relevant programs need development because of the differing life experiences and stressors to which many people of CLDB have been exposed, including pre- and post-migration experiences (Tucker, 1985; Maddahain et al, 1988; Major, 1993; Zane et al, 1998). Additionally, those of CLDBs who left treatment early were generally difficult to follow up, and further recruitment into treatment was generally problematic (Collins, 1992; Ezard, 1998).

To resolve these problems it was considered necessary for partnerships and development of intersectoral linkages among all relevant sectors to occur, including government health and educational departments, community organisations and ethnic agencies (Romios and Ross, 1993; Finn, 1996). Treatment services need to be sensitive to community needs by recruiting ethno-specific workers (Smith and Citta, 1994). Mainstream agencies need to display greater flexibility to enhance accessibility. The literature cites peer outreach workers who accompany ethnic youth to appointments, for example, as an increasingly successful method. In recent years research has shown home detoxification programs for people of CLDBs can be successful and should be encouraged and expanded. This is particularly so in light of the increasingly long waiting lists for residential programs. Intensive follow-up after home detoxification should also occur to minimise the return to illicit drug use (EYIN et al, 1998).

Prevention The literature suggests that prevention programs for people of CLDBs should maintain a focus on the social and political factors surrounding those groups to enable these people to deal with systems that often continually rebuff them (Dorn and Murji, 1992: 26, cited in Johnson and Carroll, 1995). As reported by Dorn and Murji (1992), social behaviour was not the fault of the individual but was often caused by the social/political system of which they were a part. Ethnic communities are often deprived, marginalised and excluded from receiving information about illicit drugs, hindering their understanding of the subject. Johnson and Carroll (1995) suggest low knowledge levels about drug use, rather than negative attitudes among those of CLDBs, are likely to place such people at high risk of drug use. Attention to these problems needs to be tackled before the symptoms of drug use manifest in ethnic communities. Prevention work needs to be both relevant and effective if the need for ethnic groups to have access to drug information is to be successfully met.

Changing the attitudes for those of CLDBs can only be achieved if the approaches are culturally appropriate for that community. Information about how families and communities reduce or manage drug-related harm is invaluable. However, it has been suggested that those of CLDBs lag far behind other sectors of the community in

52 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement awareness of illicit drug issues and the harmful health consequences of drug use, such as HIV and hepatitis C (Spathopoulos and Bertram, 1991). Resourcing and consulting with ethnic groups remains crucial in order for the development of an appropriate community education strategy based around drug issues. Community and parent education can include:

ƒ Dissemination of information and materials by ethno-specific peer workers.

ƒ Community forums with particular ethnic groups.

ƒ Distribution of information at community centres or festivals.

ƒ Utilising ethnic media to inform the community about drug issues.

ƒ Live theatre or other artistic methods.

ƒ Collaborative ventures between schools and various ethnic communities (Mudaly, 1996; EYIN et al, 1998; Higgs, 1999; Vietnamese Students Association [VSA] et al, 1999).

Recently, an inventive tool used for preventive education and communication on drug issues for the Indo-Chinese community was a calendar. It was believed to be quite important for this community to actively initiate and promote education by bringing forth social, educational and intergenerational issues that affected family life. The aim was to alter individual risk behaviours within the social and cultural context in which it occurs (Mudaly, 1997). During 1998–99 another interesting way to promote education about drug issues was a community theatre production called the Dragon’s Lair performed by young Australian-Vietnamese people. This performance expressed the experiences of the heroin culture from an Australian-Vietnamese perspective. The aim of this production was to raise awareness and provide insights into a community (mostly Vietnamese) which may have underestimated the problem within its subculture. The general feedback was overwhelmingly positive, both artistically and educationally (VSA, 1999).

Prevention programs for those of CLDBs should incorporate an empowerment strategy for CLDB parents. In order to avoid loss of face and honour (important to many ethnic groups), intermediaries have been used to manage interpersonal conflicts. The benefits of intermediaries can be their ability to advocate for a person’s position without actually personalising the issues with the other person. The aims were to minimise potential loss of face and to reduce violation of the hierarchal relationship within the family (Zane and Kim, 1994).

Ethnic-specific services, which are culturally sensitive to people of CLDBs, would increase the viability of the services and would reduce the stigma associated with seeking help. There is a need to foster extended family networks and for support and education for parents to be implemented in a collaborative manner. While family cohesion has been suggested, it can be both a protective device as well as a social stressor for those of CLDBs. The need to support a community’s effort to develop its own resources to tackle problems associated with drug use is believed to be crucial (Zane et al, 1998).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 53

Ethnic Groups Selected on the Basis of Adequate Available Literature

Ethnic Groups Selected on the Basis of Adequate Available Literature

Greek

Background Migration from Greece to Australia has been occurring since the early part of the 20th century. This continuum of migration, although diminished in recent years, has enabled this group of people, largely, to retain their language and customs while immersing themselves into Australian life. Migration from Greece increased markedly immediately following World War II and continued to do so until the population grew from 30,000 in 1952 to 300,000 by 1972 (Everingham et al, 1994).

Poor documentation and definition of ethnicity in most databases and drug treatment services have made the extent to which Australian born people of Greek parentage are involved in illicit drugs invisible (Zaparas, 1988). While often embracing ‘Australian’ values, many second and third generation Greeks still maintain strong identification with their culture of origin (Zaparas, 1988). This finding is further supported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996 Census of Population and Housing, Victoria, which shows that, while there were only 61,692 people born in Greece, there were 124,000 who spoke the Greek language (ABS, 1996).

Illicit Drug Use by People of Greek Background During the late 1980s Greek health and welfare workers believed that, compared with other ethnic communities, the Greek community did not experience a significant drug problem (Carless, 1989). However, given that illicit drug use is socially taboo in most groups and that they tend not to want to admit to drug use, this belief is questionable. At that time, just as now, there is little or no research information about illicit drug use within the Greek community. Therefore, although the extent of illicit drug use is not known, there is a strong possibility any numbers indicating drug use are severely underestimated (Everingham et al, 1994).

In the late 1980s, a study was conducted which investigated the drug use patterns of four different ethnic groups. Among Greek respondents, non-prescribed medication (the type of drug was not given) was reported to be used by 14 per cent of males and 17 per cent of females on a daily basis (Constantinides, 1992). In the early 1990s, research undertaken amongst Greek speakers in Sydney indicated the use of cannabis and other illicit drugs were lower than in the general community. While the

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 57 survey findings indicated that cannabis use was quite common among young Greeks there has been reticence by the community to discuss such matters any further (Hatty, 1990; Everingham et al, 1994).

Knowledge of illicit drugs among Greek respondents was generally poor, with up to 50 per cent stating that they did not know enough about drugs (Everingham et al, 1994). The Greek community also had a great fear of illicit drugs, which was further compounded by this lack of knowledge (NSW Drug and Alcohol Authority, 1987; Everingham et al, 1994).

The study on drug issues focusing on Greek respondents indicated 51 per cent thought that narcotics caused most drug-related deaths in Australia. In fact, tobacco was the major cause of premature and preventable death and disease in Australia (Everingham et al, 1994; Collins and Lapsley, 1996 cited in National Drug Strategic Network, 1998). Greek respondents believed the health problems associated with illegal drugs were overdose, addiction, suicide and HIV. There was no mention of hepatitis B or hepatitis C (Everingham et al, 1994). Greek parents discovering that their children might be using an illicit drug often caused a family crisis. The shame associated with illicit drug use attracted strict sanctions from parents—even to the point of sending their children back to Greece (Hatty, 1990).

Vulnerability of People of Greek Background to Illicit Drugs Many older Greeks believed peer group pressure was the major cause of illicit drug use. Communication and family relationships were not generally considered causal factors for drug use (Zaparas, 1988). However, the literature suggests that family relationships and parental bonding with children are of great importance within Greek families (Constantinides, 1992). The quality of this relationship was considered a determinant of illicit drug use among Greek youth. Young Greek people, particularly of the second generation, widely believed that parents were caring but overprotective. While overprotective parenting is often viewed negatively by Anglo- Australian culture, such a parenting style may in fact provide a certain amount of insulation to a young person in the face of cheap and readily available illicit drugs (Constantinides, 1992). However, it has also been suggested that, apart from common adolescent problems, there are also direct conflicts caused by the overprotectiveness encountered by young Greek people (Zaparas, 1988). As reported by Tsemberis and Orfanos (1996), Greek parents may misinterpret youthful striving for independence and assimilation as insolence—again attracting disciplinary action, often including physical punishment.

As is common among many ethnic groups living simultaneously in two cultures, social and personal conflicts may emerge which have negative consequences for Greek youth. Many first generation Greeks in Australia came from rural backgrounds and subsequently experienced massive changes in their social environment. This resulted, in many cases, in anxiety and insecurity. Attempting to retain familiar cultural values and norms within the Greek community may sometimes be at odds with the increasing desire by Greek youth to acculturate with

58 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement their surroundings (Zaparas, 1988). Conflicts of this kind may cause intra-family stress, destabilising the family unit (Everingham, et al, 1994).

Drug Treatment Service and Clients of Greek Background The Greek community finds illicit drug use unacceptable and feels that it would inflict great shame and stigma upon the family if the community discovered the problem. Consequently, few Greeks want to acknowledge drugs in their community—even though a family crisis would surely emerge if the problem remained untreated. Only a few Greeks would turn to health workers or health centres for information about an illicit drug problem (Everingham et al, 1994; The Open Mind Research Group [OMRG], 1997). Specific Greek welfare services are now actually available and are usually the first base of contact with health services. However, it has yet to be determined if these services are currently approached for problems of illicit drug use.

In the late 1980s, it was believed that ethnic specific agencies rarely handled clients with illicit drug problems (Beninati et al, 1989). The literature suggests that certain cultural nuances, such as the stigma surrounding a person’s inability to cope, or a strong sense of cultural pride, create barriers to accessing services, and may mean that a drug problem remains clandestine (OMRG, 1997). As pointed out by Zaparas (1988), a Greek family will use drug treatment services only when the situation becomes intolerable, usually for medical or legal reasons. The literature suggests that a person of Greek background involved in illicit drug use is less likely to seek help form a local doctor or priest within the Greek community for fear of loss of anonymity, personal shame or community stigma.

The most important source of information was considered to be from informal networks, such as a trusted friend or relative (Zaparas, 1988; Everingham et al, 1994). However, it was suggested local doctors and priests of Greek background were widely utilised as sources of information on illicit drug use for non-drug users (Everingham et al, 1994).

While family is acknowledged as all-pervasive and all-important in Greek culture, unfortunately it is a factor ignored by drug treatment services. Instead of delivering treatment in the context of the family, services tended to treat clients in isolation. As a result, the service experience was considered to be alienating for both the individual and the family. As suggested by Hatty (1990), independence from the family unit was an alien concept for many people of Greek background.

The literature also proposes that drug treatment service workers lacked cross- cultural training and were therefore unable to empathise with family circumstances (Zaparas, 1988). Counselling strategies tended to be based solely on Anglo-Saxon values, despite the fact that it was widely considered that the attitudes and needs of the user should be explored if the treatment were to be successful (Zaparas, 1988).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 59 Italian

Background Migration from Italy to Australia commenced, as with the Greeks, in the early part of the 20th century, peaking during the post World War II period, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s. The migration boom of Italians into Australia was due to poor economic conditions in Italy at the time (Jukic et al, 1997). The Italian community is well established in Australia, and is the largest ethnic community, both in Victoria and in Australia as a whole.

As with the Greeks, Italians have largely retained their culture, tradition and language. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (1996) indicated that while in Victoria there were 98,000 persons born in Italy, 159,000 actually spoke Italian (ABS, 1996). In common with other, more established ethnic communities, the strength of cultural link to ancestry continues well into second and third generation Italians. Nevertheless, the inadequate documentation and definition of ethnicity in most databases and drug treatment services excludes identification of a suspected substantial number of Australian born people of Italian background (Gucciardo, 1989; Jukic et al, 1997).

Illicit Drug Use by People of Italian Background There remains a dearth of information or research to determine the extent of illicit drug use by those of Italian background. Ethnicity variables on most databases are inadequate to identify persons other than first generation migrants. Therefore, the extent of use of illicit drugs by second and third generation people of CLDBs are sometimes based on speculation and therefore not clearly understood. Figures that are available appear to grossly underestimate the given size of the population.

A 1989 study which analysed Victorian Alcohol and Drug Services Record data for 1987–88 found only 31 persons born in Italy had presented to alcohol and drug services across Victoria for heroin and other opiate use (Gucciardo, 1989). (There is no indications in the report to establish that what was counted were individual cases or ‘episodes of care’.

Another Australian study in the late 1980s that looked at four ethnic communities found that seven per cent of the survey respondents of Italian background reported to be using cannabis, with most consuming the substance on a daily or weekly basis (Trimboli and Ridoutt, 1987). In 1997, a survey undertaken by Jukic et al (1997) indicated that 19 per cent of the total 532 respondents who spoke Italian, or identified with this ethnic group, had at some stage tried cannabis, and of these, 13 per cent reported using it once or more a week. Only one per cent of this group reported ever having used heroin, while six per cent reported using other drug stimulants. Jukic et al (1997) reported that young male Italian speakers were the main illicit drug-using group in their community. Jones (1993) found Italian speakers were less likely than the general community to report ever having tried either heroin (one per cent and two per cent respectively) or marijuana (26 per cent and 35 per cent respectively).

60 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement It has been suggested that extracting answers from CLDB respondents on sensitive issues can often inhibit frank replies and thereby potentially cause under-reporting of the truth (Ja and Aoki, 1993; Mudaly, 1997). From the paucity of information available it may be suggested illicit drug use is no more or less prevalent among those who are second and third generation Italians than for the broader community (Guccciardo, 1989).

In the late 1980s research amongst various ethnic communities, including Italians, found that there was widespread lack of knowledge about drug-related issues (Gucciardo, 1989; Hatty, 1990). In the late 1990s, Jukic et al (1997) found survey respondents associating marijuana and heroin with having a drug problem in greater proportions than the general community. Over half the respondents believed they knew enough about marijuana, while 74 per cent believed they knew little about other illicit drugs. The health problems associated with illicit drugs were believed to be overdose, AIDS, dependence and brain damage. Attitudes and reactions among Italian speakers over the issue of illicit drug use were often coloured by fear, social stigma and a lack of accurate and positive information (Gucciardo, 1989). It was found that people of Italian background strongly believed that illicit drug issues were primarily other people’s problems, and were greatly opposed to the legalisation of any illicit drugs. Most Italians in the literature strongly supported increased penalties for the use of illicit substances, particularly heroin, amphetamines and cocaine. They were less inclined to support increased penalties for the use of marijuana (NSW Drug and Alcohol Authority, 1987; Jukic et al, 1997; National Drug Strategy, 1994).

Vulnerability of People of Italian Background to Illicit Drugs Most Italian born migrants have now resided in Australia for 15 years or more and therefore the process of acculturating to the wider community has arguably occurred. (Jukic et al, 1997). Problems common to many adolescents, such as boredom, disillusionment, family problems and peer pressure, are also reasons why youth of Italian background may use illicit drugs (Gucciardo, 1989).

Adapting to the challengers of two different cultures has been considered to be stressful for Italian youth. It is also common for Italian families to express concern about the erosion of respect for parental authority and the adoption of Australian values that emphasise autonomy and individualism (Hatty, 1990; Jukic et al, 1997). In common with many other migrant groups from CLDB countries—and arguably true of adolescents of all backgrounds—intergenerational conflicts and poor communication with parents causes difficulties in families of Italian background. It has been suggested that when the stress of intergenerational conflict becomes overwhelming, there is an increased potential for young people to experiment with illicit drugs. Patterns observed in the development of drug dependency are often similar across all cultural backgrounds (Gucciardo, 1989).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 61 Drug Treatment Services and Clients of Italian Background Within Italian families, the discovery of illicit drug use often results in the problem being addressed within the family rather than seeking outside help. There is a tendency for such problems not to be disclosed with others so as to maintain the complex code of obligations that regulate relationships within and outside the family (Hatty, 1990). The literature suggests that Italians on the whole find it hard to conceptualise the idea of sharing their problems with a stranger because they are simply not used to exposing family crises (Guccciardo, 1989). Hatty (1990) has reported that Italian families are protective of the drug user and often conceptualise the problem of illicit drug use as an illness.

It has been suggested that drug dependency not only adversely affects the drug user, but also the lives of all family members. The term ‘co-dependent’ behaviour among Italian families has been used to explain how family members can often deny the existence of a drug-related problem. For many Italians the unfamiliarity of seeking professional assistance for something considered a family matter was common (Guccciardo, 1989; Giodano and McGoldick, 1996). Many people of Italian background were not aware of the availability of drug treatment services and/or drug information (Guccciardo, 1989). In the late 1990s, Jukic et al (1997) concluded that Italian speakers were on a par with the general community in their knowledge about where to obtain drug information. Medical doctors were considered the main sources of trusted information. However, the same report indicated that there were a high number of respondents who did not know which drug treatment services to access (Jukic et al, 1997).

When social deviance such as illicit drug use occurs there can be a sense of failure and of mounting shame amongst the non-using family members. Drug treatment services tend only to be sought when a crisis point is reached, and in fact may not be ultimately utilised because of language barriers (Hatty, 1990). Additionally, it was found that most drug treatment services were focused on working with the individual and not with the family—perhaps because of a lack of resources to incorporate family therapy into the service (Gucciardo, 1989). Current literature has not yet determined if this problem has been resolved.

Asian

Background As is common with many other ethnic groups, people of Asian background are often lumped together as a single homogeneous group, devoid of distinctive ethnic cultural and racial differences (Faung and Lee, 1991; Ja and Aoki, 1993). As previously discussed, the principal problem with this form of classification is the lack of acknowledgment of the often very different cultural backgrounds of various Asian communities. When classified together like this, faulty conclusions are likely to be drawn. In many public record databases ethnic identifications are based on a client’s last name or physical appearance, making the analysis of public record data

62 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement problematic (Takeuchi and Young, 1994). Ethnic-specific Asian groups are to be assessed separately later in this report. However, since much literature still homogenises ‘Asians’, and yet separates Indo-Chinese, a review of this ethnic group will be examined on its own.

Illicit Drug Use by People of Asian Background In the United States the Asian community has often been looked upon as the ‘model community’ because of apparently fewer problems related to the use of and dependence on illicit drugs (Gilmore et al, 1990; Ja and Aoki, 1993; Kuramato, 1997). Such perceptions are further supported by recent American studies indicating that among five different ethnic groups, marijuana and other illicit drug use was lowest among Asian-Americans (Neumark-Sztainer et al, 1996). The reasons provided to explain this lower illicit drug use were that Asians feared addiction and experienced a higher level of disappointment with themselves when they did use drugs, compared with whites and other ethnic groups (Newcomb et al, 1990). There is enormous potential for erroneous assumptions to be drawn from such findings. This is because conclusions would be based on inadequately defined ethnic groups, with an inability to differentiate between each different Asian group. Until recently there has been little or no research specifically on young people of Asian background, which might be expected to be different from the population as a whole (Kim et al, 1992; Zane and Kim, 1994; Kuramato, 1997).

The dynamics of illicit drug use remain complex. The current classification of ethnic groups does not assist in reducing misunderstandings and the potential under- estimation of the problem (Ja and Aoki, 1993). For example, in many Asian communities it has been found that the subject of illicit drugs is taboo, and therefore drug use is often met with strong denial, particularly by the older generation. Illicit drug use commonly results in loss of face within the community. It is perhaps no surprise that the level of illicit drug use exacted from surveys is low, or that there is a paucity of knowledge about illicit drug use in Asian communities (Ja and Aoki, 1993; Mudaly, 1997). The attitude of Asian communities in Australia towards use of illicit drugs has been found to be one of fear and anxiety (Hunt, 1992).

Vulnerability of People of Asian Background to Illicit Drugs There is a widespread belief among Asians that education is the primary path for social mobility (Takeuchi and Young, 1994). Many Asian communities believe the only viable means of survival and success in mainstream society is through educational attainment and excellence. In Australia, since the early 1990s, there has been a substantial proportional decline in educational attainment by Indo-Chinese. This may be due to family reunions and the emptying of long stayers in the refugee camps, which has had the affect of diluting the number of well-educated people within the community (Viviani et al, 1993).

It is not yet clear how the education level of Indo-Chinese will develop over time. However, in view of the recent dismantling of the manufacturing sector and rising levels of unemployment amongst all ethnic groups the importance of higher

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 63 education has increased (Viviani et al, 1993). In 1992, the unemployment rate for newly arrived migrants from Indo-China was up to three and four times the national average (NSW Health, 1993). Traditionally the Indo-Chinese have had a concentration of employment in the manufacturing industry in all states, particularly NSW and Victoria. However, work in this sector has contracted considerably over the past decade, and the impact upon particular groups in the Indo-Chinese community has been profound. A lack of qualifications overall among Indo-Chinese (including low proportion with trade qualifications) helps to explain their recently high unemployment rates (Viviani et al, 1993).

For many Indo-Chinese, a lack of educational attainment not only impedes social mobility, but can diminish their status in their ethnic group (Viviani et al, 1993). When educational performance falls short of parental expectations, a high degree of emotional stress from the fear of failure may occur, precipitating a family crisis. To relieve this sense of failure, depression or family pressure, it has been suggested that some Asian youth move away from their family and cultural identity, possibly turning to illicit drugs for solace (Kim et al, 1992; Lukaszewski, 1990; D’Avanzo, 1997; EYIN et al, 1998).

Since the late 1970s many migrants from South East Asia have experienced enormous trauma as a result of forced evacuation from their home countries, have witnessed atrocities and had prolonged stays in refugee camps (Zane and Kim, 1994). In many refugee camps compatriots within these environments become substitutes for family members. Being moved from camp to camp and losing touch with one another added further trauma to the experience (Lukaszewski, 1990). The literature suggests that stressors caused by the refugee and migration experiences, as well as loss of family, possessions and status, together with illiteracy and increasing poverty, make such people vulnerable to seeking relief through illicit drug use. The use of hard and psychoactive drugs to alleviate psychological distress has been reported to be common among Asian background people (D’Avanzo, 1997; Mudaly, 1997).

Drug Treatment Services and Clients of Asian Background The expression of emotion is often discouraged culturally in Asian communities. Intense denial of illicit drug use, and the difficulty in openly acknowledging personal problems which may bring shame and stigma to the family, are arguably among the primary reasons why people of Asian background do not seek assistance for illicit drug use (Zane and Kim, 1994; Amodeo et al, 1996; D’Avanzo, 1997; Fish and Harris, 1997). In the United States, Asian-Americans tend to under-utilise drug treatment services, and this infrequent use of services has been interpreted as a lack of need for these services. In Australia there is a tendency to believe that low utilisation of drug services is due to lack of knowledge of the services, or a lack of appropriate services for this group. It has also been suggested the Eastern concept of ‘karma’ is held by many Asian adults and to a varying degree by their youth. For some Asians, suffering takes on a spiritual dimension and is believed to be beyond the individual’s understanding. It was suggested in the literature that drug use could be perceived as ‘karma’ rather than a problem that needs to be solved, and that this results in apathy,

64 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement indifference or a general acceptance of those involved in illicit drug use (Morley, 1996; D’Avanzo, 1997).

The literature suggests that communication within the family unit was often indirect and mono-directional within the hierarchy of the family, and that the emphasis is often placed on the interdependent needs of the family rather than on the individual. The initial response on the discovery of illicit drug use by a family member of Asian background may be to deny the problem and hope it resolves itself. When this goal proves unattainable there remains a strong obligation to keep problems within the family in order to uphold family honour and minimise loss of face to the wider community (Ja and Aoki, 1993; Lee, 1996). Seeking outside help can result in significant dilemmas, as the problem highlights not only shame for the family but also can imply admission of failure of the family structure to both the community and others. As with other ethnic groups, it was suggested that Asian families often wished for a quick-fix solution to a long-term drug problem in order to avoid personal responsibility that may impact upon a family member (Morsy, 1990; Ja and Aoki, 1993). As suggested by Ja and Aoki (1993), there generally remains little understanding of the role family members can play towards contributing to drug use, and this in itself may give rise to problems.

Chinese Language Speakers

Background In Australia, sections of the Chinese speaking community are commonly considered to be well established. Chinese speaking people from mainland China have been migrating to Australia since the middle of the 19th century and particularly to Victoria during the gold rush era of the 1850s. Chinese speaking ethnic groups who migrated to Australia during this period were often looked upon as a danger to the local population and to the nation as a whole because of their long tradition of smoking opium. Public commentators at the time suggested that opium caused moral bankruptcy and a particular focus was placed upon the traditional Chinese consumers (Hatty, 1990; Manderson, 1999).

In recent years, the Chinese speaking community has grown. The ‘diaspora’ of Chinese speaking communities located throughout the world have been well documented. Most Chinese speaking migrants in Australia have come from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are also ethnic Chinese speaking communities from Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia who have also settled here, albeit in fewer numbers. Determining the number of Chinese speaking people by birthplace is thus very difficult. The Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated that those in Victoria born in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan alone numbered 47,253 people (ABS, 1996).

The major Chinese languages spoken are Cantonese and Mandarin. Chinese speakers constituted the third largest NESB group, after Italian and Greek speakers. In the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996 Census, the number of people in Victoria speaking either Cantonese, Mandarin or Chinese (non-specific) was 87,306 (ABS,

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 65 1996). While most recently arrived Chinese speakers are identifiable on databases, those of second or more generations are not.

Illicit Drug Use by People from Chinese Speaking Backgrounds Information and other research specifically focused on the extent of illicit drug use in the Chinese speaking community are rare. Studies undertaken to determine the extent of illicit drug use on the Chinese mainland have shown the number of drug users continues to rise at an alarming rate. In 1992, the official figure was 148,000, and by 1997 there were an estimated 560,000 registered drug users (Crofts et al, 1998). Within the Australian context there has only been one study undertaken to measure the extent of illicit drug use. According to this study, fewer Chinese respondents had tried any illicit drug compared with the general population. It was found that drug users were reluctant to acknowledge any problems or to seek help. Key informant interviewees involved in the study also indicated there was relatively low drug use among people of Chinese speaking backgrounds compared with the general community. While it was generally agreed that illicit drug use was not a particular problem, illicit drug trafficking was perceived to be a greater problem for the Chinese (Everingham and Flaherty, 1995).

In the study undertaken by Everingham and Flaherty (1995), four per cent of Chinese speaking respondents reported having used marijuana in the past month, compared with nine per cent in the general community. Respondents reported very little use of any other illicit drug, although heroin was perceived as the most frequently mentioned illicit drug used. Seventy-six per cent of respondents felt they did not know enough about illegal drugs. Compared with the general community, Chinese speaking respondents were more likely to perceive heroin as the drug most likely to cause death, and they are less likely to nominate alcohol or tobacco as the drugs most likely to cause death. Although the survey indicated a poor understanding about drugs, the majority of respondents were strongly opposed to legalisation of any illicit drugs (Everingham and Flaherty, 1995).

Vulnerability of People of Chinese Speaking Backgrounds to Illicit Drugs It is very difficult to determine the vulnerability issues of illicit drug use for Chinese speakers or the impact this may have on their own drug use practices, because there is so little literature available. As with all NESB communities, difficulties are likely to be encountered while adjusting to a different culture. In recent years there has been a influx of Chinese speakers settling in Victoria, and although a number of recent migrants may possess high educational standards and relatively good English (particularly those from Hong Kong), the issue of unemployment is still a concern for many. The study by Everingham and Flaherty (1995) identified unemployment as the most serious problem facing the community, as for the general community.

Among the key informants interviewed for the study by Everingham and Flaherty (1995), poor socioeconomic status was referred to as a predisposing factor to using

66 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement illicit drugs. Additionally, those who may have arrived as refugees rather than as business migrants were likely to have encountered a variety of different stresses, which may have impacted on the likelihood to engage in illicit drug use (Everingham and Flaherty, 1995).

Drug Treatment Services and Clients of Chinese Speaking Backgrounds Family plays a crucial role in health seeking behaviour for people of Chinese speaking background. Everingham and Flaherty (1995) suggested that improvement in health is sometimes only achieved through family interventions. However, since there was often considerable shame and a social stigma associated with illicit drug use it was believed probable that people of Chinese speaking backgrounds felt it would be inappropriate to seek assistance or counselling for illicit drug use. A lack of recognition of drug dependency among Chinese speaking people was also considered to be a possible explanation for their general reluctance to admit to a drug problem, even to themselves. The belief of self-responsibility and the resolutions of problems through self-control without outside assistance also may affect the likelihood to seek assistance (Lee, 1996). These characteristics may partially explain why Chinese speakers were poor utilisers of drug treatment services. Overall, it was observed that health information and services were not generally accessed until breaking point was reached, by either the individual or the family (Everingham and Flaherty, 1995).

Everingham and Flaherty (1995) found that Chinese speaking people have often found counselling to be inappropriate for them, largely because of a reluctance to talk about private family issues. The study also indicated that doctors were the most commonly mentioned source of information about drugs (usually sought by a family member) followed by drug advisory centres. However, there was a perception that doctors were prescribers rather than confidants, resulting in illicit drug use issues often remaining unexplored (Everingham and Flaherty, 1995).

Other reasons for under-utilisation of drug treatment services were that newly arrived Chinese speakers have language barriers due to poor English proficiency and were unfamiliar with how to use and access the health system (Everingham and Flaherty, 1995).

Cambodian

Background Most Cambodians arrived in Australia as refugees between 1980 and the early 1990s. Before this period, there were very few Cambodians residing in Australia and those who did were generally students (EYIN et al, 1998). Having endured the profound trauma of the genocidal policy of the Pol Pot era during the early 1970s, Cambodians then experienced an invasion of their country by the Vietnamese in 1978. During the

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 67 late 1970s and early 1980s, up to 300,000 Cambodians fled across the border to Thailand. Nearly half of these were reported to be ethnic Chinese (Viviani, 1996; Stevens, 1997). The majority of Cambodians that joined the exodus to leave their country experienced prolonged political, social and economic upheavals and witnessed the general collapse of their society. Many lost family members through death or separation and the normal structures of their traditional life were severely dismantled (McKenzie-Pollack, 1996; Stevens, 1997). Many of the refugee camps where Cambodians lived before their arrival in Australia were similar to prison environments (EYIN et al, 1998). As a consequence of their background, trauma- related problems have deeply affected this community.

In 1991 there were 17,500 Cambodian born people living in Australia, of which, nearly 40 per cent lived in Victoria. By mid 1995 it was estimated that the size of the Cambodian population had grown to 29,000, including children born in Australia and elsewhere. It is believed half the recent arrivals were refugees (Viviani, 1996). The 1996 Census indicates that there were 8,274 Cambodian-born Victorian residents, and 7,316 of these people spoke Khmer (the principle language of Cambodia) (ABS, 1996).

Illicit Drug Use by People of Cambodian Background While there has been an increasing amount of literature and research about the Indo- Chinese there still remains a paucity of information focusing solely on Cambodians. Many of the studies on Indo-Chinese people tend to generalise across the three main Indo-Chinese populations, resulting in little information about illicit drug use among Cambodians (Swift et al, 1997; EYIN et al, 1998). While the extent of drug use is unknown or uncertain, there are concerns that Cambodian youth, together with both Vietnamese and Laotian youth, may be well represented as street dealers and as illicit drug users (EYIN et al, 1998). Whether the extent of illicit drug use among Cambodians is any different from the general community has yet to be determined.

A study undertaken of Cambodians by Pham (1994) in Sydney found that illicit drugs in general were not mentioned as being commonly used in their community. Key informants involved in the study believed the drug of choice for Khmer street kids was marijuana, and that when compared with the wider community there was no difference in their pattern of use of illicit drugs. In a further exploration of this subject, research undertaken by EYIN et al (1998) suggests that Cambodian youth, like other Indo-Chinese, use a range of illicit substances, including barbiturates, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, street methadone and inhalants. The preferred drugs were cannabis and heroin. Similarly, among Indo-Chinese there generally appeared to be a preference for opiates, and the progression from smoking to injecting heroin was not uncommon (Swift et al, 1997; EYIN et al, 1998).

Khmer people perceive the term ‘drug’ as meaning illicit substances. Illicit drug use is often associated with crime or of socially unacceptable behaviours, and thus open public discussions about these subjects are often stifled. As a result, this community has limited knowledge about illicit drugs (Pham, 1994). The same report also indicated that 80 per cent of the key informants interviewed believed they lacked the

68 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement knowledge on such matters and could not impart accurate information back to their community. Interestingly, at the time of the study, few key informants displayed any interest about knowing more about heroin, though it is unlikely this same attitude would prevail today (Pham, 1994).

Vulnerability of People of Cambodian Background to Illicit Drugs As with all people of CLDBs, there are various stresses that are encountered by immigrants to a new country to culture. However, in the case of people from Cambodia, the effects of multiple traumas, disruptions and cultural dislocations would be expected to exacerbate their vulnerability. At time of arrival in Australia, the Cambodian population was relatively young. The 1996 Census indicates that in Victoria nearly one in four people born in Cambodia was aged between 15 and 24 years old (ABS, 1996). The 1991 Census found there were a much higher percentage of one-parent families within the Cambodian community, compared with the total Australian population (15.2 per cent compared with 10.2 per cent), and a higher proportion of widows in such families. Adolescent years are recognised as a high risk period for illicit drug use (Success Works [A], 1998). The high proportion of young people in the Cambodian population, together with the pressures on family life and their past experiences, all contribute to their vulnerability to illicit drug use.

Educational achievements of Cambodian refugees and migrants have been reported to be lower than that for Vietnamese and Laotians. The societal upheavals that occurred during the Pol Pot regime partially explain this outcome. Additionally, many came from rural backgrounds and the education facilities there, and in the refugee camps, were inadequate and many lacked any formal education (Viviani, 1996). At best, Cambodians had severely disrupted schooling and many are illiterate in their own language (Pham, 1994; OMRG, 1997). Many Cambodians also have very limited proficiency in English, have had negative experiences learning English and tend to believe they do not need to learn English in order to live or survive in Australia (OMRG, 1997). Pham (1994) indicates that 15 per cent of those aged between 15 and 24 years had poor or no English while for those aged between 25 and 54 years it increased to 51 per cent. To a large extent people of Cambodian background have adapted and functioned in the wider community with minimum levels of competence, and their social relationships are commonly confined to the Cambodian community (Stevens, 1997).

Viviani (1996) found that Cambodians had not done as well as the Vietnamese and Laotians in the field of seeking employment, although their general experience in the labour market has been described as similar. During the early period of settlement, most Cambodians were employed in unskilled labour. It was suggested that the Cambodian community would be structurally vulnerable should there be a contraction in the manufacturing sector (Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1985). As predicted, the economic restructuring in Australia has contributed to the disappearance of unskilled jobs, and jobs available now often require higher levels of education and improved English language proficiency. As has occurred to many people of CLDBs, the requirements of greater employment skills have impacted negatively on the Cambodian community, particularly among youth and the aged

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 69 (Stevens, 1997). The unemployment rate for Cambodian youth in Victoria aged 15–24 was 39 per cent in the 1991 Census and 35 per cent in 1996 (Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1995; ABS, 1996).

Drug Treatment Services and Clients of Cambodian Background Cambodians have widespread lack of knowledge about the locations and the fundamental functions and information provided by mainstream services (OMRG, 1997). Information about the utilisation of drug treatment services was believed to be inadequate and difficult to obtain. It has been suggested that a lack of English proficiency among many Cambodians causes avoidance of such services and in turn creates a false impression of the lack of need in the minds of service providers (Stevens, 1997). However, it has been suggested that there was an increase in drug treatment services by the Indo-Chinese during 1996–1997. This was possibly linked to outreach services targeting and contacting these particular ethnic groups (EYIN et al, 1998).

The literature suggests that Cambodian parents are fearful of drug using issues affecting their community and they are increasingly frustrated by their inability to deal with such problems (EYIN et al, 1998). There was a belief that the shame and loss of face to the community, as is common with all Asian societies, is widely experienced by Cambodians who are using illicit drugs. The need to hide such problems regarding illicit drug using was of great importance (EYIN et al, 1998). As reported by Stevens (1997), Cambodians were both individually and collectively more orientated towards self-reliance in meeting challengers they faced, resulting in a widespread reluctance to make requests for help or to discuss personal matters for fear of blame. Cambodians believe the disclosure of personal information should be maintained with the closed extended family (Pham, 1994). The consequences were that problems often remained unresolved until an intolerable crisis emerged (Stevens, 1997; OMRG, 1997).

Where the reliance on the family remains strong, seeking assistance outside the extended family was believed a difficult step to take. The concepts of counselling or direct questioning are not a part of Khmer society (McKenzie-Pollack, 1996). However, it has been suggested that young South East Asians, including Cambodians, are beginning to seek help and discuss personal matters more openly as they adapt and acculturate to the wider community (EYIN et al, 1998).

Laotian

Background Most people from Laos arrived in Australia during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s as a result of war. Many Laotians had been residing in Thailand refugee camps—often described as appalling—for many years (sometimes more than ten years) prior to their settlement in Australia (EYIN et al, 1998). There are three major groups from Laos, of which the largest number are ethnic Laotian (80 per cent).

70 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Ethnic Chinese comprise ten per cent and the remainder are either ethnic Vietnamese or Hmong (Viviani, 1996). In contrast to people from Vietnam and Cambodia, most Laotian families were able to remain intact in the Thailand refugee camps or were reunited with family immediately upon arrival in Australia.

As a result, it is probable that Laotian people in Australia are less psychologically disturbed or traumatised than others of Indo-Chinese background (EYIN et al, 1998).

In 1991, 60 per cent of Laotian people resided in New South Wales and 20 per cent in Victoria (Viviani, 1996). In 1991, there were an estimated 9,500 Laotian born people in Australia. In 1995 there was approximately 14,000 Laotians, including those born in Australia and elsewhere. The 1996 Census indicated that in Victoria there were 2,162 Laos born people of which 469 were between the ages of 15 to 24 years (22 per cent). There were 1,994 people who spoke Lao in Victoria (ABS, 1996).

Illicit Drug Use by People of Laotian Background There remains a dearth of information about illicit drug use among Laotian people residing in Australia. It has been standard practice integrating this ethnic group with people of Indo–Chinese descent without any attempt to determine any disparities that may exist among them. EYIN et al (1998) have reported that the aggregate pattern of illicit drug use appears to be reasonably valid for all groups that comprise the Indo-Chinese. On this basis barbiturates, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, street methadone and inhalants appear to be commonly in use in this group with the most preferred illicit drugs being cannabis and heroin among Laotian youth (EYIN et al, 1998). The extent of illicit drug use in contrast to the wider community remains largely unknown (EYIN et al, 1998).

There are few studies that focus on people of Laotian background. However, it is expected that there is poor knowledge about drug issues in this community. The attitudes by the community to illicit drug use among their youth have yet to be measured but, like the rest of the Indo-Chinese community, there is probably much fear and anxiety (EYIN et al, 1998). As with other members of the Indo-Chinese community some parents may look upon the penalties associated with drug use as too lenient and treatment options as ineffective. However, it has been reported that many parents do want to be supportive of their children by exercising appropriate guidance and discipline (EYIN et al, 1998).

Vulnerability of People of Laotian Background to Illicit Drugs The traumas experienced by people of Vietnamese and Cambodian background were believed to have been more severe than those encountered by Laotian people. However, the refugee experience itself, and the problems associated with resettlement, were still profoundly difficult (Kavanagh and Sananikone, 1982; Viviani, 1996). While a number of people from Laos have been able to achieve a basic standard of living, find steady jobs and acquire tertiary educations, there are also a number who remain unemployed or involved in largely unskilled jobs with uncertain futures (Viviani, 1996; EYIN et al, 1998). While those born in Vietnam and

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 71 Cambodia had greater unemployment levels, Laotian unemployment levels were still very high. In 1991, 30 per cent of males and 35 per cent of females were unemployed (Viviani, 1996). For those aged between 15 and 24 years the unemployment rate was 39 per cent for both males and females (Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1995).

It has been suggested that Laotian people have lower rates of unemployment compared with those of Vietnamese and Cambodian background because, not only do they have better proficiency in English, but also their period of residence in Australia has been longer. For example, in 1995 their median period of residence was 13 years (Viviani, 1996). However, other reports indicate that most Laotian people have limited English skills, which affect their ability to enter the competitive employment market (OMRG, 1997).

Drug Treatment Services and Clients of Laotian Background In the Laotian community it was found that there was a high level of unwillingness to tell others of personal problems for fear of losing face with the community resulting in a strong tendency not to seek assistance outside of the family unit (OMRG, 1997). The concept of seeking advice from drug treatment services could bring about great shame and was apparently an alien concept. It was also believed the small size of the Laotian community could create difficulties with the availability of interpreters and culturally appropriate information about illicit drug issues and services (EYIN et al, 1998).

It has been suggested that some parents are in need of accurate, culturally appropriate information (EYIN et al, 1998). However, lack of knowledge may be difficult to redress in this community due to its small size, and therefore there are fewer resources for education programs specific to them. It was also believed there were few Lao welfare workers employed to assist the community and of those that did exist there was precarious funding associated with maintaining these positions (EYIN et al, 1998).

The Laotian community appear to be largely unfamiliar with the fundamental systems and structures of services available in Australia. Consequently, their ability to access a drug treatment service is likely to be poor. Additionally, Laotian community networks are poorly developed and not widespread. Thus, it is probable that Laotian people do not know where to go for help when illicit drug problems emerge in their community. It has also been suggested by the literature that existing services are designed to focus on the Indo-Chinese, which are mostly targeted to Vietnamese and employ Vietnamese workers, may not, by their nature, be an attractive option by Laotian people (OMRG, 1997).

72 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Vietnamese

Background The fall of Saigon in 1975, and the reunification of Vietnam in 1976 following a protracted, full-scale war between two ideologically opposed groups, resulted in an exodus of thousands of people who ultimately resettle in various parts of the world (Bertram and Flaherty, 1992; Karnow, 1994). The majority of Vietnamese departed as a result of the policies and politics of Vietnam’s communist government, which came into power at the end of the war. For some time there was widespread draconian discrimination imposed upon various sectors of society in Vietnam. These included the confiscation of land and goods, restriction of speech, religion and movement, imprisonment and ‘re-education’ in camps located in remote regions of the country. Migration of Vietnamese people to Australia was by one of three routes: perilous boat journeys; refugee camp resettlements or through official departure schemes (Hawthorne, 1982; Viviani, 1984; Wilson and Storey, 1991). Until 1991, most Vietnamese arrived in Australia as refugees (80 per cent) after spending lengthy periods of time in refugee camps in Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia or Malaysia. The war and refugee experience for these people was deeply traumatic (Viviani, 1984; Coughlan, 1992; Bertram and Flaherty, 1992; Viviani et al, 1993).

Before 1971 there were 717 Indo-Chinese born people residing in Australia (Coughlan, 1992). This changed following an influx of refugee boat people immediately after the end of the war. Then there were two major waves of Vietnamese migration to Australia. The first of these waves was between 1980 and 1982 due to the closure of private businesses in Vietnam in 1979. The second occurred from the late 1980s to the early 1990s due largely to an acceleration of a family reunion program (Viviani et al, 1993). The widely held belief that around two- thirds of people coming from Vietnam were of Chinese ancestry is incorrect. The 1986 Census indicated that 34 per cent were ethnic Chinese, and the 1991 Census found that Vietnamese with Chinese ethnicity comprised little more than 25 per cent of the Vietnamese born (Coughlan, 1992; Bureau of Immigration and Population Research, 1994).

Between 1980 and 1988 approximately 12,000 Vietnamese migrated to Australia (Coughlan, 1992). While there was still a 23 per cent increase in the number of Vietnamese born people in Australia between 1991 and 1996, there was also reported to be a steady decline in Vietnamese migration as family reunions were completed (EYIN et al, 1998). In 1991, there were 121,000 Vietnamese-born people residing in Australia, and by 1997 this had risen to 165,000. In 1997, the Vietnamese community became the third largest CLDB migrant group in Australia behind Italy and those from the former Yugoslavia (Viviani, 1996; ABS, 1996).

The 1995 Census indicated Victoria had just more than 55,000 Vietnamese born people in its population of which almost 54,000 spoke Vietnamese. Of Vietnamese in Victoria, 22 per cent were between the ages of 15 to 24 years old (ABS, 1996).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 73 Illicit Drug Use by People of Vietnamese Background The Vietnamese community are the most researched ethnic group in Australia in relation to illicit drug use. Their well-documented refugee and migration experience are perhaps an influential factor in the subsequent documentation of their illicit drug use (Ezard, 1997).

There has also been extensive media coverage that frequently features Vietnamese young people as drug user’s and/or traffickers (Vo, 1998). While an illicit drug problem certainly exists among Vietnamese youth, quantifying the extent of illicit drug use among the Vietnamese community in Victoria and comparing it with that of the general community has not yet been undertaken (Dare, 1998). Researchers acknowledge that the extent of drug use among any group of people is difficult and attempts to date have produced inaccurate estimations for both minority ethnic groups and the wider community.

The number of injecting drug users (IDUs) of Vietnamese background appears to be greater than for other ethnic groups (Parks Area Safety Network, 1994; Ezard, 1997). However, a 1993 National Drug Strategy Household Survey that compared a sample of Vietnamese with the general community showed that one per cent of Vietnamese born had ever used heroin, whereas two per cent of the general community had. For marijuana use the proportion was four per cent for Vietnamese born and 34 per cent for the general community (Evans, 1996). The Victorian Drug Household Survey indicated that only four per cent of those born in South East Asia (of which it can be assumed most were Vietnamese) admitted to ever having used hard drugs. This compares with nine per cent for those born in Australia (Department of Human Services, 1995 citing Ezard, 1997). The Victorian Inpatient Minimum Database showed that between 1995 and 1996 there were 12 Vietnamese born people who were admitted to a hospital for an opiate related condition, compared with 1,315 Australian born (Ezard, 1997). This figure, as emphasised by Ezard (1997), may equally be a result of poor accessibility of hospital services by people born in Vietnam than it is an indicator of drug use.

It has also been suggested that the secrecy and shame associated with illicit drug use in the broader Vietnamese community may reduce the likelihood of accurate estimates of illicit drug use (Bertram and Flaherty, 1992). However, other research among Vietnamese illicit drug users gives an indication of patterns of use for this group. For example, a study undertaken by Barr and Crofts (1998) indicated that from 1992–1997 there were 13 heroin-related deaths of persons of Vietnamese background, out of a total 550 heroin related deaths. While Vietnamese people in Victoria comprise 1.3 per cent of the total population, they accounted for 2.3 per cent of heroin related deaths. The same coronial data showed that the Vietnamese were years younger than the Australian born counterparts and had greater exposure to hepatitis C on autopsy (85 per cent, compared with 31 per cent of the Australian born deaths) (Barr and Crofts, 1998).

In 1994, it was estimated that 80 per cent of young Vietnamese males coming into contact with correctional services were heroin users (Hinz and Kelly, 1994). Victorian Police statistics show that Vietnamese born (mostly males) comprised the largest

74 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement non-Australian born group of alleged offenders. However, nearly 80 per cent of their offences relate to drugs and nearly 50 per cent of offenders were under the age of 20 (Victorian Police, 1997). Whether these statistics indicate higher levels of drug use, or indicate a greater focus by law enforcement agencies on targeting street drug use and dealing in areas where there are a high proportion of Vietnamese, remains a moot point (Hinz and Kelly, 1994; Higgs et al, 1999). In recent years police harassment of heroin users in the suburb of Cabramatta in Western Sydney, of whom many were Vietnamese, seems significant (Maher et al, 1997).

An overview of needle and syringe program (NSP) statistics has suggested that there are potentially high rates of heroin use among Vietnamese youth. In the Western Region of Melbourne 35 per cent of NSP clients were Vietnamese.

Most of those using the service were between 19 and 26 years of age, and all were male. However, this region in the early 1990s had a high proportion of Vietnamese residents (35 per cent of the total Vietnamese population in Victoria) and they comprised about three per cent of the population in that area (Fox and Lauchlan, 1992). In the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Springvale, Vietnamese peoplw accounted for 22 per cent of those using the NSP (Hinz and Kelly, 1994). Another secondary exchange in Melbourne estimated that up to 50 per cent of clients were Vietnamese (Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, 1997). Caution should be adopted in making assumptions about what these figures actually mean. For example, high rates of utilisation of NSP could indicate successful access strategies by outreach workers specifically targeting Vietnamese people, rather than a greater drug use by Vietnamese people (Fox and Lauchlan, 1992; Duong, 1995).

Research focusing on patterns and practice of illicit drug use among Vietnamese IDUs has shown a number of risk factors. As reported in a study by Louie et al (1998), it was found that 18 per cent of Vietnamese IDUs reported sharing of needles; 69 per cent did not use NSPs; and of the 32 per cent tested for hepatics C, all were positive. A 1997 a study in Cabramatta, Sydney found that among the Indo-Chinese, of which 76 per cent were Vietnamese, 89 per cent drew heroin from a communal solution on the last injecting occasion and one-third reported sharing of needles. Only 16 per cent reported ‘mainly’ using NSPs to access injecting equipment (Maher et al, 1997). A recent study of 188 injecting drug users of Vietnamese background indicated that, despite a lower sharing of equipment (18 per cent), there was nevertheless a high rate of positive tests for hepatitis C (78 per cent) (Higgs et al, 1998).

Between 1993 and 1997 up to 18 per cent of HIV notifications in south-west Sydney involved individuals from an Asian background. More than 50 per cent of these cases identified IDU as the sole risk factor, compared with 35 per cent in New South Wales as a whole. In 1998, another study found that Vietnamese IDUs were increasing their risk of acquiring HIV infection through the sharing of needles. Although past studies have shown ethnic mixing was rare among illicit drug users, this study found that 33 per cent of the Vietnamese IDU respondents shared needles with non-Vietnamese (Maher, 1998).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 75 Common to all studies involving those of Vietnamese background, the respondents tended to be significantly younger than Caucasian drug users. Most IDUs were male. Knowledge and awareness of blood born viruses was minimal. Sharing of equipment was common. Hepatitis C was found to be highly prevalent and injecting drug use appeared to be increasing (Louie et al, 1998; Higgs et al, 1998; Maher et al, 1997 and Maher, 1998).

A Sydney study by Bertram et al (1996) found that the level of knowledge and general attitude to illicit drug use among the Vietnamese were poor. Ability to identify both licit and illicit substances was lower than for the general community, and a substantial percentage (21 per cent) did not know how to access information about drugs. It was widely believed that heroin use was restricted to young men, not the older generation, and that the main illicit drug used was heroin (Romios and Ross, 1993). While there appeared to be widespread anxiety among parents about the impact illicit drugs had on their children there was also both a feeling of defensiveness over the problem and a sense of inadequacy as to how the problem should be addressed (Romios and Ross, 1993; Ezard, 1997; EYIN et al, 1998).

Vietnamese parents were greatly ashamed of their children’s involvement in drug use, and accompanying mixed feelings of support and anger there was despair. Anecdotal reports indicate some Vietnamese parents were sending their drug- addicted children back to Vietnam in order for them to escape the drug scene in Australia. However, many of these young Vietnamese soon discovered the same drug scene in Vietnam. They were then involved in injecting drugs and having unsafe sex in a country with very high reported level of HIV infection among IDUs (ranging from 35 per cent to 90 per cent) (Louie et al, 1998; Crofts et al, 1998; EYIN et al, 1998). These types of responses were not exclusive to Vietnamese parents. It has also been reported among Asian families in Britain, where drug using children were sent back to their home countries, away from the ‘corrupting influence of the West’— often compounding the problem even further (Pearson and Patel, 1998).

For most of the wider Vietnamese community, harm reduction as a philosophy for illicit drug use was a new and difficult concept to understand. Similar to people in most CLDB communities, the approach favoured by the wider Vietnamese community involved complete abstinence from drug use (Fox and Lauchlan, 1992).

Vulnerability to Becoming Involved in Illicit Drugs Understanding the background of many people born in Vietnam enables a better understanding of their potential vulnerability to illicit drug use. The long-term effect of massive social upheaval and the psychological impact of war and violence cannot be underestimated (Viviani, 1984; Tung, 1989; EYIN et al, 1998). Many people from Vietnam spent years in crowded, unsanitary transit camps and for those aged less than 30 years of age in 1975, most had known nothing but war (Burley, 1990; Duong, 1995). It has been suggested that heroin use and dependence were endemic in many of the refugee camps and during the war (Lulla and Traver, 1995; Ezard, 1997).

76 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement This proposition is further supported by a study, which found that up to 25 per cent of the respondents had already been injecting drugs prior to their arrival to Australia (Louie et al, 1998).

There continues to be increasing support for the notions that drug use and social factors, particularly among youth who experience isolation, language barriers, unemployment and homelessness, are linked (Romios and Ross, 1993). In the case of people from Vietnam social problems were widespread and multifaceted.

Social and Economic Factors The higher proportion of single parents and dependent children among families of Vietnamese background had implication for workforce participation and welfare dependency (Viviani, et al, 1993). Further problems confronting families of Vietnamese background were the tensions generated by the parent–child relationship and intergenerational conflicts based on perceptions of decreasing youth respect for elders and parents, by youth accused of adopting too many Australian cultural traits (Van and Holton, 1991; Nguyen H, 1995).

In the early 1980s approximately 50 per cent of people from Vietnam were married, but many arrived in Australia without their spouse (Burley, 1990; Ezard, 1997). Large numbers of Vietnamese were not accompanied by biological members of their family when they arrived in Australia (Cuong and Bertilli, 1990).

Most of the Vietnamese coming to Australia at that time were young. The ABS 1986 Census showed that half the Indo-Chinese (of which most were Vietnamese) arriving in Australia were less than 20 years of age. The median age was 27 years of age, compared with 41 years for other overseas born of CLDBs (Cuong and Bertilli, 1990). The 1986 Census also indicated there were 26 per cent more males than females, and at the time there were only five per cent of the Vietnamese married to non- Vietnamese spouses. It has been suggested that this gender imbalance exacerbated social problems within the Vietnamese community (Coughlan, 1992). A substantial number of Vietnamese youths appeared to be parentless (an estimated 12 per cent of the Indo-Chinese came to Australia without a parent). Many were sent out alone and expected to survive with whatever precarious family support was available (Coughlan, 1992). Additionally, it has been suggested that a number of Vietnamese parents have a strong desire to advance economically, and as a consequence could lose focus on their children or fail to protect the family unit from detrimental external factors (Zane and Kim, 1994).

The potential to end up in street gangs, to live in shared, transient households, to drift from pool halls to petty crime and eventually to experiment with illicit drugs is expected to be high under these social circumstances (Mellor and Ricketson, 1991). In 1986 the median size of households for people of Vietnamese background was five, compared with three for non-Asian households. On arrival in Australia, there was a heavy reliance on resettlement agencies to find available and inexpensive housing. The result was that refugees often settled in underprivileged neighbourhoods. It was in these areas that young Vietnamese were able to drift easily into delinquency and to form ties with non-Vietnamese delinquent youth. This unfortunate process of

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 77 acculturation resulted in participation in activities associated with the prevailing culture, one of which was the use and trafficking of illicit drugs (Bankston and Zhou, 1997; EYIN et al, 1998). As reported by both Jordans (1996) and Maher (1998), the deterioration of social circumstances is another strong force that propels young Vietnamese further into social and economic marginalisation and inequity, consequently increasing the risk of drug use.

Education Recent studies have indicated that many Vietnamese drug users were not only young, but their educational attainment was severely disrupted. Consequently, achievement was low (Nguyen O, 1995). It has been shown that an increasing number of Vietnamese are going onto further education—often focusing on computing, engineering or medicine. However, it has been suggested that few enrol into social science subjects that could contribute to their community’s development in Australia (Coughlan, 1992). While Vietnamese people may be disproportionately represented at some universities in faculties with ascribed status, most were under- represented in tertiary education as a whole (Viviani et al, 1993).

A study by Bankston (1995) on Vietnamese school students has shown that a participatory involvement in the ethnic community inhibits drug use, and how it was possible to help insulate group members from the influences of the larger society. As may be common with all communities, what has generally occurred among the Vietnamese was the bifurcation of those who became high achievers and those who became delinquents. Media reports often feature stories either about successful Vietnamese students gaining entrance into elite universities, or those involved in illicit drug use or delinquent street gangs (Rodd and Leber, 1996; Bankston and Zhou, 1997). As reported by Bankston and Zhou (1997), this bifurcation towards both higher achievement and delinquency may cause Vietnamese community members to dichotomise their youth into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ kids.

Employment The need to get work has often forced Vietnamese to take only unskilled or semi- skilled jobs (Van and Holton, 1991; Viviani, 1996). Van and Holton (1991) reported that for every Vietnamese person who had become a successful professional, there were at least ten who remained in manufacturing or were unemployed. Coughlan (1992) suggests that the Vietnamese were very status conscious compared with Laotian and Cambodians, and this may explain their reluctance to seek out employment in low status positions. A number of researchers have explained the apparent lack of motivation of people from Vietnam towards personal advancement by pointing out the fact that resettlement is often highly stressful for a number of cultural, social and economic reasons (Van and Holton, 1991; Coughlan, 1992; Viviani, 1996).

Most Vietnamese tended to take up unskilled occupations, which were generally precarious during times of economic downturn (Van and Holton, 1991; Coughlan, 1992; Duke and Marshall, 1995; Viviani, 1996). According to some researchers, there

78 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement have been increasing concentrations of an urban underclass because many industrial jobs have disappeared (Bankston, 1997; Viviani, 1984; Viviani, 1996). The low level of English proficiency among Vietnamese, and the filial duty to help their Vietnamese families (either in Vietnam or within Australia), has often impeded the ability of Vietnamese to train for more skilled jobs. In some ways this has also deterred them from acquiring a tertiary education (Coughlan, 1992).

Various studies have indicated that youth unemployment among Vietnamese drug users is high. Louie et al (1998) reports that unemployment among Vietnamese IDUs was 87 per cent; Kelsall et al, in a later study (1999), found the rate was 62 per cent. The 1991 Census indicated unemployment among Vietnamese youth (15 to 24 years of age) was 56 per cent, compared with 19 per cent among those who born in Australia (Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1995). Many youth turned to street drug dealing, and invariably to using illicit drugs, perceiving that the long-term options of unemployment benefits or the youth allowance were not enough for economic survival (EYIN et al, 1998). Vietnamese in employment do not seem to sympathise with the long-term unemployed—whether they are Vietnamese or in the wider community—and this tends to exacerbate the problem (Van and Holton, 1991).

Proficiency in English Language The major problem for those entering Australia for the first three years was language. Acquiring the skills to enter the competitive job market usually requires a relatively good level of English proficiency. Initially, English classes were offered at hostels, but settlement into the wider community appeared to reduce the imperative to learn English. Opportunities to learn English were reduced by the government in the mid- 1980s, and this dismantling of support led many to search for a job rather than learn English (Viviani, 1996).

Utilisation of Drug Treatment Services Vietnamese values revolve around the family. So pivotal is the family unit that individual interests are often looked upon as subordinate and irrelevant in comparison with the interests of the family. Severe social censure tends to be applied to family members dishonouring the family name, and, as with many other Asian communities, honour is generally maintained by not suffering loss of face either in the local or wider community. Consequently, problems and crises are frequently handled within the family unit (Viviani, 1984; Burley, 1990; Nguyen, 1995; Leung and Boehnein, 1996). There is also a tendency to avoid unpleasant confrontations, to try to foster harmony and to show their ‘worth’ to the wider community (Burley, 1990). It could be suggested that revealing or acknowledging issues of illicit drug use in their community would be damaging, and unworthy aspects of their community’s standing in the wider society could be revealed. Therefore, problems surrounding illicit drug use often remain clandestine. Understanding the cultural mores of the Vietnamese community can partially explain why the Vietnamese community has resisted public acknowledgment that their community has an illicit drug problem (Duong, 1995).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 79 Not accessing drug treatment services may be one way of preventing exposure of a problem. However, there have been suggestions that the Vietnamese community is becoming increasingly aware of issues related to drug use, and that they are more prepared to seek assistance. Services need to be prepared for a probable increase in the client base among the Vietnamese born (Parks Area Safety Network, 1994). The perceived lack of culturally relevant drug programs has arguably resulted in few people of Vietnamese background participating in drug treatment programs. In 1995–96, the Department of Human Services found that there were only 19 people of Indo-Chinese descent (most of whom were Vietnamese) receiving drug treatment. For 1996–97 there were 15,862 ‘episodes of care’1 provided by drug services statewide. Of these ‘episodes of care’ only 169 (1.1 per cent) involved people born in Vietnam (Dare, 1998). Further evidence of poor utilisation of drug services was found in an inner city Melbourne alcohol and drug centre where, between April 1995 and April 1997, only two per cent of the clients were Vietnamese (Ezard, 1997). While drug use in the Vietnamese community may be no higher than in the general community, Vietnamese people do have special needs that should be acknowledged and met by drug services (Dare, 1998).

A substantial number of people of Vietnamese background have poor language and communication skills. This may partially explain their unease in using drug treatments, or indeed any other services (Nguyen, 1996; OMRG, 1997). It has been suggested by Mudaly (1997) that many may be fearful of being associated with sensitive community issues such as illicit drugs. There seems to be a need for culturally specific, targeted promotion of both drug education and information about where to seek drug treatment help. The expectation by many Vietnamese clients and their families that the services they access will provide a ‘quick fix’ solution is also problematic (Vo, 1998; EYIN et al, 1998). Thus, there is a need to manage expectations of services so that they are realistic. The concepts of therapy and recovery were also not well understood in this community (Romios and Ross, 1993).

Recent findings have confirmed that treatment services are often not adequate in providing services to people from diverse ethnic backgrounds—and indeed were often accused of using culturally inappropriate practices (Hynes, 1997; Dare, 1998). While it was reported that there was a demand by Vietnamese heroin users for programs that were both short-term and flexible in alleviating heroin withdrawal, such programs were scarce (EYIN et al, 1998). The treatment services initiated specifically for people of Vietnamese background were often not successful because many clients were ‘lost’ in the follow-up from initial treatment (Ezard, 1997).

Swift et al (1997) reported that access to treatment and community services by Indo- Chinese was generally poor—even though Vietnamese heroin users did actually desire treatment for their addiction. As reported in a study by Louie et al (1998), 61 per cent of Vietnamese respondents had sought treatment, and of those, 81 per cent had tried methadone. Similarly, in a study undertaken in Sydney by Swift et al

1 An ‘episode of care’ consists of a completed course of treatment undertaken by the client under the care of an alcohol and drug worker. An ‘episode of care’ will therefore consist of a number of client contacts with the agency, which will vary according to the individual needs.

80 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement (1997), most Vietnamese respondents had previously attempted to detoxify with street methadone—probably because, unlike in Melbourne, methadone programs were harder to access. While Vietnamese youth are willing to use methadone treatment, many did not view substitution therapy as a long-term option (EYIN et al, 1998).

The literature suggests that friends above parents were the preferred source of information about drug issues amongst the youth (Mudaly, 1997). However, it has also been shown that Vietnamese heroin users and non-users do access local doctors for drug-related information and help, although not to the same degree as Caucasians did (Ezard, 1997; Bertram and Flaherty, 1992). While GPs could be accessed for information and support, it has been suggested that some young Vietnamese drug users could be reluctant to go to a Vietnamese doctor for fear of shame and being exposed in their own community (Nguyen, 1996; EYIN et al, 1998). However, even with access to GPs, there was still a significant proportion of respondents in a study by Bertram et al (1996), who had not known how to access information (21 per cent) or where to access help (26 per cent), were a drug problem to emerge. Even though large numbers of Vietnamese drug users were found to be able to read, it was nevertheless considered important that translations of written material were colloquial, rather than academic or too ‘correct’, in order to avoid misunderstandings, inaccuracies or misinterpretation. Culturally appropriate language was believed to be vital for effective access to information (Fox and Lauchlan, 1992).

It has become increasingly apparent that the engagement and persuasive skills of outreach workers is crucial in assisting young Vietnamese into treatment. The outreach approaches, which offered both ongoing and non-judgmental support, were viewed as a vital link—particularly between various treatment services and those that lived on the margins of society (Romios and Ross, 1993; Jordans, 1996; EYIN et al, 1998).

Arabic Speaking

Background Large numbers of Arabic speaking Lebanese migrated to Australia following the 1965–67 Arab–Israeli war and the 1976–77 civil war. The principal reasons for these two migration waves include religious intimidation, poor social and economic conditions and an unsettled political climate. According to the ABS (1994) most of the Lebanese employed in Australia were likely to be labourers, involved in sales or in trades industries (Jukic et al, 1996). As of 1996 the number of people in Victoria born in Lebanon was 13,951, of which 1,715 were aged between 15 and 24 years (ABS, 1996). Another major Arabic speaking group consists of those from Egypt, of which many have resided in Australia for more than 20 years. According to the ABS (1995), a significant number of Egyptians spoke English at home and their English proficiency was reported to be good. As of 1996 the number of people in Victoria born in Egypt was 12,129, of which 1,454 were aged between 15 and 34 years.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 81 Compared with those born in Lebanon, Egyptian born people were well qualified and many held white-collar positions (Jukic et al, 1996). In 1996, Arabic speakers in Victoria were the fifth largest language group, numbering 39,451 (ABS, 1996).

Extent of Drug Use and Knowledge of Drugs There remains a paucity of information on drug use issues among Arabic speaking people. In the late 1980s one study found a substantial number of Arabic speakers had used psychotropic drugs on a regular basis (but it should be noted that this study was questioned for its true representativeness) (Guirguis, 1989; Jukic et al, 1996). An earlier study conducted by Triboli and Riddout (1987), which focused more on illicit drugs, reported that four per cent of those of Lebanese ethnicity admitted using cannabis. In 1996, a study conducted in Sydney indicated that cannabis and heroin use was lower among the Arabic speaking community compared with the general community. As can be common with studies that locate respondents through a technique of door-to-door interviewing about an illegal activity, many respondents report little use of illicit drugs. Cannabis use was reported to be the most favoured illicit drug, while the use of heroin, amphetamines and cocaine was rarely reported (Jukic et al, 1996).

In 1997 a study that focused on Arabic speaking drug users in Sydney indicated that of those surveyed, 88 per cent were injecting heroin and 44 per cent injected daily or more than once a day. Forty-eight per cent had experienced an episode where they had shared needles. While a significant number had shared needles, 74 per cent had reported new injecting equipment was obtained from needle exchanges, health centres and hospitals. It had been reported that accurately measuring the extent of the illicit drug use was difficult, particularly among Arabic speaking IDUs, as they were likely to go to great lengths to exercise secrecy and confidentially about their behaviours. The research suggested there was a strong wish for such activities not to be visible, largely due to intense fear of rejection by the family and by the Arabic speaking community at large (Samaha, 1997).

As reported in a 1996 study, only 14 per cent of the respondents believed they knew enough about illicit drugs, possibly explaining why most were opposed to any legalisation of any illicit drugs (89 per cent), compared with the general community (58 per cent). While illicit drug use was considered lower than in the general community, most respondents considered the issue to be a problem secondary to their principal concern of unemployment (Jukic et al, 1996).

Vulnerability to Becoming Involved in Illicit Drugs The vulnerability issues that affect Arabic speaking people have been largely unexplored or researched. In the late 1980s it was reported that widespread use of mood altering drugs could be due to a significant high level of job dissatisfaction and boredom with their employment (Guirguis, 1989). In more recent years it was reported that illicit drug use and experimentation were significantly linked to peer pressure and the desire for excitement to escape the boredom that often accompanies unemployment. As previously documented, unemployment was to be the key

82 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement concern for Arabic speaking people (Jukic et al, 1996). Issues of social isolation and the lack of appropriate recreational and social options available were also suggested as determinants for using illicit drugs. Intergenerational problems were reported to occur, with young people experiencing feelings of cultural confusion as a result of shifting between two cultures (Jukic et al, 1996).

Utilisation of Drug Treatment Services The literature suggests that Arabic speaking community members deny the existence of a problem rather than help to avoid or solve the problem (Abudabbeh, 1996; Samaha, 1997). Within Arabic culture the discussion of illicit drugs remains a taboo subject, and therefore the ability to talk openly about drug problems was believed to be problematic (Samaha, 1997). As there remains a high degree of shame associated with illegal drug use, the disclosure of such information to others and the obstacles in accessing services arising from language and cultural differences was perceived to be difficult. Among the wider Arabic speaking community, the GP was believed to be the key person from whom to seek information, advice and assistance related to resolving drug problems. While the GP was perceived as the best option to seeking out assistance, a significant number of respondents (30 per cent) did not know where to go to receive information about drug issues (Jukic et al, 1996).

However, a study by Samaha (1997) concluded that most users of illegal drugs would not access an Arabic speaking doctor for fear their drug taking behaviour would be found out—leading to social stigma and cultural isolation. It has been reported that Arabic speaking drug users experience widespread discrimination because of their activity and this has resulted in their reluctance to seek out risk reducing behaviour within the health care system. However, for those wishing to utilise drug treatment services, most respondents did not know where the services were based or how to access them, and they identified language difficulties and problems of travelling to the service as significant deterrents. Overall, drug treatment services were not perceived to be culturally sensitive to the needs of the Arab speaking community (Samaha, 1997).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 83

Literature Criminal Justice

Literature—Criminal Justice

Part 1: Setting the Scene Making sense of what is known about drugs, crime and ethnicity, and trying to come to some reasonable conclusions about the interplay and relationships between these variables, is fraught with difficulty—as will be seen.

Studies, such as that of Chi and others, on alcohol use among Asian Americans, have made important contributions to identifying patterns of substance use, and this knowledge has helped to dispel popular assumptions and identify the diversity of cultural patterns and values (Chi et al, 1989). There is, however, very little research into ethnic and cultural differences amongst those who use illicit drugs. In the United Kingdom a few studies were conducted in the 1960s and early 1970s when first generation immigrants were arriving in Britain. In these studies the researchers found that non-white groups were less likely to offend than whites (Bottoms, 1967, 1973 and Lambert, 19 70, cited in Tarling, 1993).

In Australia:

The issues surrounding drug use in ethnic communities in Australia are…poorly understood…While the predominant culture is Anglophonic, Australia has an ethnically diverse population. Within these ethnic communities, the meanings of, and acceptable norms and rules surrounding, licit and illicit drug use are shaped by a complex interaction of factors, such as earlier cultural influences, the upheavals associated with migration, the degree to which an ethnic culture becomes ‘frozen’, the ‘Australianisation’ of younger generations of migrants, and the level of alienation and marginalisation from ‘main street’ Anglophonic culture and social institutions. The development of culturally sensitive policies and interventions in order to address drug use in these communities must include an appreciation of and adaptation to these factors. In many areas, this may require a re-think of many of the existing strategies developed for the dominant Anglophone culture (Lintzeris, 1998: 263).

In commenting on the lack of focus on ethnicity, Hands (1995) was of the view that the treatment needs of people from CLDBs who use illicit drugs in Australia has been addressed to an even lesser extent than the treatment needs of women (Hands et al, 1995, cited in Ezard, 1998: 109). What little research has been carried out in the area of ethnicity and illicit drug use often denies the heterogeneity of communities from CLDBs, and tends to ignore the roles played by gender and class (Copeland and Hall, 1995, cited in Ezard, 1998: 108):

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 87 …What literature there is available on drug and alcohol use in culturally diverse communities does however confirm that within these communities, as within the mainstream community, drug users are isolated. Drug users from NESB are likely to be doubly isolated, experiencing cultural isolation from the mainstream community through both their drug use and their ethnicity (Awiah et al, 1992 cited in Ezard, 1998: 109).

Using ‘Ethnicity’ as a Variable in Official Records and Research Ethnicity is not a variable in itself so much as ‘…a marker for a host of variables governing lifestyle, relationships, views of the world and beliefs’ (Cheung, 1991: 581).

…The concepts of race and ethnicity are fraught with ambiguity, and scholars debate whether sub-cultural or social structural theories best account for race and ethnic group differences in behaviour (Kleinman, 1978).

Defining ethnicity is very problematic. People of the same race may belong to different ethnic groups and thus exhibit different values, beliefs and behaviours. However, in most ‘official’ databases there is reliance on an over-simplistic definition of ethnicity. Such variables are not designed for thorough examinations of the relationships between ethnicity and drug use.

While some official statistics and studies are aware that culture and/or ethnicity may be one of the variables affecting drug use, or propensity to crime, the difficulties associated with the definition of culture or ethnicity has resulted in the variable being reduced. In the few studies where it has been included at all ethnicity has been reduced to extremely broad categories based predominantly on visual appearance. Thus black, white, Asian and Caucasian are commonly used to differentiate between races and cultures. Such broad categories are almost useless, as the migration experiences and cultures within each group may be vastly different:

While it is clearly necessary to distinguish between the continuation of pre- existing cultural patterns of drug use and the effects of migration upon drug use, this distinction is often neglected. Research has usually been confined to particular NESB groups, or the use of particular drugs within these groups (Hatty 1991: 207).

On a similar note, Legge in Canada laments that statistics such as police and court records and school district records on student populations at risk that might provide useful information on substance misuse indicators do not usually break down information by ethnic group (Legge C, 1993: 1). Statistics that are able to distinguish

88 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement meaningfully between ethnic groups and patterns of behaviour are very scarce within the literature.2

The fact that in many countries keep data on culture or ethnicity in relation to crime and offending patterns compounds the difficulties in establishing meaningful categories of ethnicity for research purposes, and this has been a very sensitive issue. The practice is also one that, in some countries, has been linked to immigration and deportation policies. It is only comparatively recently that the importance of data to help dispel myths about ethnic offending (myths which are usually generated by the media) has been acknowledged. Below are examples of how some countries are currently defining ethnicity for official statistical purposes. As you will see they vary enormously:

ƒ In France, except for some prison statistics, official data distinguishes only between French citizens and ‘foreigners’ (Tournier, 1997).

ƒ In Canada’s prison system three principal categories are used: aboriginals, blacks and whites. Canadian court statistics are only recently beginning to be published and do not include data on the racial or ethnic origin of suspects or convicted persons, except in the case of aboriginals (Roberts et al, 1997: 482). (This is also the case in Australia, where aboriginality is the most consistently included cultural variable in databases.)

ƒ Swiss statistics differentiate ‘ethnicity’ by whether the person is a Swiss national, resident foreigner, non-resident foreigner or asylum seeker. Race and ethnicity is not recorded. This is not considered to be a problem because of the low number of naturalisations of foreign-born people (less than 10,000 per year from 1989–93) (Killias, 1996: 380).

ƒ In Sweden no official variables have been developed to register persons in terms of their ethnicity. The basic concepts used when officially classifying immigrants’ ethnic backgrounds are citizenship, country of birth and residency. Foreign nationals are categorised into those who do or do not reside in Sweden, and those from a Nordic country or a non-Nordic country. Non-residents are classified into those seeking asylum, those engaged in business, tourists and illegal entrants (Martens, 1997).

ƒ In the United States, official statistics tend to categorise ethnicity into white, black, native American or Canadian, Asian or Pacific Islander (Sampson, 1996: 311). In the United Kingdom official statistics tend to categorise ethnicity into black, white and East Asian. In the case of the US, the classification is native Americans and Hispanics (Smith, 1997).

2 In Australia, the Population Census Ethnicity Committee looked at international experience in the field of ethnicity and found that ‘views as to the very meaning of the word “ethnicity” varied widely, both between countries and between different bodies within the same country. Similarly, approaches adopted to the development of measurement techniques are somewhat disparate’ (The Committee’s Report cited in Castles, I, 1990, p. 3) 1986 Census of Population and Housing. Census 86: Data Quality Ancestry, Information Paper, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cat. No. 2603.0).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 89 ƒ In Australia, country of birth is the category most often used to distinguish ethnicity in criminal justice and treatment services. Ethnic breakdown of arrestees is not published by any police jurisdiction except Victoria, which uses country of birth and ethnic appearance (Victoria Police, 1997: 47–49). In Western Australia police use categories based on racial appearance: Aboriginal, Asian, Caucasian, Latin, Negroid and Polynesian. However, these are not published in statistical reports (Western Australia Police, 1997). In other criminal justice databases in Victoria (which are probably similar to other states), if an ethnicity variable is included it is usually ‘country of birth’. This variable singles out recent migrants but makes invisible second or subsequent generation people, even though they may maintain strong cultural links.

The difficulty of defining ethnicity in any meaningful way is illustrated by one of many examples where the Australian Customs Service and Australian Federal Police arrest, for example, a Hong Kong-born Canadian national arriving at Sydney from Cambodia via Singapore (ABCI, 1997: 48). Another problem in research into ethnicity-based differences is that the numbers of people from any given background are often so small as to be meaningless in any analysis of differences in illicit drug involvement.

People from CLDB Have Unique Experiences and Understandings Knowledge about the unique experiences and different understandings and beliefs of people from CLDBs is essential to providing responses that take into account different needs and beliefs. Some of the types of ethnic and culturally related experiences that influence behaviours, including those of illicit drug involvement and crime, follow:

ƒ One of the consequences of migration, particularly in the case of refugees, is poverty and marginalisation in the new country. High unemployment and low income, or long hours in (usually) unskilled employment, are the norm.

ƒ These socioeconomic circumstances may inadvertently lead to child neglect, poor supervision and disrupted parenting. Given the economic challenges facing migrants and the energy and time they must devote to establishing themselves, it is not difficult to see how children may have to take second place in the priorities of their parents and how supervision of children may be affected. This type of parenting experience by a child appears to be linked to higher rates of involvement in crime, regardless of ethnic background (Weatherburn, 1998).

ƒ Most migrants on arrival necessarily settle into areas in which housing is cheapest. They may subsequently find that the area in which their children are being raised already has a high rate of use of drugs and criminal and delinquent behaviour. While a family is trying to find its economic and social feet in a new country, it may also be coping with the normal behaviour of adolescents. Children may be facing the challenges of trying to fit into Australian society at the same time as trying to meet the traditional expectations of their parents. All of these factors add up to a very difficult mix. It is perhaps remarkable that so

90 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement few young people of migrant parents do not engage in drug taking or other criminal behaviour (Weatherburn, 1998).

ƒ Migrants from South East Asia may suffer post-trauma mental health problems. Many people from Cambodian and Vietnamese backgrounds seek medical treatment for somatic complaints that mask poor mental health, alcohol and other drug abuse problems. There is a predominant belief in these communities that alcohol is harmless unless the individual is also engaged in behaviour that disgraces the family. Alcohol is often seen as useful in overcoming sadness and forgetting painful memories. To many people of South East Asian background, the notion of alcoholism and drug dependence as illnesses or diseases is totally unfamiliar and preventing health problems is also a new concept for them (Amodeo, 1996).

ƒ Denial plays an important role in South East Asian culture and is congruent with the values of self-sacrifice, submission to the common good, harmony and acceptance of fate. The role of denial with regard alcohol and drug use is an important area for further study, and has major implications for drug education and treatment programs. Aggressive approaches tend to induce guilt and shame, thus increasing denial and other defences. Therefore, with Cambodian and Vietnamese clients it is imperative to avoid aggressive approaches that may cause loss of face. Mental illness is viewed as familial and heritable, and illness in one family member is seen as related to past family transgressions, and therefore damaging to the reputation of the family as a whole. Once the family’s name is damaged, the stigma continues for generations.

ƒ The method of having family members and significant other confront the person who has the drug problem does not work well with South East Asians as it is not a common communication method. With South East Asians it is not clear that recovery needs to involve a personal transformation, given that the culture places little emphasis on self-reflection and insight. Instead, in addition to abstinence, recovery may constitute a return to harmony with nature or a return to fulfilling family and community obligations and protecting the honour of the family name (Amodeo, 1996).

ƒ The validity of using variables that define ethnicity to differentiate between different experiences of drug abuse by people from different CLDBs is particularly compelling when one looks at the low rate of uptake of drug treatment services by people of CLDBs. Research shows that use of drug treatment services by people of CLDBs is comparatively low. For example, in a review of long-term residential treatment for people with alcohol and other drug use problems in Australia, it was found that, out of a total sample of 1,068 clients resident in the 56 treatment programs (out of a possible 60), only 103 (9.6 per cent) were identified as being from CLDBs. When the 42 persons on programs specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is subtracted from the 103, only 61 persons remain. Thus, only 5.7 per cent of clients were from CLDBs. Only 23 of the 56 service respondents identified any clients from CLDBs in their programs, and the only issue for CLDB clients identified during the review consultations was the lack of translators for educational and treatment

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 91 information. The researchers found that, because of the general lack of information about the needs and use of long-term residential treatment by people from CLDBs, it is not known whether the number in long-term residential treatment programs is acceptable or not (Ernst and Young, 1995: 68).

ƒ In their study of substance use and criminal patterns of behaviour by youths defined as ‘serious delinquents’, De La Rosa and Soriano were disturbed to find that only seven per cent of Hispanic male youths indicated having participated in substance abuse treatment, compared with 32 per cent of Anglo-American males.

ƒ While identification of people’s CLDB can be of value in identifying gaps in service, and in debunking many of the misconceptions about illicit drug use and offending generally, attempts to describe or explain criminal activities and drug abuse behaviours in terms of ethnicity only would not be constructive. Offenders from Anglo-Saxon backgrounds rarely—if ever—have their offending explained or described in terms of their ethnicity. Rather, research into offending and criminal behaviour, certainly for people of Anglo-Saxon background, is almost exclusively in terms of their socioeconomic status and life experiences. It could be argued that ethnicity is really only relevant for a study of drug crime in terms of its ability to determine the contexts and social mores. This may help explain differences in outlooks, or as it relates to poverty and socioeconomic status— although this is more probably linked to the migrant experience rather than ethnicity per se.

Ethnicity and crime statistics will be useful only if other demographic, social and economic statistics for migrant groups are also collected (Mukherjee, 1999: 6).

Some Ramifications of Reporting Ethnic Involvement in Crime Generally, research into crime committed by ethnic minority groups has found that their involvement is lower. A recent study in NSW of crime amongst NSW secondary students found that students from an ethnic background had lower rates of participation in crime, were no more likely to use cannabis, and were less likely to be frequent alcohol users than were secondary students from English speaking backgrounds (Baker, 1998).

In Sweden, the crime–drug trend for new migrants appeared to show a higher rate of offending. Martens prefaces his report on Sweden’s experience with the observation that in Sweden generally ‘…it has been taboo to discuss negative behaviours of immigrants, such as law breaking. This is due to a general fear of giving grist to the mills of xenophobic elements within the community’ (Martens, 1996). However, in a governmental proposition of 1989–90 the Ombudsman Against Ethnic Discrimination argued that the facts about immigrant criminality should be known, and as a result, a number of research projects were started.

It was found that crimes were committed by foreign-born people at generally twice the rate as for native Swedes. The over-representation was most pronounced for violent crimes, with physical assault four times higher, and murder, manslaughter

92 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement and robbery 3.5 times more likely to be committed by foreign born. The rate of participation in narcotic drug laws was found to be 0.75 for first generation foreigners, 0.77 for second-generation foreigners and 0.47 for native Swedes (Martens, 1997: 224).3 One of the consequences of these findings was that they were used, up until 1994, by a new political party in Sweden that advocated strongly for a more restrictive immigration policy. A recurring theme to support this position was the higher crime rate for immigrants seen in the crime statistics. Crime statistics for immigrants was used as evidence to support the passing of a law in 1994 that made it easier to expel foreign citizens convicted of even a relatively minor offence (Martens, 1997: 185).

Research into the Link Between Drugs and Crime Research into the relationship between offending and other crimes is notoriously difficult to measure and, according to the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence, is certainly not currently recorded in any meaningful way by any Australian police jurisdiction (ABCI, 1996: 12). This is mainly because of the difficulties associated with establishing distinct motives behind property crime. For example, while many burglary offenders may be drug addicted, the offences they commit could have been motivated for a variety of reasons. These include simple greed or other social factors that affect their propensity to commit crimes, and may not just be a means of financing a drug addiction. Another problem is that many crimes remain unsolved, making it impossible to ascertain the proportion of crime that may have been committed to finance drugs.

Nevertheless, there has been some attempt to gauge the extent and type of drug- related crime in Australia. Queensland reported that 70 per cent of robberies are drug-related, while NSW reported that 80 per cent of armed robberies are drug- related (National Committee on Violence quoted in Makkai, 1993: 37). In NSW the Department of Corrective Services found that 67 per cent of inmates reported being under the influence of a drug at the time of their most serious offence. Seventy-four per cent of re-offending inmates said their current offence was related to their use of alcohol or drugs, and this compared with 62 per cent of first offenders (CEIDA, 1996: 21). In a study of imprisoned burglars in NSW it was found that higher rates of burglary were associated with greater expenditure on illicit drugs. Over 90 per cent reported using illicit drugs, and 70 per cent had traded stolen goods for drugs. Burglars who were heroin users reported a higher median burglary rate per month (13 per month), compared with a median rate of 8.7 per month for non-heroin users (Stevenson and Forsythe, 1998: vii).

It has been reported that heroin users commit significantly more burglaries, armed robberies and fraud than non-users. However, heroin dependence may only

3 Most first generation immigrants in Sweden are born in a European country. The majority comes from Finland (23 per cent); Yugoslavia (12 per cent); Iran and Norway (five per cent each); Denmark, Poland and Germany (four per cent each); and Turkey and Chile (three per cent each) (Martens 1997).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 93 exacerbate offending among those already committing crimes, rather than actually causing a law-abiding person to turn to a life of crime (Qld CJC, 1996: 11).

The National Committee on Violence (1990) came to the conclusion that most heroin users in Australia were involved in more opportunistic crime, such as shoplifting and bag snatching. This is supported by a similar finding in Germany, where it was found that while robbery, burglary and shoplifting were most commonly associated with drug addiction, official police statistics in 1990 showed that only one in seven burglary offences, and one in ten robberies, were committed by addicts. Another study in a major German city found that addicts committed 21 per cent of all household burglaries, 25 per cent of purse snatching, 19 per cent of other street robbery and seven per cent of shoplifting offences. The criminal histories of drug addicts showed that drug selling, shoplifting (and for women, prostitution) were more likely to be practised by addicts. In both Germany and the United States it was found that overall, shoplifting was the most common activity for drug addicts (Reuband, 1992, cited in Makkai, 1993: 38).

A similar finding on shoplifting was found in a United Kingdom study, where arrestees in five police force areas were tested for drugs through urine analyses over a two-year period 1996 to 1998 (N=622). The study showed that half of urine-tested arrestees suspected of shoplifting tested positive for opiates and one-third tested positive for cocaine. Only ten per cent of all suspected burglars and one-quarter of all suspected car thieves tested positive for opiates. Almost half of arrestees interviewed in the study who reported using drugs in the last 12 months (46 per cent) believed their drug use and crime were connected. This group also tended to report higher levels of criminal involvement (Bennet, 1998: ix)

In a study of 200 regular amphetamine users in Sydney, over half had committed a crime in past month and 44 per cent reported committing crimes while under the influence of amphetamines. Thirty-eight per cent had dealt in drugs, 27 per cent had committed property crimes, nine per cent had committed fraud and four per cent had committed violent crimes (Hando, 1996). In a previous study, Hando found that the strongest predictor of committing any type of offence after using amphetamines was a history of having committed the same type of offence before using amphetamines. Amphetamine use does not necessarily cause violent crime, and Hando notes that other factors (such as the potentially violent lifestyle associated with crime and illicit drug use), predisposing personality factors (such as schizophrenia or previous criminal history) and the use of other drugs (including alcohol) may all contribute to the violence exhibited by persons using amphetamines (Hando and Hall, 1993).

Other, recent studies also show a connection between drug use and crime. For example, it was found that 30 per cent of a group of 268 homicide offenders imprisoned in New York State correctional facilities attributed their involvement in the homicide to their use of substances (Spunt et al, 1995). Another study, based on Drug Use Forecasting (which in the US involves urine tests and interviews of arrestees across 23 cities), found that 51 to 83 per cent of arrestees tested positive for illegal substances (National Institute of Justice, 1996). Another study by the US Department of Justice found that more than three-quarters of all jail inmates

94 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement surveyed in 1989 in the US reported some lifetime illicit drug use. About two-thirds reported using illicit drugs once per week, and more than one-third of the prisoners claimed to be under the influence of drugs at the time of committing the offence for which they were imprisoned (US Department of Justice, 1992).

A similar proportion is found in Netherlands prisons, where the number of prison inmates who were addicted to drugs rose from 23 per cent in 1980 to an estimated 50–70 per cent in 1993 (van de Wijngaart, 1997: 926).

Previous research has fairly consistently shown that drug and alcohol use and crime are statistically correlated. See, for example, Grandossy et al, 1986, Parker et al, 1989, Dobinson, 1989 and Hammersley, 1987. In the United Kingdom, Hodgins and Lightfoot found that male prisoners abusing alcohol and drugs together were the most criminal; offenders who abused illegal substances without alcohol were the least criminal; and offenders using neither alcohol nor drugs were somewhere in the middle (Hodgins and Lightfoot, 1988).

Drug use also appears to be common with juvenile offenders. Watts and Wright found that 40–47 per cent of the variance in minor delinquency, and 34–59 per cent of the variance in violent delinquent crime, could be attributed to substance misuse by youth detention facility residents (Watts and Wright, 1990). Of 101 juvenile incarcerated burglars interviewed in NSW, it was found that 23 per cent used heroin and 78.3 per cent used marijuana. It was found that juveniles had a higher median rate of burglary than adults (Stevenson and Forsythe, 1998).

In the NCADA National Household Survey respondents were asked whether they had been physically abused and/or whether they had had property stolen by someone who was or appeared to be affected by illicit or illegal drugs. Of the 3,349 respondents, eight per cent reported experiencing either physical abuse or property stolen or damaged in the last 12 months by someone thought to be affected by illicit drugs. Lifestyle, as measured by marital status and urban location, significantly increases the likelihood of being a victim (Makkai, 1993: 40)

The Estimated Cost of Illicit Drugs When illicit drugs are viewed in the context of substance abuse, it is generally considered to be less problematic than alcohol and tobacco in terms of cost to the community. It has been calculated that overall, substance abuse accounts for seven per cent of the global burden of disease. This is broken down into: tobacco (which account for 2.6 per cent), alcohol (3.5 per cent) and illicit drug use (0.06 per cent). HIV-AIDS represented 0.8 per cent of global burden of disease (Ball, 1998). It has been estimated that the cost of drug abuse in Australia in 1996 was $18.8 billion, with $1.6 billion, or nearly nine per cent of this abuse, associated with illicit drugs (Collins and Lapsley, 1996). These estimates do not include the costs of associated crimes, welfare and health services, lost productivity and so on.

In 1995 in Australia it was estimated that 18,124 people died from tobacco-related causes, and 3,642 from alcohol-related causes. This compares with an estimated 778 deaths attributed to illicit drugs. These deaths may also be due not only to use of

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 95 illicit drugs, but caused by ‘route of administration’ and other associated lifestyle factors. Nevertheless, deaths from illicit drugs have increased significantly between 1990 and 1995, from just fewer than 500 to 778, and they continue to rise (AIHW, 1997). Between 1991 and 1997, overdose deaths in Australia doubled. In 1999 drug overdose deaths in Victoria are expected to equal or exceed all road crash deaths in the state.

In August 1999 the death rate was 40 per cent higher than at the same time in 1998 (Parsons, 1999: 5). However, the increase in deaths may be a consequence of increased purity levels rather than an increase in the number of people using illicit drugs (ABCI, 1997).

According to a 1997 United Nations World Drug Report, Commonwealth and state government expenditure in response to illicit drugs was estimated at $620 million. Of this, 84 per cent is allocated to law enforcement, six per cent to treatment and ten per cent to prevention and research (The World Drug Report, 1997). The Western Australia Task Force on Drug Abuse estimated that in the year 1993–94 a total of $239,784,778 was spent by government and non-government organisations on activities related to drug abuse. Nearly 80 per cent of total expenditure involved two main areas: inpatient hospital stays (at 29.9 per cent, or $71,727,594) and justice and law enforcement activities (48.6 per cent, or $116,549,440) (Government of Western Australia, 1995: 38). In its 1995 White Paper, the United Kingdom government estimated that the cost of drug-related crime in England and Wales in 1992 was between 58 and 864 million pounds among heroin users alone (United Kingdom Government, 1995, cited in Newcombe, 1998).

The Estimated Cost of Maintaining an Illicit Drug Habit In a study that interviewed sixty-three cocaine addicts in the North West of England, it was found that such people were typically spending over 20,000 pounds a year on illicit drugs. The smaller group of heroin addicts (N=19) who were interviewed spent, on average 10,000 pounds per year on their habit. To find the money to pay for their habit, many used state benefits or, less commonly, legitimate ‘cash in hand’ earnings. Some women with very costly drug habits relied on prostitution. A minority funded their addiction by drug dealing. A majority of all addicts funded their habit partly or wholly by acquisitive crime, such as theft, shoplifting, fraud and burglary, rather than by crimes of violence. However, some interviewees felt their dependence on cocaine led them to commit riskier offences—perhaps with a greater potential for violence (Parker and Bottomley, 1996).

Similarly, Hando found that amphetamine users in Sydney financed their habit from a variety of sources. Eighty-nine per cent received amphetamines as a gift from friends; 72 per cent used money from paid employment; 44 per cent had used unemployment benefits; and five per cent Austudy payments. Forty-three per cent had borrowed money from friends; 38 per cent borrowed money from parents; 34 per cent had pawned items; and seven per cent had obtained money from sex work. Other than dealing drugs (41 per cent), it was uncommon for the subjects to commit other types of crime, such as property crime (nine per cent), fraud (three per cent) or

96 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement violent crimes to fund their amphetamine use (Hando, 1996). Maher found that in her group of 202 daily heroin users in Cabramatta, 38 per cent of total income was derived from acquisitive crime and 44 per cent from the ‘drug market’. Participation in the drug market was considerably more lucrative than participation in acquisitive property crime (Maher et al, 1998: 115).

In another study it was found that the majority of addicts committing criminal acts to fund their habit had already been involved in crime before their addiction. However, it was found that those using cocaine for more than two years showed a greater disposition to rely on acquisitive crime than those who were recent users.

Of the 22 who did not have a criminal career predating their cocaine use, over two- thirds subsequently turned to acquisitive crime, drug dealing or prostitution (Parker and Bottomley, 1996). Pettiway et al also found that crime related activities were substantially more likely to culminate in drug-related activities than drug-related behaviours were to culminate in crime (Pettiway et al, 1994).

In a South Australian study it was estimated that the criminal activity (excluding drug dealing) of drug dependant persons cost $A130,000 per year before the dependent user entered methadone treatment.4 (Ryan et al, 1995). A study commissioned by the therapeutic community Odyssey House in Victoria estimated that the cost to society of a dependent user in the year before entering the therapeutic community was $A75,000 with $A53,000 being the cost of drug-related crime5 (Odyssey House: date unavailable).

In a recent United Kingdom study, arrestees in five police force areas were tested for drugs through urine analyses over a two-year period from 1996 to 1998 (N=622). The study showed that arrestees who said their drug use and their offending were connected reported illegal incomes on average two to three times higher than those who said their drug use and crime were not connected. This was supported by the statistically significant finding that the average illegal income of arrestees with no positive urine test was 3,000 pounds, compared with over 12,000 pounds for arrestees with three positive urine tests (Bennet, 1998: ix).

In a study of 230 incarcerated burglars in NSW it was estimated that median expenditure on illicit drugs during an average week in the reference period was $900 (range $250–$2,050). For those using heroin the average weekly expenditure on the drug was $1,500 (range $500–$3,500) (Stevenson and Forsythe, 1998). Maher and others combined the median weekly amount earned from acquisitive property crime by their study participants, with Hall’s (1995) estimates of the size of the population of regular heroin users (at between 49,000 and 150,000). They calculated that heroin users in Australia probably generate between $535,080,000 and $1,638,000,000 per annum from acquisitive property crime (Maher et al, 1998).

4 It was pointed out that methadone treatment costs just over $A2,000 per year (Ryan et al, 1995). 5 They further pointed out that whilst incarcerating dependent users costs $A48,000 per person per year, treating them at Odyssey House cost only $A15,600 per person per year (Odyssey House: date unavailable).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 97 The Media’s Role in Developing Public Perceptions of the Link Between Drug Crimes and Ethnic Groups In Canada the media has been blamed for creating a public perception that immigrants commit much of drug crimes. While there has been considerable political debate in Canada in the 1990s about whether race crime data should be collected, the debate has affected the issue of immigration. A number of opinion polls suggested that crime by new immigrants was an important component in Canadians’ attitudes to tighten up immigration policies. The major explanation for this appears to be:

…increased attention to the problem of ‘immigrant’ crime by the media…. In the early 1990s there was considerable coverage of crimes by ‘gangs’ of immigrants from China and Vietnam…More recently, the emphasis has shifted to Somali refugees…It is worth noting that a major review that demonstrated that the foreign born were highly unrepresented in the population of those incarcerated for violent crimes (Thomas, 1993) received little publicity in the news media (Palmer, 1996).

Media focus on crime and immigrants also precipitated changes in Switzerland Press reports in the mid-1990s shocked the Swiss public with its expose on the large proportion of foreigners and asylum seekers among arrested drug dealers and the inability of the police to deal with the problem. As a result, Swiss deportation laws were tightened up to allow more rapid deportation of illegal aliens (Killias, 1996: 378). In addition, large scale heroin prescription programs were initiated, so that ‘…crime is no longer as commonly perceived as being directly related to immigration’ (Killias et al, 1995).

Australia too has its share of colourful headlines linking crime, drugs and immigrants, and these usually focus on Asians. For example, ‘Vietnamese gangs a big crime threat, says NCA’ (The Age, 7.9.94). ‘Police report predicts rise in Asian Crime’ (The Age 10.8.92). ‘The Drug Lords who Seized Redfern’ (The Bulletin 11.2.97). This last item covered a situation where residents believed that the Vietnamese were responsible for most of the crime and have a corrupting influence on other groups. One resident of Redfern is quoted as saying, ‘The Vietnamese connection [with Aborigines] is very dangerous—they don’t have respect for life and that creates the same sort of attitude in the young Aboriginal boys and girls’. Vietnamese ‘gangs’ are considered ‘ruthless’ and engage in home invasions, machete attacks and the ‘brazen’ selling of heroin on the streets of Cabramatta. The gang 5T is considered to be the most ruthless. The expression ‘5T’ is considered by The Bulletin author Brett Martin to be the Vietnamese words (Tuoi Tre Thieu Thuong) which mean ‘sex, money, prison, die and conviction’. These same Vietnamese words are considered by Doan actually to mean ‘young people, who lack love and care’. (Doan, 1995)

98 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement In April 1997 Brett Martin of The Bulletin reported on:

…the growing threat posed in the Pacific and beyond by Asian crime gangs. Chinese Triads, Vietnamese youth gangs, Japanese Yakuza and Korean criminal elements have overtaken Australia’s other ethnic groups in the reach and scope of their criminal activity: heroin importation, prostitution, money laundering, extortion, home invasions and other crimes of violence. With the exception of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Caucasians no longer figure large in Australian organised crime (Martin 8.4.97: 18).

Fear is further enhanced by warnings that Asian criminals may continue not to only target their own ethnic group but may ‘break out of their own ethnic groupings’ and take a wider criminal focus. In this same article the issue of immigration is broached. Anthropologist Richard Basham is quoted as saying, ‘It is important that we start dealing with organised Asian crime because in the future the bulk of Australian immigration and business will be Asian. We have to get it right now’ (Martin, 1997: 19). However, Asian organised crime in Australia ‘…is considerably less organised than might be thought from an uncritical reading of media reports’ (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 1995: 2 of 17).

Part 2: Drugs, Crime and Ethnic Involvement

Is there Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System? Discrimination is present across a widespread of institutions. In a study of racial discrimination in Britain, it was found that racism was widespread in seeking housing and employment, and it came from white institutions generally. An interesting finding relates to how different ethnic groups adapted to this discrimination. While all ethnic minorities faced discrimination, it was found that ethnic groups differed in the ways in which they reacted to it, which ultimately affected their socioeconomic positions in society.

For example, in the British study it was found that people of South East Asian background relied more on family and contacts for their housing and jobs, and were often engaged in extraordinary efforts to buy, rather than rent, accommodation. In contrast, people of Afro-Caribbean background assumed equality would be offered to them and were much more outgoing. However, as a result of this challenging and outgoing behaviour they placed themselves in situations where they faced very the hostility and rejection that, in contrast, the South East Asian background people had avoided. People from South East Asian backgrounds are now becoming wealthier (in Britain), and those of Afro-Caribbean background tend to be much poorer (Smith, 1994).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 99 The criminal justice system is primarily a national institution that, to a greater or lesser degree, reflects the culture it arose from. The majority group has a:

…unique connection with the moral, religious, and cultural tradition which shaped the legal system…neither the law nor the corresponding sense of identity grew out of a tradition that included the present day ethnic minorities. Their treatment under the law is therefore the sharpest test of the capacity of the tradition to evolve and adapt (Smith, 1994: 1042).

A number of reports have pointed to the inherent discrimination that exists in the criminal justice system. A survey of 169 superior court judges and 113 court managers in New Jersey US in 1989 found that 98 per cent saw bias against minorities. Half saw small increments of discrimination against minorities at each step of the justice process—arrest, bail, jury verdict and sentencing (New Jersey Study, 1989). It is also interesting that the study was shelved for two years before being made public through a leak to the New Jersey Law Journal.

Analyses of arrestees in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s, when police classified people on the basis of skin colour, found that black-skinned persons were considerably over-represented in the arrest statistics. This gave rise to the question of whether blacks are stopped by police because they commit more crime or because the police exercise their discretionary powers differently. A similar pattern of dark- skinned people being more highly represented in police cautions or convictions at court was found by Ouston’s study of over 2,000 boys and girls attending 12 inner London schools. When Ouston controlled for background factors to assess the impact of race she found that boys and girls whose parents were born in the West Indies had a higher proportion of cautions and convictions that did persons of other races (Ouston, 1984, cited in Tarling, 1993).

Once again, the question arises whether this illustrates a tendency of the criminal justice system to treat dark-skinned persons with fewer leniencies. Tonry is of the view that in the US, the policy of the ‘war on drugs’ has caused the enormously disproportionate number of black people arrested and incarcerated. The rise in the proportion of black ‘offenders’ has coincided with the timing of this policy. The US National Household surveys on drug abuse indicate black people’s use of drugs is less than that of white people, however arrests of black people for drug offences have risen from 30 per cent to 42 per cent for the years 1976–1992. Between 1985 and 1989, the number of arrests of black people doubled from 210,298 to 452,574. In the same period, the rate for white people grew by 27 per cent.

No matter why it happens, the police emphasis on disorganised minority neighbourhoods produces racial proportions in arrests that do not mirror racial proportions in drug use (Tonry, 1995: 107).

On any given day, blacks are six to seven times more likely than whites to be in jail or prison. In Britain, US, Australia and Canada there is a much higher imprisonment rate for black people than for white. However, because it is so difficult to control for

100 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement other variables, it is not possible to say conclusively that the criminal justice system is racially biased.

It may be that crimes committed by people from ethnic minority groups are more likely to be reported to police, or that sentences are more likely to be harsher for ethnic minorities and that the criminal justice system gives unequal treatment which increases resentment by ethnic minority groups (Smith, 1994: 1045).

In 1990, it was found that 12.5 per cent of Australian-born females were in prison for drug offences, compared with 17 per cent of overseas-born females. The proportions were even more disparate for males. In 1990, 6.4 per cent of Australian-born males were in prison for drug offences compared with 20.5 per cent of overseas-born males (Gobbo, 1990). Another form of discrimination occurred where migrants in prison suffered isolation from their fellow prisoners due to their background and language, and were also rarely visited by people from their own ethnic group (with the exception of one Chinese pastor visitor) (Gobbo, 1990).

In Australia there is evidence of discrimination at every level of the criminal justice system, from police attention on the streets, police processing, courts, sentencing and in prison. Goldsmith argues that police tendencies ‘…to use stereotypes in carrying out their duties naturally inclines police patrols to focus their attention upon those groups within the community which are the subject of negative stereotypes’. This may explain why particular ethnic groups become the focus of police attention (Goldsmith, 1991). It is possible that a vicious cycle is occurring: the more bad publicity an ethnic group gets, the more likely they are to attract police attention; the more police attention they attract, the more bad publicity they are likely to receive. A higher rate of remand for people of CLDBs in police custody in New South Wales was found to be due to ignorance of their right to an interpreter, or inadequacy of interpreting services (Mamontoff and Gorta, 1983). The Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into multiculturalism and the law heard much evidence of the cultural and linguistic problems faced by CLDB persons in courts and the need for interpreters (Australian Law Reform Commission, 1991). Justice Gobbo also thought that different meanings in body language needed to be understood by judges and juries so that they do not misinterpret a smile or downcast eyes, and so on (Gobbo, 1990).

Discrimination in the criminal justice system can also be found in community legal centres. These have very limited access to interpreters, which leads them consciously not to promote their services within ethnic communities because a language barrier will inevitably exist (Australian Law Reform Commission, 1991). In a study of sixty street-frequenting youth of CLDBs in Sydney, the majority who had had experience of legal aid were not satisfied. Clients from CLDBs said that the service is dominated by ‘Anglo solicitors’, who judge them as guilty. Since duty solicitors are paid by the number of cases they handle they try to speed up cases and allegedly make the young people plead guilty even if they are not (Pe-Pua, 1996). Some young people in this same study felt that the juvenile courts were not fair to young people because they are not allowed to speak up.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 101 The same stereotype about street-frequenting young people, if held by solicitors, can damage the case for the young person even before it has started. The CLDB young people who are not fluent in English could be denied a chance to defend themselves when they are denied an interpreter in the legal process. Justice is also denied when the court proceedings prevent them from directly addressing the judge (Pe-Pua, 1996: 97).

Interpreters Despite the shortage of interpreters and the calls for interpreters to be much more widely used, they are not in themselves the complete answer needed to overcome bias in the criminal justice system—or even in the treatment sector.

The Education Department of Victoria found that during the development of its drug education program for CLDB parents (the Backgrounds Project), it was much more productive to train drug education facilitators from CLDBs rather than utilise interpreters. It had been found that the interpreters’ translations were wrapped in Western values, did not allow for cultural sensitivity and were unreliable in direct translations. There was also difficulty in translating information that was of a more technical nature (Freestone and Wigzell, 1998). Inadequate interpreting ensures that people from CLDBs are at a disadvantage within the criminal justice system. As Justice Gobbo pointed out, interpreters are probably only able to interpret about one tenth of the judicial proceedings.

The court jargon is difficult enough as it is and this is compounded by the lack of English-language skills of CLDB young people. In the process of interpretation, the meaning is sometimes lost, which works to the disadvantage of the NESB youth client (Pe-Pua, 1996: 96).

Police Brogden and others have argued that normal policing is discriminatory against certain categories of people. While police may say they are merely responding to crime, the crimes they choose to focus on are often biased against the poor and the powerless. The bulk of police work is not directed at white collar or corporate offences, but rather at street crimes and other comparatively minor crimes against persons and property. According to Brogden (1988), bias is built into the way in which police operate. Police have a duty to maintain public order by keeping the streets ‘clean’ and in managing the poor and unemployed youth (White, 1994).

Young, working-class, unemployed, and non-white people who spend a great deal of their leisure time in public spaces are often easy targets for police harassment and questioning…it does not require deviant police practices or illegal use of police powers to explain why the young, the poor, and ethnic minorities receive discriminatory treatment by the police (Chan, 1997: 41).

102 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Indo-Chinese youth may be highly visible if they congregate in groups, and to some, this projects a ‘gang’ image, and may attract police attention. Community unease about such groups, exacerbated by media scares about Vietnamese youth violence, in turn heightens these youths’ public visibility and community concern. One consequence may be that the police feel pressured to be seen to be taking action.

Chan is of the opinion that police tend to perceive ethnic youth as troublemakers, delinquent and involved in illegal activities on the basis of their appearance, especially when they congregate in groups (Chan, 1992). Police also have a tendency to assume that young people go to school and can speak English (Chan, 1994).

The majority of Indo-Chinese young people in Australian society can be described as marginalised, particularly those who have migrated as refugees. Refugee migrants arrive with few assets, are often destitute, have often suffered severe dislocation and experiences of torture and trauma. They seek unskilled or semi-skilled employment in an increasingly competitive labour market (Lyons, 1995: 174).

Lyons believes that the reason for much of the police contact with Indo-Chinese youth is related to the socioeconomic position of Indo-Chinese youth, rather than their ethnicity per se, and that such encounters may unintentionally deteriorate as a result of misinterpretations of body language and language difficulties (Lyons, 1995).

Victoria Police have established an Asian Squad within its Crime Department, to try to encourage the reporting of crime committed within the Vietnamese community. Unfortunately, there may be a perception in the community that the establishment of a specialist crime squad for one particular section of the ethnic community is a reflection of their greater propensity to commit crime. To reduce this perception it would perhaps be more ethical to call the squad the ‘Asian victim’s assistance squad’. A more positive name would more closely reflect the reason the squad was initially formed, that is, to break down barriers between police and people who generally were distrustful of authority in general. The squad also targets Vietnamese who tend to be reluctant to report crimes committed against them by other Vietnamese because of their lack of confidence in police (Force Focus, 1995).

A 1991 intelligence report warned against lending too much weight to reports that a new ethnic group was moving into the criminal environment:

…we have come to the view that since any ethnic group is capable of (and quite probably involved in) any form of criminal activity, then the periodic shifts in law enforcement focus on specific groups itself produces a skewed perception of what is happening. As more information (on a new group) becomes available as a result of change in operational and intelligence focus, and less (of the old) comes to notice, then this phenomenon will strengthen the already formed impression that ‘a new group’ is moving into the criminal environment (Wardlaw et al, 1991: paragraph 5.39).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 103 Limitations to Researchers As discussed above, it is probable that the statistics we see in the criminal justice system may, to a large degree, be a reflection of bias that is inherent in the current systems and practices.

While data on licit drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, are relatively straightforward to obtain, the activities surrounding illicit drugs are less open to quantification, scrutiny and explanation:

The confusion and mystique, which permeates the world of illicit drugs, adds to the difficulties of penetration for the researcher. From a law enforcement perspective, the norm of secrecy, which pervades law enforcement bodies in any case, is magnified (Atkinson, 1992: 11).

In its discussion paper, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority expressed concern about the over-secretiveness of Australian agencies. The Committee considered that there was often nothing in the contents of seminar and conference papers given in forums which required them to be closed to the public and media and their contents kept confidential. Similarly, intelligence assessments marked ‘Police Protected’ often contained nothing that would prevent them being available to the public. The Committee considered that ‘a better-informed public debate would result if such assessments were available to the public’ (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 1995: 3 of 5).

Studies of illicit drugs have tended to focus on known addicts who have been identified, either through their contact with the criminal justice system, or through treatment programs. However, studies of the relationship between illicit drug use and crime tend to use arrestees or convicted persons as their sample. This is problematic. Police statistics on illicit drugs may reflect police priorities and activity at a particular time and in a particular jurisdiction, rather than give an accurate description of trends and the extent of illicit drug crimes (Wardlaw, 1986, cited in Atkinson, 1992). Official records are considered unreliable, gross underestimates of the criminal activity associated with drug taking. Overseas studies have shown that most drug-related offending does not result in arrest (Dobinson et al, 1985: 7). In a study by Inciardi it was found that one arrest was made for each 413 crimes committed by heroin users (Inciardi, 1979, cited in Atkinson, 1992).

Addicts who do not appear in either of these systems can generally not be identified and included in studies. Cultural differences affecting the likelihood of seeking treatment and the possible racial bias of the criminal justice processes may be expected to contribute further to an unknown level of bias in the groups singled out for study. For example, many studies have shown an under-representation of people from ethnic backgrounds in drug treatment services, and in many countries, their over-representation in the criminal justice system.

A common method of identifying and selecting study groups for illicit drug use, which might be expected to pick up some of the addicts who do not show up in official statistics, is through the self-report method. This method has its own set of

104 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement methodological problems and biases, including the propensity of participants to under-report levels of drug use, especially illicit drug use. Self-report studies are also difficult to compare with other studies (Cheung, 1991: 581). Many studies of drug taking by minority groups are based on student groups, although minorities are more likely to drop out of school. ‘There is a need to know more about the people who do not fall into these groups (Rebach, 1992: 39).

Another difficulty limiting debate on the extent and nature of the illicit drug trade in Australia is the secrecy maintained by intelligence organisations. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority, which examined Asian organised crime in Australia, believed that the secrecy and lack of aggregate information made public by intelligence organisations in Australia was unnecessary, and stifled informed public discussion. It also considered that this lack of public information probably assists criminals:

…criminals are able to trade on public ignorance of the true situation by falsely claiming to be Mafiosi, triads or the like, or by falsely claiming that such an organisation exists, ordinary criminals may be able to intimidate members of the public from reporting their activities to the police or appearing in court proceedings against them…More readily available, accurate, public information will prevent unnecessary fears from impeding the work of law enforcement. This will make successful prosecution of relatively unorganised, opportunist criminals easier. The law enforcement resources thereby saved can be directed at the organised criminal activity that genuinely does exist (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 1995: 4 of 5).

Another limitation to police data on illicit drugs is the different coding and reporting practices used by each police jurisdiction in Australia. Even the legislation may be different, which makes meaningful comparisons all but impossible. It is therefore virtually impossible to make comparisons between states and territories, or to use the available statistics in an aggregate way as the basis for understanding the national pattern of illicit drug use and drug-related crime (Atkinson, 1992: viii).

The National Crime Statistics Unit of the Australian Bureau of Statistics has been working for a number of years on standardising crime categories and counting rules across states and territories. They have succeeded for certain offences. However, the way that drug offences are counted is not standardised, and there is still no way to gauge the extent to which drugs are a factor in the commission of crimes. In a report on the National Drug Statistics Framework Project yet to be published, the Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a number of areas to be targeted for national standardisation of illicit drugs and related offences. The variables include:

• A national classification for drug type and form.

• Defined methods of quantification of seizures.

• All illicit drug-related arrests and seizures to be recorded.

• Offender, charge and seizure records to be linked.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 105 • Unique identifiers to track offenders through the justice system as well as linking them to health data.

• Equipment and assets to be linked to the relevant arrest.

• Source and origin of the drug to be recorded if known (national crime statistics, 1998 unpublished draft).

If the above variables are implemented they will provide a much more comprehensive picture of illicit drugs in Australia.

Trends in Drug Use In Australia, household surveys have been conducted over ten years to gauge drug usage rates, and some ethnicity data has been collected in these. In the United Kingdom, a household crime survey conducted in 1994 also gives some breakdown by ethnicity. However, the authors in the UK are cautious in their reporting of the ethnicity breakdown for drug use:

The whole question of ethnic differences in drug use is complicated and contentious. It is also hamstrung by a shortage of reliable research studies to which reference can be made. Given both the lack of good anchorage with other work and the comparatively small numbers of minority ethnic respondents, it makes sense [not to] attempt to present [much detail] (Ramsay and Percy, 1996).

Ramsay and Percy found there was a higher proportion of ‘don’t want to answer’ responses from people of ‘non-white’ backgrounds, and a higher rate of ‘don’t want to answer’ responses overall when the questions asked about use of drugs which had more stigma, such as cocaine, heroin and methadone. Their study found that older Afro-Caribbeans (in the 30–59 year age group) do have higher rates of drug use than other groups. However, the rate of drug use for younger Afro-Caribbeans is less than for other groups, giving rise to speculation that drug use might be generational in this ethnic group. However, the differences shown did not reach statistical significance. In the younger, 16–29 age group, whites show a sharp upsurge in drug use and have, in general, a substantially higher level of drug use than any other ethnic group in this age bracket.

Heroin use, while not frequent, is nevertheless higher (or statistically significant) for Pakistanis/Bangladeshis in both young and older age groups. However, caution is urged given the small numbers involved. The researchers point out that this finding is supported by other studies, such as Siddique, 1992 and Patel et al, 1995, who discuss the use of heroin in Bradford by those of Pakistani origin. They point to personal links—between Pakistanis in the UK and those still residing in Asia—as an underlying factor, and point out that in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, there are local traditions of both cultivating and smoking opium.

Leitner, Shapland and Wiles, in their study of more than 4000 people over four geographic locations in the United Kingdom, found that for the main sample of

106 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement randomly-selected residents in Lewisham, there were no significant differences found based on ethnicity. In the booster sample of users, however, a statistically significant finding was that white respondents were more likely to have used drugs than their black counterparts. In Bradford, where the comparison was between whites and people of Asian background, it was found that in both the general resident and drug user samples there was a statistically significant finding that white respondents were more likely than Asian respondents to have used a non- prescription drug. This disparity existed even though the ethnic background respondents were more likely to be young, male, unemployed and significantly more likely to be of a lower status socioeconomic group—all factors which appear to be associated with illicit drug taking (Leitner et al, 1993: 30).

Marijuana Users Trends in use of marijuana appear to have remained stable in Australia over the ten- year period in which National Drug Strategy opinion surveys have been carried out. Marijuana users were found more likely to be male (although not to the degree that is found with some of the other illicit drugs), and to be young. Exposure and use is more likely to take place among the Australian/New Zealand-born, or among immigrants from Britain or Ireland. The rate of lifetime prevalence is halved among immigrants from non-English speaking countries, most notably among Asian immigrants.

This may be a reflection of other social factors which are associated with being an immigrant, rather than of cultural differences as such, but it does accord with the lower rates of smoking among Asian immigrants, which is the most common means of ingesting marijuana (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 39).

Unlike most other illicit drugs, there is a strong association between education and marijuana use. Forty per cent of those with tertiary education report lifetime prevalence, compared with 26 per cent of those with no educational qualifications. The unemployed showed the highest rates of use, with 50 per cent of the currently unemployed reporting lifetime prevalence of marijuana and almost one in every four saying they had used marijuana in the previous 12 months (Makkai and McAllister, 1998).

…knowledge about the relationship between various ethnicity indicators and cannabis usage is very poor in Australia. A problem with all surveys to date is that the sample sizes do not allow for sufficient numbers of any ethnic groups to provide stable prevalence estimates (Donnelly and Hall, 1994: 48).

Figures collected by the ABCI indicate that in 1996–97, 49,305 arrests were made across Australia for the offence of using cannabis, and 19,831 arrests for providing cannabis. From 1993 to 1996–97, cannabis-related arrests have consistently comprised around 80 per cent of all drug arrests across Australia (ABCI, 1997).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 107 The majority of cannabis consumed in Australia is produced here. However, higher levels of production and the difficulties facing law enforcement agencies in PNG may increase the potential for more cannabis importations from that country (ABCI, 1997).

Heroin Users Trends in use of heroin appear to have remained stable over the ten-year period in which National Drug Strategy opinion surveys have been carried out. However, lifetime prevalence of heroin has remained relatively unchanged over the ten-year study period. Of those who reported lifetime prevalence of heroin, only one in 10 of all users used the drug once a week or more, whereas 86 per cent of users reported using the drug less than once a year.

While heroin is undoubtedly highly addictive for a small group of users, the survey evidence suggests that there is a much larger proportion of recreational users in the general population who will use the drug infrequently, without becoming addicted (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 45).

Those who reported being offered—and who had tried—heroin are more likely to be male and aged in their 20s. Almost one in ten in this age group reported being offered the drug, compared with just three per cent of those in their 40s or 50s. Just fewer than one in 20 adolescents said they had been offered heroin, although only one per cent said that they had actually tried it. Those who had been offered or who had tried heroin were more likely to be Australian, New Zealand or British born (five per cent report being offered; two per cent report having tried the drug). Of those born in non-English speaking Europe, four per cent reported being offered heroin, and one per cent reported trying heroin. Among Asian-born people, four per cent reported being offered heroin. For Asian-born people trying heroin, the numbers were too small for reliable estimation. More than one in ten unemployed people reported having been offered heroin, and five per cent said they had tried the drug (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 46).

Figures collected by the ABCI indicate that in 1996–97, 4,986 arrests were made across Australia for the offence of using heroin, and there were 2,154 arrests for providing heroin. Heroin-related arrest rates jumped considerably from 2,502 and 2,992 in the years 1993 and 1994 respectively. This figure reached 7,105 in 1995–96, and 7,140 in 1996–97.

Heroin-related arrests comprised 8.4 per cent of all drug arrests across Australia in 1996–97. Victoria had the highest proportion of heroin-related arrests in 1996–97 (47.6 per cent), with next largest amount in NSW at 34.4 per cent (ABCI, 1997). Purity levels appear to be increasing, and cost decreasing, and this may have contributed to an increase in the number of fatal overdoses, most of which have occurred in NSW.

Intelligence collected by DEA Taskforce Three, and other information disclosed by current operations, indicates that Chinese criminals continue to dominate the importation and supply into Australia of large quantities of No. 4 South East Asian heroin, which originates from the Golden Triangle region. Chinese importers sell

108 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement wholesale quantities of imported heroin to other Chinese and Vietnamese, and have also sold wholesale quantities of heroin to individuals and groups from non-Asian backgrounds, including Romanians and Lebanese (Watson et al, 1998: 31).

An operative from the NCA Taskforce Three is quoted as saying that Chinese criminals are behind the bulk of the heroin smuggled into Australia (Martin, 1997: 19). However, in a study comparing American and Australian patterns of drug use, the authors consider that while prior to 1993 the heroin market was controlled in Australia by the Chinese and Romanians, it has since become almost exclusively controlled by the Vietnamese (Maxwell et al, 1997). Interpol points to Cambodia as being increasingly used as a transit point for heroin from the nearby Golden Triangle region (Gibbons, 1997).

Amphetamine Users

Of all illicit drugs, amphetamines arguably cause the greatest concern to Australian law enforcement agencies…due to the harm they cause to users and the violence and crime associated with such use (ABCI, 1995: 3).

Survey results from national drug strategy opinion surveys show an apparently increasing amphetamine availability and use, with significant numbers using the drug on a regular basis. From 1988 to 1993, lifetime prevalence has increased by two percentage points to eight per cent of the population, and was estimated to be ten per cent of the population in 1995.

Most users report taking amphetamines very infrequently. However, 14 per cent of users said that they took amphetamines several times a month or more. Use is most likely to be associated with men, those aged in their 20s, manual workers and the unemployed. Respondents born in Australia/New Zealand were more likely to have been offered amphetamines (11 per cent) or to have a lifetime prevalence of amphetamine use (six per cent). Immigrants from Britain or Ireland also had a higher proportion of people reporting being offered amphetamines (ten per cent) or having lifetime prevalence (four per cent). Numbers were too small to accurately estimate lifetime prevalence use of amphetamines among immigrants from non-English speaking European countries and Asian immigrants. However, seven per cent born in non-English speaking European countries and five per cent of Asian immigrants said they had been offered amphetamines (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 52).

Figures collected by the ABCI indicate that in 1996–97, 2,702 arrests were made across Australia for the offence of using amphetamines and 1,205 arrests for providing amphetamines. Amphetamine-related arrest rates remained relatively stable from 1993 to 1996–97, with 3,705 arrests in 1993 rising to around four-and-a- half thousand in 1994 and 1995–96, and back down again to 3,907 arrests in 1996–97. Amphetamine-related arrests comprised 4.59 per cent of total drug arrests across Australia in 1996–97 (ABCI, 1997).

Members of the Criminal Investigation Branch in the Western Australian Police Section Squad undertook a study of the drug use of a sample of offenders arrested or

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 109 brought in for questioning. It found that, in general, the suspects’ expectations and experiences were that alcohol and amphetamines were drugs that made respondents more likely to be argumentative, angry or violent. This compares with cannabis, heroin and benzodiazepines, which were thought to make such effects less likely, and, in the case of cannabis, ‘massively’ less likely (Loxley et al, 1997).

‘Ice’, a form of methamphetamine that can be smoked, is considered to be related to increased levels of violence. In 1989, Oagu’s Queen’s Hospital in Hawaii averaged five to six hospital emergencies each month for drug-induced psychoses and violent behaviour from ‘ice’ (Drug Enforcement Administration, 1989).

Cocaine Users The anticipated rise in the use of crack cocaine predicted by US trends has not occurred. Results from the National Drug Strategy opinion surveys show that the proportion of people being offered cocaine peaked at nine per cent in 1991, and that it declined to five per cent in 1993 and three per cent in 1995. Use of cocaine has been stable at three per cent over the ten-year study, and the proportion of people reporting having used the drug in the previous 12 months is also constant at one per cent. This suggests that there is a stable proportion of users within the population. Six per cent of Australian/New Zealand-born, and six per cent of British immigrants, report having been offered cocaine. For both groups three per cent report lifetime prevalence. Four per cent of immigrants from NES Europe and five per cent of Asian immigrants report having been offered cocaine, with numbers too small to accurately estimate lifetime prevalence (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 56).

Figures collected by the ABCI indicate that in 1996–97, 198 arrests were made across Australia for the offence of using cocaine and 262 arrests for providing cocaine. Cocaine-related arrests have risen steadily from 154 in 1993 to 460 in 1996–97. Cocaine related arrests comprise 0.54 per cent of all drug arrests across Australia (ABCI, 1997).

Cocaine is not expected to develop into the major problem found in some other countries, notably the US. ABCI considers cocaine users to constitute a relatively hidden component of the drug using community. In comparison with other illicit drug types, cocaine users are considered to be less likely to resort to crime to support their habit. No plantations of coca leaf or refining laboratories have been found in Australia. Importation of cocaine into Australia is not necessarily organised only by South American nationals. US nationals and Australians have been involved in importations, although New Zealand and Bali have been used as transit points for cocaine distribution into Australia. Of the 28 individuals arrested in 15 significant cocaine seizures (over 100 grams) reported in six months from July 1996 to December 1996, four were Colombian, five American, two British, four Venezuelan, two Lebanese, one Uruguayan, one Italian, two Tongan and seven Australian.

110 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Hallucinogen Users Survey results from the National Drug Strategy opinion surveys show that the proportion who reported having been offered hallucinogens has remained constant at between 13 per cent and 14 per cent of the population of the ten-year study period. However, among those aged 14–29 years there is some evidence that the availability of the drug has been increasing. Lifetime prevalence has also remained comparatively stable at five per cent. Users are more likely to be male. There is a significantly sized group aged in their 30s who say they have tried the drug—a larger group than among adolescents. This is a pattern considered to be a legacy of the popularity of LSD during the 1970s. Use is more likely to occur among those born in Australia/New Zealand or in the British Isles, and the rate is more than twice that for immigrants born in NES Europe or Asia (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 60).

Figures collected by the ABCI indicate that in 1996–97, 407 arrests were made across Australia for the offence of using hallucinogens and 202 arrests were made for providing hallucinogens. Hallucinogen-related arrests have risen from 282 in 1993 to 609 in 1996–97. Hallucinogen-related arrests comprise 0.72 per cent of all drug arrests across Australia (ABCI, 1997).

Designer Drug/Ecstasy Users Results from the National Drug Strategy opinion surveys show that there are few birthplace variations in exposure to or prevalence of ecstasy, although Australian/New Zealand-born people have a higher rate that those born elsewhere. Gender differences are less marked than for other drugs. Exposure to the drug was reported at four per cent of the population in 1988, and this rose to seven per cent in 1991, and fell to three per cent in 1995. However, in the age group 14–29 years the proportion being offered ecstasy exceeded one in ten in both 1991 and 1993, then declined to eight per cent in 1995. Lifetime prevalence has increased from one per cent in 1988 and stabilised at two to three per cent. Those with most experience of the drug are aged in their 20s. The unemployed emerged again as having the most contact with the drug (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 63).

Tranquilliser Users Results from the National Drug Strategy opinion surveys show that lifetime prevalence of tranquillisers has remained reasonably stable after an increase between 1985 and 1988. In 1993 just over one in three people had taken tranquillisers at some stage in their lives. The rapid decline is thought to be due to the greater reluctance of general practitioners to prescribe the drugs. Three per cent of the population has abused tranquillisers. Lifetime prevalence of barbiturates has been declining steadily since 1985. Non-medical use of barbiturates is one per cent. Unlike the illicit drugs, tranquilliser use is more likely to occur among women, older people and among non- English speaking immigrants. Barbiturate use conforms more closely to the patterns for the major illicit drugs (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 69).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 111 Inhalant Users Results from the National Drug Strategy opinion surveys show that exposure to inhalants is about twice the rate for the population as a whole. The estimates point to a slow decline from a peak of 12 per cent of 14–29 year-olds in 1985 to seven per cent in 1995. Among adolescent users, nine per cent report weekly or more frequent use, and a further 12 per cent report monthly or more frequent use.

Lifetime prevalence is one per cent for Asian-born, two per cent for immigrants from NES Europe and the British Isles and three per cent for Australian/New Zealand born. Nearly twice as many Australian-born as Asian born reported being offered inhalants (six per cent compared with 30 per cent) (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 70).

Steroid Users Results from the National Drug Strategy opinion surveys show that exposure to and use of steroids show few variations across the population. Women are equally as likely to have been offered steroids as men and to have used them, as are the other various age, educational and employment groups. The only variation across the population that is of significance is birthplace. Australian/New Zealand-born people and immigrants from the British Isles were more likely to have been offered steroids and to have used them at some point in their lives, compared with immigrants from NES Europe and Asia (Makkai and McAllister, 1998: 72).

Figures collected by the ABCI indicate that in 1996–97, 64 arrests were made across Australia for the offence of using anabolic substances (44 of them in NSW) and seven arrests were made for providing anabolic substances. The number of steroid-related arrests has remained at around 70 in both 1995–96 and 1996–97. Steroid-related arrests comprise 0.08 per cent of all drug arrests across Australia (ABCI, 1997).

Injecting Drug Users Results from the national drug strategy opinion surveys show that intravenous drug users are more likely to be male than female, to be aged in their 20s, and to be Australian-born.

Drug Use Overview Atkinson concluded that heroin and cocaine are used by a small fraction of the Australian adult population, and that juveniles exhibit different pattens of drug use, with marijuana appearing to be relatively widely used amongst the juvenile population. Atkinson came to the conclusion that, apart from marijuana, illicit drug use is not widespread in Australia. Drug use does appear to be associated more with young males, particularly where involvement in crime was present prior to drug taking. Unemployment appears to be a further factor in both crime and illicit drug use (Atkinson, 1992: 9).

112 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Bennett points to a number of flaws used in current indicators for drug use. He recommends that an arrestee monitoring program, similar to that used in the US since the late 1980s, should be introduced in the UK, to give a better indicator of trends in drug use in the criminal population over time and across different geographic areas:

Surveys of the general population do not tap sufficiently well the small proportion of high rate users in the country who determine national trends and local problems. Surveys of criminal populations through enforcement data deal only with drug offences, either in terms of convictions for drug offences or in terms of seizures of drugs. This means that there is no national level and regularly collected indicators of drug use relating to the criminal population as a whole. Arrestee monitoring has the potential to provide useful information about trends in drug use among this criminal population…(Bennett 1998: 71).

Drug testing and surveys of arrestees have the advantage that they tap a potential criminal population at the point of entry into the criminal justice system. It is also at a point typically soon after the commission of an offence. Such information would generate local level profiles of drug use and crime patterns, which might indicate intervention strategies as well as inform on national trends. The American Drug Use Forecasting program, upon which the UK research was based, argues that arrestees ‘…comprise the most active end of the drug use and criminal behaviour spectrum and may be responsible for a high proportion of both drug use and crime. It also argues that arrestees will be the first groups to try new drugs and to exploit new drug markets.’ (Bennett 1998: 72) Arrestee monitoring is also more fluid than crime statistics, in that it can be used to measure changing characteristics of the criminal population, assess changes in the seriousness of offending and predict crime trends and changes in crime.6

One of the main aims of the American Drug Use Forecasting Program was to identify early changes in drug use and predict the effects of these changes on drug-related crime. If changes in drug use precede changes in crime, as some studies have shown, then it would be possible to take action to deal with the changes in crime before they happen—or perhaps prevent it from happening. Increases in cocaine use across various states in North America preceded increases in robbery in those states (Baumer, 1994; and National Institute of Justice, 1997).

Government Responses to Drug Use In the Netherlands, the amended Opium Act 1996 separates hemp products from other ‘high risk’ drugs. The possession of illicit drugs is subject to a less severe penalty than is trafficking, and, according to the Dutch Government, the Act reflects the view that criminal law plays only a minor part in preventing individual drug use. Their view is that every possible effort should be made to ensure that drug users are

6 The Australian Institute of Criminology is currently developing a Drug Use Forecasting Program.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 113 not caused more harm by the criminal proceedings than by the use of the drug itself (van de Wijngaart, 1997: 918).

Australia has taken the approach known as ‘harm minimisation’. Single believes that harm minimisation should be neutral in relation to the broader policy agenda, and should focus on the problems that drug use causes, rather than on drug use itself. The premise from which harm minimisation starts is that it is inevitable that some drug use will occur. Harm minimisation does not translate into support for illicit drug use or for fundamental policy reform. Rather, Single believes harm minimisation is an approach that should be viewed as the middle ground, where people with differing views on drug policy can agree upon practical, immediate ways to reduce drug-related harm (Single, 1995).

Harm Minimisation and Policing In the wake of Australia’s policy of ‘harm minimisation’, police organisations can no longer simply fulfil their straightforward enforcement role in the area of drugs:

It is the street level policing of the drug laws that presents the greatest difficulty for law enforcement officers: on one hand, there is the public expectation that they will uphold the law and proceed against drug offenders; on the other hand, it is widely recognised that street-level policing can actually lead to harm to both drug users and society (ABCI, 1997).

Police are being required to balance their obligations to harm minimisation principles with their law enforcement role, the activities of their own organisation and the activities of other non-law enforcement agencies. In Australia, non-drug specialist areas of police investigate the majority of drug offences. For example, in Victoria in 1993 the Drug Squad in Victoria dealt with 259 possess, obtain and use drug offences, and 260 traffic, grow or manufacture offences. This compared with 10,328 possess, obtain and use drug offences, and 5,128 traffic, grow or manufacture offences for all other areas of the Victoria Police (Green and Purnell, 1995). While specialist drug units, such as the Drug Squad, have adopted policies primarily aimed at drug providers, generalist police have not. This has resulted in a disproportionate number of users arrested each year. Sutton and James (1996) observe that law enforcement needs to ensure that drug enforcement activity, by both specialists and general policing officers, is performed in a considered and coordinated way.

It is considered by Maher (1998) that the officers for whom demand-reduction and harm-minimisation strategies are most important are those least likely to acknowledge such strategies. The failure of police organisations to give substance to their commitments to harm reduction cannot be explained at the level of poor communication or even bad faith. As Brown and Sutton (1997) demonstrate, responsibility lies much deeper, in the structures and cultures of policing.

In Australia, national arrest rates show that there were just over 85,000 arrests for offences relating directly to illicit drug use in 1995–96 (Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence, 1997). There is no ethnic breakdown. At face value, the figures appear to

114 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement be significant and to represent successful and rigorous policing. However, recent studies are showing that the output of traditional methods of policing illicit drugs (that is, arrest rates) does not show the full picture. In addition, increased police activity may, in some cases, be exacerbating harmful outcomes. Sellers and buyers obviously adapt their behaviour in response to increased enforcement. Therefore, success in controlling availability of drugs may actually increase the cost of drugs, and reduce the opportunity to deal drugs to pay for a drug habit. This may well increase property crime as the more preferred means of financing a drug habit (ABCI, 1995, cited in United Nations, 1997: 256). Maher et al also found that increased policing of drug markets may have adverse effects, including a greater risk of spread of bloodborne viruses (Maher et al, 1998).

The more intensively open markets are policed, the greater the incentive on both buyer and seller to adopt less open styles of transaction. Low-level enforcement increases the chances of low grade or fake deals, and the market can become a more dangerous place.

In Cabramatta, Sydney, Maher and others found there were a number of negative consequences of traditional street policing activities that actually increased harm. The harmful consequences of tough policing of drug crimes included:

• Greater incidents of oral and intranasal storage and transfer of heroin, thereby increasing the risk of transmission of tuberculosis and bloodborne viruses (and increasing the risk to police when retrieving drugs from mouths).

• Reluctance of users to carry injecting equipment on their person, thus increasing the likelihood of using used equipment or of hiding equipment elsewhere.

• Increasing high risk injecting episodes.

• Strengthening the dealer–user relationship.

• Dispersal of drug users and dealers to new, as yet undiscovered locations.

• Development of more organised, professional operations.

• Displacement of drug dealing offences to more enduring forms of criminality.

• Increasing the number of sellers of fake or half caps, leading to increased violence in retribution (Maher et al, 1998).

Weatherburn and Lind found that the effect of police seizures on drug pricing was minimal, and that the costs and benefits of police activity were very hard to quantify (Weatherburn and Lind, 1997). Edmunds’ study draws attention to the problem that most arrestees come into contact with the criminal justice system only to be released again, either immediately or eventually, without any of their health, drug dependency and lifestyle issues being addressed (Edmunds et al).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 115 Drugs In Prisons Currently, prison drug policy is built on two pillars: ‘zero tolerance’ for drugs in prisons, and treatment for drug-related problems. Harm reduction is not even a feature of Victorian prisons’ stated policy, though it is the overriding policy in the community. These anomalies lead to significant differences in approach and inconsistencies between community drug policy and prisons drug policy. Corrections departments from all jurisdictions in Australia unanimously support total drug prohibition. However, few, if any, of the jurisdictions thought total prohibition was achievable (ABCI, 1999).

A number of studies, especially in NSW and Victoria, have found that prison populations contain a substantial proportion of people who have previously injected illicit drugs. These studies have found that the proportion of prisoners self-reporting a history of having injected drugs is around 50 per cent, with a range from one- quarter to three-quarters (Crofts et al, 1995; Butler et al, 1994; Dolan et al, 1996, cited in Crofts et al, 1996: 17–19). In the largest study, Crofts et al found that out of 3,429 males and 198 females recruited to the study at prison entry in 1991–92 in Victoria (over 98 per cent of prison entrants in that year), 45 per cent of the males and 69 per cent of the females reported histories of injecting drugs. Crofts et al (1995) found that this was almost certainly an underestimate. Conversely, the proportion of injecting drug users in the community who self-report a history of imprisonment is around 40 per cent (Crofts et al, 1994; Wodak et al, 1994, cited in Crofts et al, 1996: 17–19).

Why Asian Communities may be Fertile Ground for Asian Criminals An understanding of social mores and Asian social, political and historical contexts may provide insight into questions such as why there appears to be a general reluctance to report crime and criminals, even by law-abiding citizens who may themselves be direct victims. It has been argued that in most Asian countries it was necessary for survival for non-elite individuals to organise themselves in ways which would promote their interests and protect them from rapacious authorities (Chin, 1986; Ownby, 1993).

The strong tendency for Asian societies to be organised around the extended family and or village has meant that trust between strangers from different families, villages and regions has always been in short supply. Individuals who could act as guarantors of the behaviour of strangers were crucial in permitting commerce to flourish and in maintaining social stability, even if their own power was based ultimately on intimidation. The state, however, was regarded as more remote and potentially even more dangerous. It was best warded off and kept at arm’s length…(Basham, 1995: 7).

Many Asian government systems inadvertently reward deception and discourage frank reporting of all matters. Thus, ordinary individuals would not dare take the risk of providing information of significance to government officials. To do this would be to invite punishment for themselves and their families from angry

116 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement co-villagers. Instead, a village headman would be chosen to speak on behalf of the villagers and control the flow of information between village and state. In real terms, over many generations, the village was much better off running its own affairs in secret (Popkin, 1979). Because Asian society is usually organised along networks of favour and obligation, class and occupational group loyalties are usually weak. To cooperate with police and other government officials against one’s ethnic fellows:

…is a risky tack. In doing so, an individual risks having acts of vengeance directed at himself and members of his family. [In Asian communities, threats to exact vengeance against family members are commonly made and seriously entertained.] Also, since the moral authority of the larger society is often rejected, and people may have lied to its agents (in immigration, social services and the taxation department) there is always the fear of being ‘turned in’. Thus, by far the best strategy vis-á-vis officials is to be humble and polite but, ultimately uncooperative (Basham 1995: 9).

There is a perceived lack of moral legitimacy of Western host societies and their institutions. This is indicated, for example, by the high rate of divorce, perceptions that family obligations are not taken seriously by Westerners, and state intervention in family matters such as child custody and so on. These perceptions provide a potentially fertile ground for criminal activity. Indeed, in their own societies, many laws are not really taken seriously: they are seen as obstacles placed before them by police and other government officials to force them to either invoke their connections or pay bribes.

Crime Involvement by ‘New’ Migrants Generally, ethnic minority groups have a younger age structure than the majority population, irrespective of the country they are living in. Because most crime is committed by males aged between 15 and 30 years, it is important to take account of the unusual age structure of ethnic minority groups when examining their recorded crime rates (Smith, 1997: 116). Other factors that should be taken into account with many Asian immigrants of the 1970s and 1980s is that their reasons for immigrating were, unlike most previous ethnic group migrations to Australia, motivated more by necessity than by choice.

The high unemployment rate of the Vietnamese-born workforce in Australia is probably due to a number of factors, including low level of English language proficiency, low level of schooling and short period of residency in Australia. However, even when these factors are controlled for, unemployment for the Vietnamese-born community in Australia is still about 20–25 per cent higher than that of other immigrant groups. Coughlan considered that other factors contributed to the low participation rate in the workforce, including the timing of their arrival in Australia. One-third of Vietnamese people arrived during or shortly after the 1982–83 recession and many had been in refugee camps for many years and were known to suffer high levels of psychiatric morbidity. These factors, together with the changing demand for different types of labour power and skill in which Vietnamese-born are

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 117 deficient, as well as possible racial prejudice in recruiting, have contributed to keep Vietnamese-born people out of the workforce (Coughlan, 1991: 76).

High levels of unemployment and a younger age demographic are variables associated with crime and drug offenders. Vietnamese people have a relatively high rate of unemployment, and high percentage in the younger age demographic. Nevertheless, Victorian statistics show that the proportion of Vietnamese using drugs is less than for the Australian-born population (Department of Human Services, 1995). However, Vietnamese appear to be over-represented in the prison population. On 30 June 1996, 69 prisoners, or 2.8 per cent of the prison population, were Vietnamese-born. In the broader population, Vietnamese-born comprised only one per cent of the Victorian population. Arrest figures for 1996 show that 93 per cent of those charged with trafficking in Melbourne CBD were Vietnamese. Yet it is ‘…unclear whether this represents a higher level of drug use and trading in this community or whether it represents simply a higher rate of arrest and incarceration’ (Ritter et al, 1997: 307).

Easteal’s study of Children’s and Lower Court data in NSW over the three years 1985–1987 showed that Vietnamese youth have a significantly lower crime rate than their non-Vietnamese counterparts. Offenders with Vietnamese names were compared on a number of variables with non-Vietnamese. In young males, who are responsible for most illegal activity in any community, it was found that the non- Vietnamese rate for general offences was more than double that of the Vietnamese, and the level of drug offences is about one tenth that of non-Vietnamese:

The unaccompanied Vietnamese minors, who could be expected to be more at risk that others, were found in fact to have a significantly lower rate of offending. Although making up 12 per cent of the 10 to 17 year old population, they made up only 4.1 per cent of offending minors (Easteal, 1989a: 7).

It was found that in three of the four Sydney suburbs that had the highest percentage of Vietnamese offenders, the crime rate in those areas was higher in 1979, before large-scale influx of Vietnamese, than it was in 1987 (Easteal, 1989: xiv). In the age group 18 to 24 years, violent crime was much lower for Vietnamese than for non- Vietnamese, and , based on unrelated and incomparable data, the rate at which Vietnamese were victims of murder appeared to be relatively high, although what this meant remains unclear. The rate of Vietnamese youth drug offences was found to be almost 15 times lower than that of the non-Vietnamese rate. The study concludes that:

The data refute the media portrayal of rampant youth violence in the Vietnamese community. Indigenous cultural values, such as identity and loyalty of the individual to the family and the loss of face incurred by anti-social activity may act as strong deterrents…(Easteal, 1989: xiv).

118 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement A similar finding for new immigrants was made in the 1950s, following the influx of European migrants and refugees. The earliest investigation into the extent to which migrants committed crime was that undertaken in the early 1950s by the Immigration Advisory Council under the Chairmanship of Mr Justice WR Dovey. Crime and court statistics revealed that, despite the majority of migrants being young, male and unmarried, migrant crime was in line with or below that of the general population (Hazlehurst, 1987). However, in seeking to obtain data on migrant crime in the mid-1980s, Hazlehurst found herself ‘…confronted with a body of data that is patchy, frequently inconsistent and inconclusive’ (Hazlehurst, 1986: 38).

According to Viviani, the broadly positive picture painted by Easteal is no longer true. While the number of young Indo-Chinese in NSW Juvenile Justice Centres was 87 in 1991, this rose 200 per cent to 267 in 1993 (or ten per cent of the total population of these centres. This can be compared with the general population, where the proportion was less than two per cent). While over-represented in Youth Training Centres, Indo-Chinese youths were also receiving sentences three times longer than average because of the seriousness of their offences (Viviani, 1996). Viviani quotes a community service worker, who points out that:

There is very high youth unemployment (but very low take-up of JobSearch allowances [by Vietnamese]), poor English, poor education…rising homelessness, widespread drug use…high grade, relatively cheap heroin…available…[and] schools are reluctant to enrol young offenders (Viviani, 1996: 132).

Detective Sergeant Pierce of the Asian Division of Victoria Police was also of the opinion that ‘…in comparison with other ethnic groups, we believe the percentage of drug users within the Indo-Chinese community would be low’ (Pierce, 1991: 23).

In America, a study of Indo-Chinese refugees arriving post-1975 found that 66 per cent had no English language skills on arrival, a further 20 per cent had the barest knowledge and only six per cent possessed ‘…what might be called a reasonable grasp of the language’ (Caplan, 1989: 12). Seventy-nine per cent of Laotian, 57 per cent of Chinese and 36 per cent of Vietnamese adults had not received schooling beyond the elementary level. Despite the disadvantages they appeared to have, the study found that Indo-Chinese refugees had been ‘…conspicuously successful in both economic and educational pursuits’ (Caplan, 1989: 51). The explanation for this appeared to be that while their parents were working in low skilled, low paid jobs, their children were being encouraged to excel in their education. The study found that despite being enrolled in disadvantaged schools and at a time when educational standards were perceived as falling, by 1982 they had begun to move forward academically, ahead of other minority groups on a national basis (Caplan, 1989: 75).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 119 Other Determinants Affecting Involvement in Illicit Drugs and Crime

Environmental and Socioeconomic Factors The high crime rates in areas where there are large numbers of Vietnamese residents have not necessarily been caused by the Vietnamese themselves. In NSW, Easteal found that Vietnamese people have tended to settle in neighbourhoods that exhibited higher crime rates than the average for the rest of New South Wales, prior to their arrival. The crime rates in these areas had continued to rise at a faster pace than the average of the rest of the State, which Easteal believes can certainly cannot be attributed solely to Vietnamese offences, since comparable increases have occurred for the non-Vietnamese (Easteal, 1989a).

A study by researchers Shaw and McKay from the University of Chicago, looked at the high crime rate of certain neighbourhoods over several decades. They found that, although the ethnic composition of these neighbourhoods changed over time, the level of criminality remained the same. They suggested therefore that the attitudes, values and norms of these areas are not only conducive to crime but that they are passed on from one ethnic group to another (Lyman et al, 1991: 70). Walters, too, was of the view that, while social class and poverty may play a role in the development of drug abuse and crime, their affects are the result of social learning rather than social class and poverty per se.

Drugs and crime are linked by the action of a third variable…being the opportunity to learn specific behaviours from persons living in one’s immediate environment (Walters, 1994: 16).

After working in Cabramatta in New South Wales as part of the Cabramatta Youth Team, Stubbs believed there were many reasons why some individuals were at greater risk of using drugs. Many use drugs as a means to increase self-esteem, gain acceptance with peers, and deal with emotional distress, loneliness, boredom or depression. Others may have mental health difficulties and some may begin using as a social activity but develop a level of dependence that is hard to change (Stubbs, 1998: 4).

De Lint believes that racial or cultural attitudes and values are overrated as explanations of cross-national variations in drug use and abuse, and other factors, such as urbanisation and availability, are just as important (de Lint, 1976). Tonry is of the view that poverty causes crime and drug abuse:

120 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement …crime by young disadvantaged black men does not result primarily from their individual moral failures, but from their misfortune of being born in places and times and under circumstances that make crime, drug use, and gang membership look like reasonable choices from a narrow range of not very attractive options. There is no other defensible explanation for why crime, delinquency, and drug abuse are so extraordinarily more prevalent among disadvantaged minority youth than among other youth…the financial benefits from selling drugs and stealing purses are less enticing to a well-off suburban youth with a part-time job…[and] a family that will be mortified by an arrest, and long-term college and career plans…than to an impoverished urban youth with no lawful job or allowance, no family—or a dysfunctional one—and no realistic chances for material or professional success…Should the criminal law blame a disadvantaged youth for succumbing to all but overwhelming temptation? (Tonry 1995: 134–135).

Crutchfield studied the relationship between labour markets, ethnicity and crime. Although a consistent relationship has never been found between unemployment and crime, Crutchfield found that census tract crime rates were higher where relatively large segments of the workforce were marginally employed in short-term, insecure jobs. Also, no matter what their race or ethnicity, marginally employed people were more likely to be involved in crime, and in particular, violent crime, when they lived in areas with concentrations of similarly marginally-employed people. He concluded that employment discrimination toward ethnic minorities may reduce attachment to the labour market which theoretically can lead to higher crime rates (Crutchfield, 1989). Whether higher crime rates are related to marginally employed people, or to the environment in which marginally employed people tend to live, is a moot point.

Weatherburn and Lind take the effect of socioeconomic factors on crime, including illicit drug crime, further in a recent study. They found that conventional wisdom suggested that crime-prone neighbourhoods are most likely to be those with high rates of unemployment and/or low levels of household income. Therefore, individuals affected by stress are motivated to offend. (For examples, see Wilson and Herrnstein, 1985; Braithwaite, 1988.) Weatherburn and Lind point to a number of findings that they believe are difficult to reconcile with this conventional view. For example:

• Peak age for onset of criminal activity often predates entry into the labour market—and, in some cases, entry into secondary school—by a large margin (Farrington et al, 1990).

• Time series studies of poverty, unemployment and crime frequently show a significant negative relationship (Chiricos, 1987).

• Juvenile involvement in crime appears to be shaped by the level of economic stress and/or prevalence of offending in the surrounding neighbourhood (Paternoster and Mazerolle, 1994).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 121 A more likely connection is that low-income parents are less likely to be nurturing, less likely to supervise their children closely and are more likely to engage in inconsistent, erratic and harsh discipline. It is through these disruptive child-rearing approaches that economic stress may exert at least some of its effects on crime. Weatherburn and Lind conducted a comprehensive study of geographic locations deemed poor, based on income and number of single parent families and ‘crowded’ households. They also looked at juvenile court appearance data and child neglect and abuse data for these factors, to test whether economic stress was directly related to juvenile involvement in crime, or if it was related indirectly through its effect on the quality of parenting.

They found that of all the possible causes of juvenile participation in crime, neglect had the greatest causal influence. Taking the study further, the researchers found that for all poorly supervised juveniles (those allowed out very often any evening), 51 per cent of those living in crime-prone neighbourhoods were involved in crime. This compared with 33.8 per cent of those who lived in neighbourhoods that were not crime-prone. In the ten worst postcode areas for child neglect, it was found that ten per cent of children aged 15 years or less were reported as ‘neglected’, and 18 per cent aged 10–17 years had appeared in a Children’s Court. In the worst postcode area, nearly one in three children were reported ‘neglected’ and nearly half had appeared before a Children’s Court (Weatherburn and Lind, 1998: 5). Weatherburn and Lind’s conclusions are supported by Tonry, who found that ‘…experiences of physical and sexual abuse, poverty and single parent homes as a child are strongly associated with offending as an adult’ (Tonry 1995: 8).

Drug Trafficking/Organised Crime The Australian Federal Police estimates that the gross heroin turnover in Australia is equivalent to that of a multibillion-dollar industry.

Criminal organisations in Australia and throughout the world are increasing in size, sophistication, resources, mobility and efficiency, brought about in part because of political deregulation [which has increased] freedom, and mobility of people crossing national and international borders (Hadgkiss, 1998: 22).

In 1994, eleven priority areas of organised crime activity that were considered to pose an immediate threat to Australia were identified:

1. Chinese Triads

2. Vietnamese organised criminal groups

3. N’drangheta (Italian organised crime)

4. Lebanese criminal groups

5. Australian organised crime groups referred to generally as the ‘East Coast Milieu’

122 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 6. Romanian crime groups

7. Outlaw motorcycle gangs

8. Organised paedophilia networks

9. Colombian cocaine syndicates

10. Japanese Yakuza groups

11. Groups with origins in the former eastern bloc.

Clearly, these groups reflect that criminal activities can be conducted across the political borders…and transgress legal, cultural, religious and organisational boundaries among and within states… (Hadgkiss, 1998: 23).

There appears to be little evidence of major, Australian-grown crime organisations (Walker, 1995: 3 of chapter 4). However, the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service found that police corruption, including taking payments for the protection of some drug suppliers and proprietors of establishments who permitted the sale of drugs out of their premises, amounted to ‘…open encouragement for drug cartels to form, to carve up the territory, and to operate in an organised way’ (Wood, 1997: 120).

Vietnamese ‘Gangs’ During the past ten years, Vietnamese criminals have come to law enforcement attention in Australia. Intelligence and seizures indicate that the Vietnamese importers appear to deal in smaller quantities than their Chinese counterparts, although this may be starting to change (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 1995: 3 of 7).

There have been many media reports of ‘Asian gangs’ and they are blamed for home invasions and extortion rackets. The Parliamentary Joint Committee found that much of this activity is amateurish. The 5T gang in Cabramatta is said to have links with South East Asia and with people in Victoria. However, it is not at all clear if the 5T and other gangs are merely local entities, or if some of them are part of larger, more widespread criminal organisations. The 5T gang may in fact represent juvenile delinquency rather than ‘organised crime’, but this is difficult to establish for the same reasons that Vietnamese organised crime is difficult to police.

Law enforcement agencies have significant difficulties in counteracting Vietnamese organised crime, due to a lack of Vietnamese police officers, consequent language barriers, and a common mistrust of police and other government agencies by migrants from Vietnam (Parliamentary Joint Committee 1995: 2 of 7).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 123 Viviani believes that the illicit drug industry in Cabramatta, NSW, has progressed to one that is more organised:

While in 1988 police had not seen the problem as one of organised crime, this was clearly the case by the early 1990s, with the Chinese triads apparently involved by then. Those involved in the drug trade in Cabramatta include Yugoslavs and Romanians, and distinctions need to be made between those who run the trade and the young people who are used as its pawns because of the lighter sentences they are likely to attract as juveniles (Viviani, 1996: 132).

A NSW police Chief inspector said of the 5T gang:

We can label it a gang but it’s the same as any group of people banding together; young people who have similar problems. It’s a very normal part of every society to have delinquent young people. I presume they band together for mutual support and as some sort of social basis. (The Bulletin, 20.9.94: 26)

Asian Squad detectives in Melbourne also don’t see these kids as gangs,

…but, rather, localised youth groups who associate because of school, social, economic and predominantly race factors. They don’t accept their parents’ discipline and often they are isolated by their Caucasian counterparts. They must associate with each other for a sense of belonging. (Police Life, 1996: 21).

Joe’s findings support this view. Joe found that Asian gangs studied in San Francisco were not participating in formally organised and hierarchically controlled criminal enterprises and were similar to other ethnic gang members. In the absence of knowledge of Asian gangs, there had been ‘…a perception that Asian gangs are urgently problematic [perhaps leading to anti-Asian sentiments]…Such ethnic myths must be dispelled’ (Joe, 1994: 412).

Chinese Triads The value of Chinese Triad activities, based predominantly in Hong Kong, has been estimated at around $US210.2 billion per year. There are fears that operations will shift from Hong Kong to Australia and other countries as the colony reverts to Chinese control (Walker, 1995: 3 of chapter 4). One of the priority areas of interest to Australian intelligence organisations has been in relation to ethnic Chinese involvement in heroin trafficking into Australia from South East Asia. The report of the New South Wales Crime Commission for the year ended 30 June 1993 stated that large importations of heroin mainly originate in China and South East Asia. The Australian Federal Police reported that, ‘Some 80 per cent of the heroin seized in Australia can be sourced to the Golden Triangle,’ (Australian Federal Police, 1994: 4). The Golden Triangle is the area in South East Asia where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet.

124 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Australian law enforcement agencies believe that ethnic Chinese have been for many years, and still are, the major organisers of heroin imports into Australia (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 1995: 13 of 17). According to a leaked 1992 national intelligence assessment, 85–90 per cent of heroin imports into Australia were organised by Chinese-organised crime groups (The Weekend Australian, 20 November 1993).

Stability in the price of heroin and its quality in Australia indicate the importation of heroin into Australia is well organised and dominated by Chinese organised crime groups. Heroin is routed through Bangkok, the Malay Peninsula, Hong Kong and the Peoples’ Republic of China (Australian Federal Police, 1994: 4).

While Chinese are involved in the wholesale heroin business, their involvement in distribution is minimal (Wardlaw, 1991). There is a variety of opinions about the extent to which the Chinese Triad organisation is involved in crime in Australia:

…assertions that criminal triads exist in Australia as powerful, well-organised, functioning entities, must be treated sceptically in so far as the assertions are based on statements from criminals claiming membership in such organisations (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 7 of 17).

The then-vice secretary of the non-criminal Triad, the Melbourne-based Mun Ji Dong, believed a more realistic scenario was that:

…some Chinese crime syndicates had individuals on the fringes of the Australian Chinese community, working as contacts for the importation of illicit narcotics and Asian prostitutes…there were indications that some petty Asian criminals claimed heavy Triad affiliations to intimidate victims (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 7 of 17).

The Committee goes on to say that there are suggestions that the more traditional, Triad-oriented way, in which those criminal activities were once organised, is increasingly being replaced by a more entrepreneurial, ad hoc, and multi-ethnic approach.

Japanese Yakuza In Japan, the Japanese National Police Agency refers to crime groups as ‘Boryokudan’ or ‘Yakuza’. The Boryokudan have penetrated many aspects of Japanese life, reaping substantial illegitimate profits and investing in many legitimate businesses. Being allowed to operate in the open—functioning largely as public corporations—facilitated the success of these groups in Japan. In 1992, the Japanese government began enforcing a new ‘Boryokudan Countermeasures Law’ and promulgated new money laundering statutes to be effective at the end of that year. The Yakuza gangs are not illegal, but gangs must meet specific criteria, which ban

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 125 eleven activities. This has the effect of denying these groups access to previously lucrative sources of income (Shinnosuke, 1992). As a result, many Yakuza members are moving into more-or-less legitimate lines of business. A series of scandals linking top politicians and businessmen with Yakuza deals helped bring down the government in 1994, and companies have been trying to sever connections with the underworld.

In spite of the pervasive nature of organised crime in Japan, claims that Japanese companies in Australia are linked with Japanese organised crime are meaningless in the absence of more specific details. In Queensland, there has been much media reporting of extortion of tourist businesses, money laundering through the purchase and development of multimillion-dollar properties and gambling. However, while there have been reports of organised Japanese crime activities in Queensland (see, for example, the Australian Financial Review, 1994), there is no real evidence of this.

There is clear evidence of recreational visits by Yakuza gang members but nothing linking them to the purchase of property on the Gold Coast. The absence of a large Japanese community in Australia makes it less easy for Yakuza to prey on Japanese in the way Vietnamese and Chinese criminals prey on their own communities, and language difficulties provide a considerable barrier to gaining a foothold in Australia. In addition, the relative sophistication of Australian measures for the detection of money laundering is considered to lessen Australia’s attractiveness.

Additionally:

…the close interest taken in Yakuza visitors by Australian law enforcement agencies, and the attendant media publicity, may have discouraged visiting Yakuza from seeing Australia as anything more than a holiday destination (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 1995: 10 of 17).

Mafia The Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra and the N’drangheta organisations of Italy have known connections in Australia (Walker, 1995: 3 of chapter 4).

Lebanese Groups A recent inquiry found that Lebanese groups have been involved in drug trafficking into Australia for many years (Parliamentary Joint Committee, 1995: 11 of 17).

Organised Crime in Europe In European countries, the years since 1989 have seen enormous, historically significant changes, including the breakdown of communism in Eastern Europe and a number of civil wars that have generated many refugees. The confusion and reorientation in the political and economic life of the former Soviet states is also considered to have formed a basis for organised crime. The St Petersburg area in

126 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Russia and the Baltic States has become a strategic area for smuggling drugs, goods and illegal refugees. The 1995 European Union has also led to worries that uncontrolled criminality might soon be crossing borders right across Europe (Martens, 1997: 185).

Money Laundering Money laundering is the process by which illicit sources of money are introduced into an economy and used for legitimate purposes. It does not include illegally obtained money that is spent on everyday purchases, but rather, that amount which is set aside in a form in which it can be re-liquidated later. The process can be divided into three phases:

ƒ Placement, which involves the physical disposal of the bulk cash profits that are the result of criminal activity.

ƒ Layering, or the piling on of layers of complex financial transactions to separate the proceeds from their illicit sources.

ƒ Integration, where the provision of legitimate-looking explanations for the appearance of wealth by providing investments in the legitimate economy (Walker, 1995).

Money laundering can take place in Australia, can involve proceeds of crimes committed elsewhere and laundered in Australia, or can be the proceeds of crimes in Australia which are sent overseas for laundering. The Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development has estimated that the annual figure for the laundering of drug money alone exceeds $1,100 billion globally (cited in Walker, 1995). Walker lamented that neither the various police jurisdictions, Directors of Public Prosecutions, National Crime Authority, Australian Customs Service, Australian Taxation Office, Law Societies, National institute of Accountants, Australian Securities Commission, Australian Bankers’ Association or other financial peak bodies, nor the Australian Bureau of Statistics, compiles comprehensive statistics on the extent of money laundering in and through Australia. Beyond the occasional data on individual cases, there are no official statistics on money laundering:

Monitoring money laundering is not the primary focus of any agency, although it comes close to being the primary function of AUSTRAC. AUSTRAC, however, suffers from lack of feedback from the agencies to which it feeds data. Not that it would be easy to monitor money laundering even with the very best feedback from those agencies…Official statistics only relate to proven offences, they are confused by the multiplicity of agencies involved and the delays in processing allegations through the courts to finality, and they are problematic, in their estimation of the amounts actually involved in laundering operations. The estimation of the extent of money laundering must therefore rely more on reading the more oblique messages we can piece together from other sources (Walker, 1995 page 4 of chapter 2).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 127 AUSTRAC estimates that $A655 million was sent out of Australia in 1995 to South East Asian drug producing countries, much of which—it is assumed—was to fund the importation of narcotics into Australia (Hadgkiss, 1998).

AUSTRAC has assembled data on international funds transfers by country of origin and destination for 1993 and 1994. It found that there is an apparent gap not explainable by reference to the net exports of merchandise to these countries from Australia. There was a total net outflow of funds to South and Central American drug-producing countries of around $15 million per year, and to South East Asian drug producing countries around $640 million per year. Outflow to known European tax havens is $3.1 billion, and to Asian drug transit/finance markets $2.4 billion. Inflow from other tax haven countries to Australia totalled $7.7 billion (Walker, 1995):

Money laundering has been called the crime of the 1990s and such hype is justifiable. The sums involved are stupefying. In 1996, the International Monetary Fund hazarded $US500 billion as a likely worldwide figure, with $US400 billion from drug profits. The real total could be $US1 trillion. In random forensic testing in the US it was found that almost every note in circulation contained traces of cocaine, indicating that the greenbacks had once sat next to drugs in a stash house, waiting to be cleansed (Huck, 1998: 32).

Demand for drug services appears to be outstripping supply:

Three years ago the major providers of inpatient detox services in Melbourne— Odyssey, Windana and Moreland Hall—sometimes had waiting lists and sometimes addicts waited from ten to 14 days for a bed. Today they are commonly on the waiting list for four to six weeks (Melbourne Times, 2.6.99, cited in Parsons, 1999).

In addition to the issue of services meet demand, there is also the issue of whether the services are meeting the needs of young people and people from CLDBs. De-Pua identified a number of gaps in Department of Juvenile Justice; programs in relation to servicing young people of Indo-Chinese background, including:

ƒ A lack of culturally appropriate drug and alcohol treatment.

ƒ Lack of culturally appropriate counselling.

ƒ A need for staff to be educated on Vietnamese history, culture and traditions and on cultural and generational conflict experienced by youth raised in Australia.

ƒ A need for more adequate access to interpreters.

ƒ Long distances to correctional facilities making it difficult for family visits (De Pua: 96).

Coorey also found that there was a general lack of adequate servicing for young people from CLDBs. This was attributed primarily to a lack of cultural sensitivity by

128 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement mainstream youth service providers, together with a lack of youth sensitivity by ethnic services. Coorey also pointed out that there was no database of youth/ethnic services that had a focus on CLDB young people (Coorey, 1994).

Studies of treatment services in US found that African-American and Hispanic drug users are less likely than Anglo drug users to enter treatment for drug abuse. (See Desmond and Maddux, 1984; Little, 1981; Runsaville and Kleber, 1985.) However, the Treatment Outcome Prospective Study found that African-Americans and Hispanics have, on average, a greater number of treatment episodes than Anglos (Hubbard et al, 1989).

Edmunds is of the view that, because more problem drug users pass through the hands of the police and the courts than through any other agency dealing with drug misuse, this makes the criminal justice system a potentially pivotal component in bringing treatment services to problem drug users (Edmunds, 1996).

A majority of crimes are committed by a relatively small number of individuals, making it important to provide effective and culturally sensitive intervention efforts. It is clear that the heterogeneity in the US population necessitates socially and culturally specific prevention and intervention programmatic efforts that are tailored to meet the needs of particular ethnic and geographic communities…. The historical trend to push for the development of singular intervention and prevention programs that are appropriate for all cultures and communities may now be inadequate. Only culturally and socially sensitive research can lead to the information necessary for developing truly effective prevention and intervention programs (De La Rosa and Soriano, 1992: 38).

Treatment information available in the places where people go for assistance was seen as pivotal. In a study of views of people from a Vietnamese background in Perth it was found that, in relation to seeking help for a problem with illicit drugs, the majority said they would go to their GP for help (59.7 per cent) or to the Alcohol and Drug Authority (20.4 per cent). None would go to a Vietnamese Community Centre or to a Vietnamese Religious Centre for help. Fourteen per cent would consult friends, 17 per cent welfare services and 15.5 per cent would look for help at the hospital (Batu, 1998).

The best way to develop culturally relevant drug prevention programs is primarily through surveillance of the target population and interviewing its members. Such interviews can gain information about how users are identified in the culture, as well as discover the social views of users and non-users (Segal, 1995). Coorey believed that services would be much better served if there was participation of CLDB young people in program planning, management and policy development, and inclusion of CLDB groups in service or program evaluations (Coorey, 1994).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 129 Some Solutions Easteal believes there must be changes made to the criminal justice system to eliminate its inherent discrimination against minority ethnic groups:

Australia’s purported multicultural orientation does not appear to extend adequately into policing, the courts and the prisons. To do so effectively is not hard; yet actions are required that are precipitated by an individual orientation to enforcement, adjudication and detention as opposed to the current in large part monolithic approach (Easteal, 1994: 105).

The conclusions drawn from the Weatherburn and Lind study were that parenting and neighbourhood are the factors that appeared to impact significantly on the level of juvenile offending, leading to this conclusion:

Governments that want to produce a reduction in the supply of motivated offenders must look beyond the usual agencies they call upon to deal with crime. The evidence suggests that three of the most important ways of reducing the supply of motivated offenders are to reduce the level of economic stress; prevent geographical concentration of poverty (reducing the influence of offending peers); and introduce family and child support programs (to support the parenting process) (Weatherburn and Lind, 1998: 5).

Workers in Cabramatta also believe drug use has more to do with structural issues and therefore the solution is to address these. For example, if a person is detoxed, the schools will not take them, their English is not good enough for them to attend TAFE, and because they may be Asian and come from Cabramatta, they are discriminated against when it comes to seeking jobs. ‘What else is there for them to do except fall back into the street scene and using heroin?’ (McKey, 1998.) De Pua believed that the key to effective intervention was to look at the source of the behaviour and create the opportunity for street-frequenting CLDB youth to succeed in life endeavours, such as education and employment:

It is easy to say the services are there, it is up to them to use them, [or] they want to be independent, so we should not spoon feed them. But what is severely lacking in this approach is the understanding that young people do not grow up the same way…have not necessarily acquired the skills to be independent even if they want to be independent…Many of them are still children…in providing support we have to take young people step by step until they learn to be independent. Then they will seek out the existing opportunities in society and be able to contribute to society. If we simply reject them, the issues will always be there (De Pua, 1996: 124).

130 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement As a result of his research with street frequenting youth from CLDBs in Sydney, De Pua recommended, among other things, that:

• Different information and different dissemination strategies need to be used to meet the needs of different people in different circumstances.

• CLDB street-frequenting young people should be provided with opportunities for exploring life options, knowledge of practical matters, self-development, acquiring skills for employment and applying their skills in job situations.

• The school system needs to increase the opportunities for CLDB street- frequenting young people to succeed in educational pursuits, including opportunities to go back many times—if necessary—to achieve an academic level, and provide additional assistance to CLDB youth with language difficulties.

• Alternative forms of recreation need to be increased, as well as different housing alternatives.

A number of studies are beginning to pose the question about the efficacy of safe injecting places. In a question to traders in the Smith Street Collingwood study, Fitzgerald et al found that 78 per cent of traders said they would support such a project:

[They said,] ‘Safe injecting places would remove overdoses and needles from the trading area.’ As well, when asked if they had any other comments to make, many said that illegal drug use was a social problem not a criminal one, and needed to be addressed in that way rather than it being solely a matter for policing…Drugs are a social problem not a police issue. They can chase it to move [sic] but the solution is not with the police, (Fitzgerald et al, 1998: 64).

The Law Institute Council in Melbourne is of the view that reversal of prohibition must be considered as an important part of the solution:

Tragically, in Australia, illicit drug policy and funding has been based on ideology rather than evidence. The policy has become inviolable while politicians remain terrified of losing an election lest rationality be misinterpreted as being soft on drugs. But if we really want to help drug users lead normal and useful lives and offer some hope to their families and their communities, the first step is an unswerving commitment to evidence-based policy and practice without political interference (Parsons, 1999).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 131 The Law Institute Council of Victoria accepted a resolution on 20 August 1999 that:

It is time to try alternatives to more police, more punishment, more prisons…we call for legislation that gives sentencing judges the option of suspended or deferred sentences for drug addicted offenders who have a real prospect of rehabilitation…drug addiction should be treated primarily as a health issue. (Parsons, 1999: 1)

Safe injecting facilities have also been the subject of a Joint Investigatory Committee of the Victorian Parliament (Parliament of Victoria, 1999). The search for alternatives to the dominant law enforcement approach appears to be gathering momentum—in the face of increasing awareness that expensive law enforcement approaches have been, and continue to be, unsuccessful.

132 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The Media and Its Coverage of Illicit Drug Issues

The Media and Its Coverage of Illicit Drug Issues

Introduction

The news media are an extremely important influence in Australia. To a great extent, they set the agenda for public discourse (Gabrosky and Wilson, 1989: 1).

Despite frequent acknowledgment of the importance of the media in influencing public opinion and policy in relation to illicit drugs, very little research has been done which examines the extent and nature of its influence. Even less research has been done which examines the media portrayal of drugs associated with ethnic groups. The nature and implications of media influence on illicit drug issues, particularly in relation to its portrayal of drugs associated with ethnic groups, is the subject of this paper. Far from reducing drug problems, it is suspected that media reports ‘…promote the behaviour they claim to be preventing’ (Brownstein, 1991: 97). Brownstein points to the promotion of the reactionary ‘war on drugs’ strategy in the United States which, he believes, has exacerbated the drug problem.

To a greater or lesser degree, attitudes to illicit drugs and, arguably, the drug scene itself, have been influenced and shaped by the media.

Background: the Media’s Influence on the Drug Scene In his study of drug scene in Smith Street, Fitzroy, Fitzgerald believed the media had played a crucial role in changing perceptions of Smith Street from a ‘…quiet shopping strip into a street of conflict…’ (Fitzgerald, 1999: 27).

Like most people, drug users read newspapers and consequently can, and do, learn about new dealing/using areas from mass media as well as through their usual peer networks…in Fitzroy…a heightened media focus has resulted in increases in the drug trade on Smith Street as a response to the media reporting (Fitzgerald, 1999: 92).

It has long been suspected that the detailed reports often seen in newspaper reports—about where and how to buy drugs—actually act as free advertising for the drug market, and directly affect the dynamics of street level drug markets:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 135 Journalists must realise that they have a responsibility for the effects of their styles of reporting, particularly when advertising locations where drugs are bought, the streets where it’s sold, the best quality, its price and how to buy it (Rodd and Leber, 1996: 94).

We have asked drug users what they did when they ‘couldn’t get on’ in their usual location and they would nominate somewhere else and we would say: ‘How did you know that?’ and they would say they had read about it in the Herald Sun (Academic key informant, 1999).

Detailed media reporting of times, prices and locations of illicit drug deals obviously has implications for health and safety. It has been suggested that reporting of the details of drug overdoses may contribute to further drug overdoses by giving information about where to get high purity heroin. A national workshop on opioid overdose recommended that the media restrict reporting of illicit drug overdose in a similar way to the restrictions on reporting of suicide (Lenton et al, 1998).

In Sydney too, media reports are suspected of promoting and developing drug scene locations:

In Cabramatta in the early 1990s there was hardly any heroin problem. It was only after media reports started to be published about illicit drugs in Cabramatta that suddenly there were people flocking in to buy and the market grew in response to the increased demand (Criminal intelligence key informant, 1999).

A senior Melbourne police key informant interviewed early in 1999 had had personal experience of the power of the media in influencing the drug scene:

We have people coming down from Sydney because of the publicity. You have to be very careful what you say because if it is reported they will come from everywhere. We have had papers from Cairns sent to us, which are reporting on things we said that were in the press down here (Police key informant, 1999).

The Media’s Influence on Public Opinion and Policy

The mass media play a crucial role in the social construction of reality because knowledge of many social phenomena is obtained solely through the media rather than through direct experience…the mass media has evolved…to become the dominant player in the…reality construction process (Surette, 1994: 133).

The Premier’s Drug Advisory Council (Victoria) found that the community obtains information about illegal drugs primarily from the mainstream media (Premier’s Drug Advisory Council, 1996). Brownstein argues that the media has played an important part in shaping our view of illicit drugs and that ‘Drug scares are independent phenomena, not necessarily related to actual trends or patterns in drug

136 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement use or trafficking’ (Brownstein, 1991: 94). Chermak also found that the rise and fall of drugs as important political issues in the United States did not coincide with changes in the reported incidence of drug use (Chermak, 1997). Enactment of federal drug legislation was also found not to be related to objective data on drug use, but rather to politicians’ own efforts to promote drugs as a social problem (Jensen et al, 1991). The same pattern is seen in reports concerning youth, many of which focus on illicit drug use.

If the media has a role in influencing public opinion and public debate, it follows that the media must also influence the views and policies of politicians. As an illustration of this, Gabrosky cites several case histories in which the media covered stories in ways so sensationalist that levels of public concern were raised to a point where they led to legislation extending police powers and thereby reducing citizens’ rights. When the stories were examined later it was found the media had in fact fabricated a juvenile crime wave and had used patently emotive language in its coverage of drug and prison issues:

Whether it be in the area of drugs, juveniles, organised crime or ethnic and racial conflict, the media, by frequently exaggerating and reporting isolated events, tend to encourage public perception of a crime wave where in fact none may exist. Sometimes the creation of this wave can be done with the active cooperation of parties with an interest in it, such as moral entrepreneurs or politicians (Grabosky and Wilson, 1989: 130).

Usually government action is once removed from the media reports themselves. The media reports will appear, public opinion will have a chance to develop, and then political reaction is seen. In late 1995, media reports of heroin use in the western suburb of Footscray became a major impetus for the formation of the Premier’s Drug Advisory Council. This resulted in the State Government directing an additional $25 million to the alcohol and drug field to address the issue of illicit drug use in the community (Reardon, 1996).

Occasionally, the link between media reports and political action is more direct. For example, in Sydney in late January 1999, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on its front page a story of a 12 year old boy injecting heroin (in fact he was 16 years old) outside a needle exchange service. The reaction next day was for the NSW Health Minister to suspend the needle exchange service pending a full report (Overington, 1999).

Similarly police, like the rest of the population, are exposed to the media. It has been argued the media has an influence on police views, and possibly actions, just as it has on members of the public and politicians:

The media is responsible to a great degree for not only the public’s views on illicit drugs and organised crime, but also the views of police. Media reports are a big part of current perceptions on both sides (Criminal intelligence key informant, 1999).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 137 In Canada, the media has been blamed for creating a public perception that immigrants commit much crime. While there was considerable political debate in Canada in the 1990s about whether race-crime data should be collected, the debate also affected the issue of immigration. A number of opinion polls suggested that crime by new immigrants was an important component in Canadians’ attitudes to immigration policies. The major explanation for this appears to be:

…increased attention to the problem of ‘immigrant’ crime by the media…in the early 1990s there was considerable coverage of crimes by ‘gangs’ of immigrants from China and Vietnam…More recently, the emphasis has shifted to Somali refugees…It is worth noting that a major review that demonstrated that the foreign-born were highly unrepresented in the population of those incarcerated for violent crimes received little publicity in the news media (Palmer, cited in Tonry, 1997).

Media focus on crime and immigrants also precipitated changes in Switzerland. Press reports in the mid-1990s shocked the Swiss public with their exposé on the large proportion of foreigners and asylum seekers among arrested drug dealers, and the inability of the police to deal with the problem. Consequently, Swiss deportation laws were tightened up to allow more rapid deportation of illegal aliens (Killias, 1995: 378). In addition, large-scale heroin prescription programs were initiated so that ‘…crime is no longer as commonly perceived as being directly related to immigration’ (Killias et al, 1995).

Sercombe found that while the youth-crime focus is common in the media, the proportion of youth actually committing crime is tiny when compared with other factors in their lives—factors that are arguably of much greater long-term concern, not only for the public but also for policy makers. Sercombe found that about four per cent of the youth population was arrested for crime in the study period, while their unemployment rate was close to 30 per cent. Nevertheless, only 4.5 per cent of stories about youth appearing in The West Australian from April 1990 to March 1992 dealt with youth unemployment, while 45 per cent dealt with youth crime (Sercombe, 1997).

Outside Influences on the Media One could argue that just as the media can influence the behaviour and views of the public, police and politicians, then police and politicians, and, to a lesser extent, the public, can also influence the media. Certainly, the media frequently appear to be responsive to issues considered by politicians to be important. Brownstein shows how this pressure is felt in the United States, particularly at election time, and points out that it is not in the interests of the news reporters and producers to construct news in ways unfavourable to government, for fear of having their information supply cut off entirely (Brownstein, 1991).

There is probably a similar relationship in the Australian context with politicians. However, this type of relationship is particularly obvious between the media and police. Australia’s police reporters have a cheap and immediate source of

138 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement information through police media relations units. Chermak found that the process of choosing events to be publicised is often influenced by a symbiotic relationship between reporter and police officer. Police are aware that some forms of crime are easier to prosecute if the media dramatise them. No doubt, police are aware that perceptions of crime waves and certain levels of public insecurity are conducive to increases in police personnel, capital resources and powers (Grabosky and Wilson, 1989: 130).

In a study of drug reports in the news media, Chermak found that reporters’ main sources of information were from courts and police (58 per cent). These sources were used extensively for reasons of efficiency to meet media deadlines. Given the volume of information being secured through police and court sources, it would obviously not be in the best interests of journalists to criticise those sources for fear of losing access (Chermak, 1997: 701).

…according to media analysts, a close relationship develops between the media and police in which journalists are given privileged access to crime stories, and the police are given privileged access to the media (Sercombe, 1997: 50).

The Australian media’s apparent shift in focus in the way that they deal with stories about illicit drugs—from sensationalist in the 1995–97 period to more ‘problem solving’ in the 1998–99 period—certainly corresponds with the timing of police thinking about the illicit drug problem. At the time of the well-publicised police drug raids on gay nightclubs in 1996–97, sensationalist stories about drugs were the norm. In 1998 and today, reporting on drug issues tends to be less sensationalist, and this has coincided with a much more liberal approach to the policing of drug offences, including police trialling of drug cautioning programs and calls by police for other solutions, such as safe injecting places (Herald Sun, 18.2.99).

Creating the Drug Crisis In the 1980s, the ‘new right’ and President Ronald Reagan used drugs as an ‘…all- purpose scapegoat with which they could blame an array of problems on the deviance of the individuals who suffered them’ (Brownstein, 1991: 86). With this focus, attention was diverted away from the government’s social and fiscal policies that arguably were the real cause of the escalation in social and economic problems at that time.

Illicit drug use came to be described as the source of societal decay and was blamed for a plethora of undesirable social ills. Drug use could just as easily have been identified as one of the outcomes of economic and social depravation, but of course this would not have served the purposes of the politicians (Brownstein, 1991). Lapham was eloquently scathing about the American media’s compliant role in offering the public an armchair view of the ‘drug war’, a war which is particularly attractive to politicians because:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 139 …[they] can bravely confront an allegorical enemy rather than an enemy that takes the corporeal form of the tobacco industry, say, or the Chinese, or the oil and banking lobbies. The war against drugs provides them with something to say that offends nobody, requires them to do nothing difficult, and allows them to postpone, perhaps indefinitely, the more urgent and specific questions about the state of the nation’s schools, housing [and] employment opportunities for young black men…Like camp followers trudging after an army of crusader knights on its way to Jerusalem, the media have in recent months displayed all the garish colours of the profession (Lapham cited in Fox et al, 1992: 163).

From the 1980s onwards, American media reporting of illicit drugs tended to be alarmist, such as this example from the New York Times:

Crack poses a much greater threat than other drugs. It reaches out to destroy the quality of life, and life itself, at all levels of American society (cited in Brownstein, 1991: 91).

Similar to the US, sensationalist reporting of illicit drug issues has been common in the Australian media over the past two decades. In a study of newspaper reporting in Sydney, Windschuttle found many examples of horror stories designed to titillate the reader and which confirmed the prejudices of the readership:

The heroin sold in Sydney’s streets is among the most dangerous in the world. It comes in various forms: Pink Elephants, Chinese Black Rocks, Thai Powder, Penang Poison. But all of it is Asian smoking heroin heavily adulterated (‘cut’) with strychnine…Pure heroin is practically unobtainable in Sydney. It’s cut heavily to increase the profit—strychnine, baby powder, borax, snail killer, concrete dust, Ajax. Anything… (Windschuttle, 1981: 172).7

Australia has its share of colourful headlines linking crime, drugs and immigrants, most usually focusing on Asians. For example, ‘Vietnamese gangs a big crime threat, says NCA’ (The Age, 7.9.94); ‘Police report predicts rise in Asian Crime’ (The Age, 10.8.92); ‘The Drug Lords who Seised Redfern’ (The Bulletin, 11.2.97). This last article quoted residents who believed that Vietnamese people were responsible for most of the crime and had a corrupting influence on other groups.

One resident of Redfern is quoted as saying, ‘The Vietnamese connection [with Aborigines] is very dangerous—they don’t have respect for life and that creates the same sort of attitude in the young Aboriginal boys and girls’. ‘Organised crime’ and ‘gangs’ have been terms freely associated with people of Asian background.

In April 1997 journalist Brett Martin reported on:

7 In actual fact the adulteration of drugs appears to be rare and when it does occur it is of a relatively benign character. See in the study conducted by Coomber, 1997.

140 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement …the growing threat posed in the Pacific and beyond by Asian crime gangs. Chinese Triads, Vietnamese youth gangs, Japanese Yakuza and Korean criminal elements have overtaken Australia’s other ethnic groups in the reach and scope of their criminal activity: heroin importation, prostitution, money laundering, extortion, home invasions and other crimes of violence. With the exception of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Caucasians no longer figure large in Australian organised crime (Martin, The Bulletin, 8.4.97: 18).

Media hysteria about drugs certainly sells newspapers. However, such reporting is considered dangerous from a number of different perspectives. Drug scares, which blame individual immorality and personal behaviour for endemic social and structural problems, divert attention and resources from the larger, causal problems. When there is no distinction made between people with problems, and people as problems, there is a tendency to blame the victims of social injustice (Twitchin, 1993).

Treatment of Minority Groups in the Media In general, people from ethnic backgrounds tend to be invisible in the media. When they do appear it is invariably in stereotypical ways in stories to do with criminal or other conflict situations, or within the context of sport or entertainment. Twitchin found that only about five per cent of television characters in the United Kingdom are black or Asian ‘…and those that are featured are Asian shopkeepers, black athletes, etc’ (Twitchin, 1993: 35). Soo-Lin Quek found that presentation of stories involving ethnic minorities in Australia is always from the perspective and values of white, middle class society (Soo-Lin Quek, 1997).

Some writers have reasoned that the lack of positive stories featuring minorities may be due to a lack of journalist from ethnic minority backgrounds. However, a common complaint of ethnic background journalists was found to be that newsroom policy affects the news selection process, and rigid newsroom policy ensures that those stories that do not fit the traditional news mould are eliminated (Wilson and Gutierrez, 1985). In the absence of news that places ethnic people in many different contexts, mass media stereotypes can be particularly dangerous, giving a false perception of ‘others’. Carruthers found that:

…while reporting on Vietnamese in Sydney is rarely overtly racist, the fact that the bulk of the portrayals occurs in the context of ‘bad news’ creates a net image of Vietnamese as a threat or danger (Carruthers, 1997: 186).

The media often presents crime problems in ways that unduly exaggerate the role of ‘new’ Australians. This is despite the fact that, ‘Research consistently shows that the overseas-born are amongst the most law abiding members of the Australian community’ (Grabosky and Wilson, 1989: 130).

Crime among Vietnamese youth has historically been significantly lower than for their non-Vietnamese counterparts, however, media reports give the opposite impression (Soo-Lin Quek, 1997). Kennedy, in the United States, pointed out the

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 141 discrepancy between the reality, and the perceptions given by the media, about drug offending:

There exists a striking disjuncture between the racial demographics of actual illicit drug use, which is mainly white in absolute numbers, and the racial demographics of portrayed illicit drug use, which is mainly black (Kennedy, 1997: 381).

In a study of media constructions of heroin and its victims, Elliott found that the motif of the drug problem portrayed in the media in Australia was indeed ethnicised. She found that, particularly in the case of heroin, the drug was labelled as threatening by its association with a minority group—the Vietnamese (Elliott, 1996).

Historical Roots of the ‘Drug–Asian’ Link In Australia, reporting of stories about drugs has had a history of anti-Asian sentiment. From his studies of media reports in Melbourne and Sydney in the late 1800s, Manderson found that the opium smoking habit of the Chinese came to be seen as first ‘a dirty habit in a dirty people’, and then as ‘an immoral habit in a hated people’ (Manderson, 1993: 24). Chinese were labelled as the demons who corrupted and tricked innocent Anglo-Australians through supply of opium. They were reported as druggers of Anglo women who ‘…either lost all sexual control or became so heavily drugged that they were unable to resist rape or seduction’ (Manderson, 1993: 24).

The Pattern Continues More modern media creation of illicit drug ‘reality’ is startlingly similar to that of the late 1800s media creations. Elliott found that a recurrent theme in modern media reports about illicit drugs was the characterisation and representation of the ‘evil supplier’ of heroin as ‘ethnic’, and the user as a ‘victim’. Windschuttle also found that the media tended to emphasise ‘the pushers’ in a stereotyped arch-villain characterisation, in the business of corrupting the innocent and unworldly user (Windschuttle, 1981: 173).

The media characterisation of heroin traffickers consistently provided images of undifferentiated criminality and moral culpability… (Elliott, 1996: 67).

O’Donnell noted that in contrast, the drug user is almost always portrayed as a victim who is not responsible for their own actions and deserves sympathy (O’Donnell, 1990).

Elliott found many examples of the ‘evil Asian dealer versus the innocent Anglo user’ motif in media reporting of drugs in the Herald Sun and The Age newspapers from September 1995 to the end of April 1996:

142 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Police concern that Asian crime gangs are using schoolchildren to traffic heroin in Melbourne’s western suburbs must alarm all parents (Herald Sun, 29.11.95: 12).

Police believe the heroin glut coincides with a push by established Sydney gangs into Melbourne…the gangs are predominantly made up of youths of Vietnamese origin (The Age 15.10.95: 7).

Many of the users are Australian, Chief Superintendent Ritchie said, but people working in the gangs are Vietnamese… (Herald Sun, 28.11.95: 1).

The casualties of the states’ emerging heroin epidemic had sudden, lonely and agonising deaths (Herald Sun, 23.4.96: 41).

Other articles reported the violence and weapons used by drug dealers who, by association with other articles, are implied to be Asian dealers, to further impress the public with an image of the Asian drug dealer as evil:

Military style automatic weapons have been thrown on to the streets of Footscray from cars being pursued by police divisional vans, Chief inspector McKoy said. (Herald Sun, 29.11.95: 5).

Elliot found that at times there was an implicit assumption that heroin trafficking was a major problem amongst non-permanent residents of Australia:

…if they deal in smack, send em back. The White Australian Resistance group has dropped leaflets at houses in Melbourne’s north-west stating the recent out- break of western suburbs drug dealing had exposed the ethnic-based origins of the epidemic (Herald Sun, 12.2.96: 11).

The State Opposition has called for deportation of non-resident immigrants charged with drug offences, in a bid to stem Melbourne’s growing heroin trade (Herald Sun, 30.11.95: 4).

Other throwaway lines singling out particular ethnic groups were common:

The boy was photographed in Caroline Lane, Redfern, an inner-Sydney suburb notorious for its high proportion of Aboriginal residents who are addicted to heroin. Sydney’s other heroin-riddled suburb is Cabramatta, where most of the addicts are Vietnamese and Lebanese (Overington, 1999: 3).

Melbourne academics were of the view that local newspapers do give a disproportionate coverage of Vietnamese involvement in illicit drugs:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 143 …The Herald Sun in particular has clearly been running what could be considered to be a vendetta against the Vietnamese in Victoria, and The Age has not been far behind. It is a form of selectivity and a form of exaggeration coverage. Almost all the photos accompanying stories of drugs show Asians. There have been some examples of quite unconscionable behaviour by the Herald Sun (Academic key informant, 1999).

More recently, a crime statistics expert described media reports this way:

I think the media is biased because it is incomplete. They go far enough to identify the ethnic group involved in the crime but not to explain it. Therefore we are left with the perception that there is some racial tendency to offend, rather than that certain ethnic groups are involved in crime because they have a lack of opportunities just as Anglo-Saxons will engage in crime for the same reasons (Crime statistics key informant, 1999).

The editorial of the Herald Sun on 29.11.95 justified the use of racist language and the singling out of a specific ethnic group in this way:

There will be inevitable complaints that one or another ethnic group is singled out. But if the way to stop the trade is to acquire an understanding of the undercurrents operating in a minority of people among the various nationalities now in Australia, so be it. The threat heroin poses to our children transcends the niceties of political correctness (cited in Rodd and Leber, 1996: 90).

Criminal intelligence personnel, however, appear not to share the media’s view of the nature of drug offending:

Media coverage is not at all accurate. The focus on Vietnamese is a beat up and they are convenient scapegoats. Of course there are Vietnamese involved in street level dealing but that is the bottom level. One of the most successful drug syndicates ever in Australia was the Mr Asia drug syndicate and it was comprised of New Zealanders with one or two Australians. You do not have to be Chinese or from South East Asia to smuggle significant amounts of heroin into Australia and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were other Mr Asia syndicates in existence. However, these types of syndicates do not feed people’s prejudices and they don’t sell newspapers (Criminal intelligence key informant, 1999).

144 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The Media’s Construction of the Vietnamese- Australian

From the start…Vietnamese-Australians have presented the media with an interesting paradox…a mix of compassion for a dispossessed people who had undergone trauma, and overt racism as the old fear of an Asian invasion was once again raised…in the late 1980s, social categories have started to be reformed…All this makes the Vietnamese ideal subjects for media stories. As a group they have become newsworthy in their own right…over and above any specific issue or event in which [they] may have been involved (Twitchin, 1993: 30).

In her examination of articles in The Age and Herald Sun, Soo-Lin Quek found that Vietnamese youth were disproportionately represented as belonging to deviant, gang-related action. She found examples of the media making quantum leaps from seeing groups of Vietnamese young people to assuming they must be members of a gang:

In both newspaper stories there is a leap from incidents of violence to reports on the existence of ‘gangs’ of Vietnamese young people. Vietnamese young people are tarred with the one and only brush. Based on assumptions of the ‘other’ as criminal and a threat, a group of Vietnamese young people ‘hanging out’ together in public, who may have no intentions of breaking the law, become suspect in the eyes of many, and are viewed with suspicion and an element of fear by the ‘ordinary, law-abiding’ citizens (Soo-Lin Quek, 1997: 180).

From 1994–1996, Footscray and other inner western suburbs of Melbourne became the focus of considerable media attention over ‘youth violence’, ‘youth drug dealing’ and ‘Asian gangs’. According to Rodd and Leber, Vietnamese young people were targeted as the culprits, with the media tapping into ‘…two of the wider community’s underlying fears and prejudices: their suspicion of young people and their fear of difference’ (Rodd and Leber, 1996: 83). The result of the sensationalist, simplistic style of reporting by the media was considered to be far reaching and divisive for Vietnamese young people and the wider Vietnamese community who were left ‘…stunned, particularly Vietnamese young people. The representations they saw in the media were far from the reality they lived’ (Rodd and Leber, 1996: 83).

Only one article out of 80 examined gave a voice to Vietnamese young people. In this article a young Vietnamese soccer player is quoted as saying:

People think we are bullies because of what they read in the newspapers. They think we are a Vietnamese gang and carry knives. When we finish the game in Richmond we sat together, about 15 of us, and talked about the game.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 145 You can see people are afraid to sit near you. People said, ‘That’s a gang.’ It’s not a gang, it’s a soccer team (Sunshine Advocate, 2.3.94, cited in Rodd and Leber, 1996: 93).

One example of the grossly simplistic and biased reporting found by Rodd and Leber was an article that quoted police arrest statistics showing the arrest rate for Vietnamese people as the highest. The article’s aim was to set up a seemingly objective set of ‘facts’ with the assumption that ‘figures don’t lie’. Rodd and Leber point out that the figures in fact did not represent guilty people and also do not reflect the number of individuals involved. This however, did not stop the Herald Sun from suggesting there was a high level of criminality among the Vietnamese community. In addition, and not insignificantly, the figures on which the article was based came from the Asian Squad, where it would be expected that (as Asian people are their focus) their figures should reflect this.

In 1996, even academic spokespeople were beginning to mirror the journalists’ slant on drugs during the period 1994–96:

In their quest for identity, young Vietnamese band together, define what they see as their territory, then set about controlling and defending it, leading to gang wars on the street…they have had to buy their way into traditional Australian suburbs, in some cases…taking them over. This has led to resentment from locals… (Wilson, 1996, 19).

Rodd and Leber found that the negative media portrayals of the Vietnamese have led to the Vietnamese community’s desire for invisibility and their withdrawal from participation in public life. In their interviews with Vietnamese people Rodd and Leber found young people were sad, shocked and angry that they were not seen as individuals, and were concerned about the impact such styles of reporting would have on their ability to get jobs (Rodd and Leber, 1996).

Number of Media Articles: Ethnicity and Drugs The present authors examined and electronically searched newspaper articles from the Herald Sun and The Age (stored on CD-ROM). A word search of articles was undertaken for the years 1998, 1997, 1996 and 1992–93, to establish how many articles contained certain key words. From a brief scan of the content of the articles that contained the word ‘drug’, it appeared that most articles related to illicit drugs. However, when viewing Table 1 it does need to be borne in mind that articles might also relate to drugs in sport, legal drugs, and drugs in countries other than Australia. Thus, caution needs to be adopted when interpreting the figures reported below. One category that was deleted from our count was ‘drug/China’, because the bulk of these articles related to performance-enhancing drugs used by Chinese athletes.

146 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Bearing in mind the limitations of the data, the table below shows that the number of articles on ‘drugs’ appeared to peak in 1997 and fall off quite suddenly in 1998. Over the four different years examined, the Herald Sun consistently ran more drug stories than did The Age. In 1992–93 the number of stories about drugs appearing in the Herald Sun was more than double that of The Age. In 1996 and 1997 the number of stories about drugs in The Age appeared to approach the number in the Herald Sun. However, in 1998 the number of drug stories in the Herald Sun, although fewer than previous years, again doubled that of The Age.

Table 1 Number of articles appearing in The Age and the Herald Sun newspapers which contain combination key words, over four years

1998 (up to August) 1997 1996 1992–93 Key words The Age Herald Sun The Age Herald Sun The Age Herald Sun The Age Herald Sun Drug 1,279 2,567 3,045 3,369 2,973 3,472 1,928 4,635 Drug/Australia 41 53 41 128 39 85 15 22 Drug/Ethnic 29 28 43 38 60 34 37 33 Drug/Asian 76 88 111 91 105 103 54 74 Drug/Vietnam 52 44 115 34 52 28 41 18 Drug/Turkey 9 0 13 4 0 3 1 2 Drug/Somali/ Eritrean/Horn 2 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 Drug/Timor 6 0 8 0 0 1 0 0 Drug/Italian 65 88 119 86 93 68 74 184 Drug/Greek 31 29 66 35 41 32 28 41 Drug/Lebanese 9 4 13 7 10 5 3 2 Drug/Romanian 3 8 8 6 11 11 8 13 Drug/Russian 45 43 100 73 81 85 54 117

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 147 The number of articles that included the word combination ‘drug’ and ‘Asian’ were similar in number for both newspapers. However, in each of the four years examined, The Age consistently had more articles that contained the combination of ‘drug’ and ‘Vietnam’. Articles which included the combinations: ‘drug’ and ‘Italian’; and ‘drug’ and ‘Russian’ were relatively frequent in both newspapers, and to a lesser extent the combination ‘drug’ and ‘Greek’.

Less Sensationalist, More Balanced Reporting? There is strong pressure on journalists to ensure that their reporting content and style will attract the most viewers or readers, and thus the greatest audience for its paying advertisers (Simpson, 1997). Sensationalist stories (in which, arguably, the facts are often sacrificed for a good story) are therefore the ‘bread and butter’ of journalists. Nevertheless, there appears to have been a recent move away from sensationalism in relation to media reporting of illicit drug issues, with a move towards articles concerned with how the problem should best be tackled. The discussion of possible responses appears to encompass a broader range of views than previously seen in newspaper reports and is less dominated by the traditional supply-reduction approach. One example of this was the articles and reports in the Sydney Morning Herald, which followed the above-mentioned sensationalist needle syringe story about the allegedly 12 year old boy injecting heroin. Most of the subsequent articles were concerned with health workers’ calls for radical changes to government’s drug policy, including the need for safe injecting rooms and controlled heroin trials. They also called for more detoxification, treatment and rehabilitation centres, especially for young drug users. The ethnic focus too appears to have receded.

The Australian Drug Council (ADCA) monitoring of the media shows that, although there is still the occasional sensationalist story, there has indeed been an observable change in the nature of the coverage. What has prompted this change is not clear, but the reasons are probably complex. Perhaps they are connected to the media’s reading of the attitude of politicians, police and the public.

Ethnic Media Coverage of Drug Issues Even for people of non-English speaking background who are proficient in English, ethnic newspapers tend to be a more important source of information on community welfare services than mainstream English language newspapers (Scott, 1980: 16). In a study conducted by the Bureau of Immigration and Population Research it was found that 68 per cent of ethnic people listened to SBS radio and 60 per cent of SBS listeners wanted to hear more information on government services (Bureau of Immigration and Population Research). There are many other radio stations that provide programs in languages other than English:

148 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement …radio is by far the best medium in which to access the ethnic community in a language other than English…it is the most broad reaching medium and is perhaps the best value for money (Eyles and Xsateroulis, 1995: 23).

The following information relating to ethnic media has come from NESB people who participated in the ethnic community consultation phase of the Turning the Tide project, Drugs in a Multicultural Community. This project was conducted by the Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research and the North Richmond Community Health Centre on behalf of the Department of Human Services, Melbourne in 1999.

Greek Media The Greek media usually reflect the mainstream media’s way of reporting drug issues. They will take main articles from The Age and have them translated into Greek and the translations are fairly accurate. In Greek papers reporting is very simplistic and biased, and singles out certain ethnic groups to blame for the drug problem. Greek newspapers present drug issues stories as though drugs are a problem for others and not for Greek people. They also report on general health issues but these rarely concern the drug problem.

Many Greek people listen to the Greek language radio. However, while mainstream talkback radio attracts people who ring in about their son or daughter on drugs, ‘I don’t think this would happen if the parents were Greek, they are just not so outspoken’ (Greek community consultant).

Italian Media Drug stories and issues are rarely presented in the Italian media, and are certainly not reported on as much as in the general media. The general media is very biased in the way that it blames certain ethnic groups—even among the Italian community. Italian language radio could help disseminate information to people who find it difficult to find out about drug issues.

Turkish Media Turkish language newspapers reflect the mainstream papers and never treat the drug problem in any depth. ‘The Turkish papers will pick up drugs as an issue and then they will drop it’ (Turkish community consultant).

Lebanese Media In the Lebanese papers the only time the drug issue is dealt with is when there is a crisis, or when a Lebanese person who has experience in illicit drugs comes to Australia. The Lebanese papers will report on the visit. Very occasionally, Lebanese

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 149 papers will translate a mainstream report on illicit drugs, but there is no debate or discussion about drugs in the Lebanese papers.

Arabic papers would never address the issue of drugs in a way that suggested drugs was an issue for the Lebanese or Arabic speaking community. If the media do a report on drugs it is about others using drugs, or drugs in general:

The papers try to hide the problem and not mention drugs. None of the reporters are professional journalists. They start off making Lebanese bread and then they graduate and become a journalist. They think that if they discuss drugs then they are advertising for drugs. That is their mentality. Can you imagine an Arabic speaker discussing drugs problems on the radio? You have Buckley’s hope (Lebanese community consultant).

Vietnamese Media Vietnamese papers often translate general news from the mainstream media, but the meaning is often different, and not translated appropriately. Articles on drugs are sometimes not as originally reported in the mainstream papers. Often the Vietnamese newspapers will try to inject some information or education into their articles on drugs:

The mainstream media are biased in their reporting. This has caused enormous distress and problems for Vietnamese people. People feel really stigmatised. People feel embarrassed and labelled as being responsible for all the drug problems in Australia. Vietnamese people are now very sensitive to what is said about the drug problem and they read things into reports even when there may be no intention to slur Vietnamese (Vietnamese consultation participant).

Somali Media There is Somali radio on a Friday, however all that is broadcast is news from the BBC.

Eritrean Media There is no Eritrean newspaper or radio. There is a newsletter circulated within the Eritrean community, however, to date it has not contained any articles on illicit drugs. A report of the issues raised in the face-to-face meeting with researchers from Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research was the first article on illicit drug issues published in the newsletter, July 1999. Face-to-face and verbal explanation of any written material submitted for inclusion in the newsletter is essential, both from a cultural point of view and from the point of view of accurate interpretation and explanation of the subject in the Eritrean language.

150 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Timorese Media There is no Timorese newspaper. Some Timorese read a Portuguese newspaper but there is nothing about drug issues reported in that paper. There is a Timorese radio station. However, this station never mentions drug issues:

Radio could be a good forum for giving out information about drugs, either in Chinese or in Hakkah language, but it would largely depend on the reputation of the presenter as to how well the information would be received. The Timorese community has little understanding of what is reported in the general media about the issues of drugs (Timorese community consultant).

Although a Timorese newsletter does report on some drug issues, it is only distributed to members of the Timorese Association—not to all Timorese.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 151

Databases

Databases

Methodology Over four weeks from July 1998, Victorian and National databases believed to be relevant for the study were identified and examined, starting with those known to the investigators. Consortium and Steering Committee members identified further databases. A natural and clear division was found between health and drug treatment services on the one hand, and criminal justice on the other. Forty-eight databases have been identified and appraised, and this is made up of 23 health and drug treatment services databases and 26 criminal justice databases.

To examine the databases, a list of relevant organisations and individuals was created covering Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, and those on the list were systematically consulted for information about databases by telephone, facsimile, electronic mail and the Internet, to determine if particular databases existed. Databases identified were then examined for information using a series of systematic key headings. Questions compiled by the researchers and the consortium members were answered by those responsible for the database. Information sought included:

ƒ Title

ƒ Ownership

ƒ Collection method

ƒ Purpose

ƒ Time parameter

ƒ Size

ƒ Variables

ƒ Limitations

ƒ Accessibility

ƒ Relevance to the project

ƒ Cost of accessing information

ƒ Availability of data entry forms

ƒ Contact details

ƒ Publication details.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 155 A difficulty associated with the Criminal Justice databases was the natural reticence of some key people who needed considerable explanation, persuasion and written requests for permission to speak about the contents of the databases. This problem did not occur with health and drug treatment services databases. Obtaining information often required a number of follow-up requests and personal meetings with those responsible for the databases. Increasing the number of known databases relied on the ‘snowball’ effect, in which those responsible for relevant databases would suggest other known databases that could prove pertinent for the study. This approach resulted in a doubling in the number of databases previously known to the researchers.

The summaries of each of the databases have formed a useful tool on which to base decisions about which database would be more likely to provide the most reliable and relevant data to inform the project.

Results—All Databases

1. Title Except for the National Crime Authority, Military intelligence, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Interpol and the United Nations, a title of all the databases has been achieved.

2. Ownership Except for the National Exchange of Police information, identification of the ownership of all the databases has been achieved.

3. Collection Method Collection methods varied between databases. Some of the data entry forms were mandatory while others were optional or self-reporting, resulting in information gaps. Most of the survey data involved participants who were unsystematically selected.

4. Age The age of databases varied from those established in the preceding year, such as in the case of VOSA COATES, which began in November 1997, and the Juvenile Justice client information database, which began in June 1996. Some of the newer databases had archival material added to them (for instance the Juvenile Justice client information database), while hard copy files can be retrieved from archives of other newly established databases. Older databases were found to have been in existence since the mid-1980s, such as the Prisoner Information Management System and the community-based court dispositions OASIS databases. While Victoria Police LEAP

156 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement data collection began in the mid-1980s, it has reliable data with consistent and comparable fields over time dating only from mid-1993 onwards.

A number of databases have undergone changes since their inception. Some have revised their variable listings or have expanded the number of establishments providing data, for example, the Victorian Injury Surveillance System. This database previously collected information from six emergency departments, but currently represents 80 per cent of State Emergency Department presentations. Most of the criminal justice intelligence databases have been operating since the mid-1980s, and have recently been upgraded or are currently undergoing upgrades. This includes increasing their capacity by linking them to other databases, such as those of interstate police jurisdictions, licensing and registration bodies. A newly established database linking system, the National Exchange of Police information, allows users access to more than 8.3 million names through the connection of various criminal justice databases.

5. Size The size of databases varied enormously. Some of the health and drug service surveys were small and specialised; some based on specific surveys.

For instance, in 1997, the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine recorded approximately 215 deaths related to drug overdoses; the Drugs of Dependence information System recorded over 5,000 clients registered for methadone; and the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Services recorded 25,000 clients.

Some databases were extremely large, such as the Victoria Police LEAP database, which contains around 2.2 million names, and is linked to the National Exchange of Police information system, which contains 8.3 million names. Other law enforcement databases, such as those of the Drug Squad and Asian Squad, were comparatively small and specialised.

6. Variables

Health Databases Ethnicity variables were found to be limited in all databases. Health and drug treatment service databases generally had as their prime indicator of ethnicity ‘country of birth’; this appears in 14 of the 23 databases. Primary or preferred language spoken at home appears in six of these; four contain the variable language spoken other than English; one allows the client to indicate their ethnicity; two enquire about country of birth of mother and father; and four retain surnames on file. Other variables of interest were postcode, which appeared in six databases; and in three databases, medical conditions or toxicology variables suggestive of injecting drug use.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 157 Criminal Justice Databases An examination of existing criminal justice databases disclosed a considerable paucity of data relating to across all the databases. This paucity derives from a policy of most criminal justice organisations not to place too much importance or focus on ethnicity. This lack of emphasis translates into an absence of data collection on variables that could identify ethnic background, or the use of only the most basic of ethnicity descriptors, such as ‘country of birth’. Similarly, in the health and drug services databases, the most consistently used ethnicity variable used by criminal justice databases was ‘country of birth’. This variable is included in all police databases, although not recorded by Prosecution Division, Victorian Crimestoppers, the National Institute of Forensic Science or Intergraph Public Safety. ‘Country of birth’ is also a variable in prisoner and community-based order databases, the Australian Bureau of Criminal intelligence ACID database and the National Exchange of Police information database.

The Juvenile Justice program in Victoria collects data on self-reported ethnicity with a selection of seventy-four countries. Court databases and the Australian Customs Service and Federal Police do not collect data on country of birth, or any other ethnicity data on individuals. However, they, and other intelligence databases, do keep information on the ethnic background of groups of people who are suspected of being involved in organised and other major crime, including illicit drug offences. Ethnicity is more likely to be related to the suspects’ connections with persons based in overseas countries (conversation with Director of intelligence, Federal Police on 17.8.98).

7. Limitations Variables related to ethnicity are generally missing altogether or are severely limiting where they are present. ‘Country of birth’ is the most common ethnicity variable across all databases, but as a descriptor of ethnicity it is problematic—even discriminatory—in that it is only capable of identifying first generation migrant groups. It therefore has the effect of making recent migrants visible in the statistics while second or further generation persons, even where there might be a strong ethnic connection, are made invisible, since they are aggregated together under the one ‘Australian-born’ category.

Only one health and drug service database enquired directly about self-reported ethnicity, but the usefulness of this is vastly diminished, as there is nowhere in the computer system to enter the information. Amongst the criminal justice databases, only the Juvenile Justice database allowed people to self-describe their ethnicity, although this was still of limited value as it was the only ethnicity variable asked. Questions about language spoken were not asked in any of the criminal justice databases. However some did contain fields for whether an interpreter was required, such as the database of the Australian Customs Service, some of the intelligence databases and the Prisoner information Management System database.

Apart from the limitations imposed by inadequate ethnicity variables, severe limitations were also found in the ability of the databases to make any connections

158 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement between crimes and drugs—other than drug crimes—let alone able to link these with ethnicity. This is explored further in the Discussion section.

A strong caveat, which should be borne in mind with many of the databases, is that they may reflect the activity of the service operators more accurately than they do the current situation of illicit drug activity in the community. Official reports from police and the flow-on affect to the courts, for example, are likely to reflect police activity rather than be a reflection of the state of drugs and crime in the community. Similarly, data from the needle and syringe program may be more a reflection of people’s confidence in that system than the extent to which needles are used. This will be discussed further in the next report from the project.

8. Accessibility In the health and drug service databases, no restrictions upon retrieving and analysing information were found. In the criminal justice area, access to databases is obtained through the relevant research committees. Prisoner and community-based disposition databases, and that of the Juvenile Justice program, may be more easily accessed, although what could be achieved will be limited by the computer system itself—which, in the case of prisoners’ databases, is old. Police data, additional to that currently published in the Statistical Review of Crime, may need some negotiation before access is granted. Ability to access District Support Group and Criminal investigation data is not yet known; permission has been sought through the Victoria Police Research Coordination Committee, with no reply as yet. Access to intelligence databases or the National Exchange of Police Information has never yet been achieved by any external researchers, so is unlikely to be accessible.

9. Relevance to the Project A number of databases are believed to be relevant and these are discussed in the discussion section below and on each of the database summary sheets (and see Recommendations).

10. Cost Most of the databases have no fees or charges. Many health and drug services databases are affiliated with the Department of Human Services and are likely not to have charges, while those not connected to the Department of Human Services often do charge fees. These range from $100 per hour for each search performed at the Coroner’s Office, to $600 for a spreadsheet of ten tables from the National Health Survey. Department of Justice databases do not charge a fee, however Victoria Police charges $50 for each two-by-two table and $300 for a package containing crimes by postcode, percentage change, relevant census data and crime rates per 10,000 population provided with maps and charts.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 159 11. Publications All the health and drug treatment services’ databases produce an annual report, a quarterly or half-yearly report, or a bulletin. Some organisations produce all four types of publications. Victoria Police, Department of Justice and all the major criminal justice organisations produce an annual report. Victoria Police also produce an annual statistical review of crime, but reports on crime other than this are for internal use only. This is also true for intelligence organisations, although the National Crime Authority does publish the names of all offenders charged each year in its annual report. Courts produce annual reports of their work, but the focus is on court workload and dispositions, not individual offenders. The Juvenile Justice area is one of the few areas that currently produces no reports at all. The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes an annual prisoner census.

12. Data Entry Forms The majority of those responsible for the databases provided the researchers with copies of their data entry forms, with the exception of the intelligence organisations. Juvenile Justice and Crimestoppers did not use hard copy data entry forms, although in the case of Juvenile Justice a copy of the ethnicity fields was provided from the computer.

13. Contact All the health and drug service organisations were forthcoming with information and did not hesitate to assist the researchers with inquiries. Contacts for databases within the criminal justice area were a little more difficult to locate and in some cases people were very reticent about answering any questions. Quite a few asked for a written or faxed request to speak to them and list of questions before they would provide any information at all (given the nature of their work, this difficulty is perhaps not surprising).

Discussion Examination of the existing criminal justice and health and drug treatment databases has indicated a considerable paucity of relevant information on ethnicity across all databases. A principal problem lies in the policy of all organisations not to place much emphasis or focus on ethnicity. This has resulted in an absence of data on variables that could specifically identify ethnic backgrounds, or in the use of only the most basic of ethnicity descriptors, such as ‘country of birth’. This last descriptor is clearly problematic as it only identifies the first generation migrant groups resulting in a potential discrimination against most recent arrivals, by making them the most visible in the statistics. Second or further generation persons, even when there is a strong ethnic connection, are made invisible by the statistics, as they are aggregated together under the one ‘Australian-born’ category.

160 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The most consistent ethnicity variable used by different databases is ‘country of birth’, detected in 15 of the 22 health-related databases. The ethnicity indicator of primary or preferred language spoken at home appeared in seven of the health and service databases and in none of the crime databases; two of the latter databases did provide an interpreter variable. It must be emphasised that by not granting a person the opportunity to nominate another language, the depth of ethnic links that can continue following the first generation of migrants to Australia is discounted. This was clearly shown in the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1996 Census of Population and Housing, Victoria: while there were 98,000 persons who were born in Italy, 159,000 actually spoke Italian; those who were born in Greece numbered 61,692, while there were 124,000 who spoke Greek. These figures contrast with those born in Vietnam, which number 55,000, with nearly 54,000 speaking Vietnamese. Only four databases provided the opportunity to indicate a language spoken other than English. Language variables are not particularly emphasised in the various databases but, for those documenting this information, these databases need to be investigated.

Health and Drug Treatment Services Databases There was only one database that clearly made an attempt to provide an ethnicity focus by enquiring about the client’s cultural or ethnic background (Drug of Dependence Information System). However, following an investigation, it was discovered that the details of the variable have not been entered onto the computer and remain as hard copy file only. As this is the only database that documents ethnicity, it would be relevant to examine each completed form manually.

Determining the COB of both parents of the client can more clearly indicate ethnicity, and this has been attempted by two databases: the Notifiable Infectious Diseases Surveillance and the Secondary Student Alcohol and Drug Surveillance. Both databases should be examined.

Determining ethnicity by surname has a number of risks, but when there are no other ethnic indicators available, this approach can potentially be of use. There are currently five databases that retain surnames on the files. A list of common surnames of different ethnic groups could be presented to those responsible for databases and this variable could be correlated with drug-related variables.

Some databases have indicated their willingness, following ethics approval, to provide the researchers with a list of all the surnames on their database in order to determine ethnicity. However, the use of a surname variable to determine ethnicity is problematic, possibly flawed and therefore misleading. For example, a large number of Europeans migrated to Latin America resulting in a proliferation of surnames with origins in Europe (especially Spain, Portugal and Germany).

A number of the databases have retained postcodes, and it has been suggested that this variable could be correlated with the surname to indicate ethnicity. Particular ethnic groups have been identified as more likely to reside in certain regions of Melbourne, providing some validity to the concept of linking surname and postcode. Databases with surnames and postcodes without involving other ethnicity variables include that of the State Coroner.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 161 Variables related to medical conditions and toxicology related to drug use are found in three databases. These are the State Coroner’s, the Drug of Dependence Information System and Dorevitch Pathology. This last database is the most difficult to investigate as the only ethnicity variable are surnames, and up to 250 clients are entered into the database each day.

The majority of the databases have easy access to the information and no costs are involved for those linked to the Department of Human Services. However, for some databases costly fees exist, although most of these have little ethnicity focus and perhaps can be excluded from the investigation (for example, the National Health Survey). Other databases have indicated that fees do apply but these could not be determined until a request was supplied about the variables involved.

The State Coroner’s Database, while not focusing on ethnicity, does record surname and postcode of the deceased. While these variables are problematic, increasing drug-related overdose deaths should be investigated for a link with ethnicity. The Drugs of Dependence Information System has manually maintained a record of ethnicity of clients. Following an anticipated ethics approval to review the hard copies, this database should be investigated. The HIV-AIDS Surveillance Database has ethnicity variables and these should be examined. However, it must be acknowledged that in Australia the number of persons acquiring HIV through injecting drug use is currently very low (11 notifications in 1996–98).

Alcohol and Drug Treatment Services has up to 25,000 clients on their database. While it is acknowledged that the ethnicity variables are limited, the importance of this database, and the fact no fees are involved, means this data should be examined.

Between 1996 and 1997, the Victorian Emergency Minimum Data Set recorded about 10,000 poisonings, with up to nine per cent related to heroin overdose. Although ethnicity variables are restricted, if an acceptable fee could be negotiated, analyses of these data could be of value. Similarly, the Community Offenders Advice and Treatment Service is limited with regard to ethnicity variables, but if an acceptable fee could be negotiated, analyses of these data would be worthwhile.

The Community Health Database has limited ethnicity variables but as the Department of Human Services owns the system, no fees are applicable, and the information should be examined. The Secondary Student Alcohol and Drug Surveillance survey has a broader selection of ethnicity variables. This database has a limited target, but the information should be investigated.

Both the National and Victorian Drug Household Surveys have the ethnicity variables of ‘county of birth’, but more importantly, ‘language spoken other than English’. This information is owned by the Department of Human Services and will need to be examined.

There are two other databases with which active research could be undertaken. The first possibility, which should receive serious consideration, is a pilot study with the Directline Drug Advice Service, which averages 2,000 calls per month. In 1996, the Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) estimated that it had 24,000 clients. Currently there are no ethnicity data collected, but some form of ethnicity data could be

162 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement collected during the transaction of equipment, at a variety of NSP sites. If negotiations were successful this option must be considered.

Of the databases considered to be of lesser relevance to the project are: the Ambulance Services (no ethnicity variables), Victorian Hospital inpatients (COB only), Dorevitch Pathology (surname only), the Centre for Adolescent Health surveys (analysis already indicates minimal ethnicity data), both Medibank (no ethnicity variable) and Medicare (COB only), National Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services: Pilot Study (COB only) and the National Health Survey (COB and no option to indicate another language spoken). The Illicit Drug Reporting System commenced a new study in August 1998. A lack of time and a delay in seeking ethics approval has thwarted the submission of questions about ethnicity for the current questionnaire. The Infectious Diseases Control Unit has a database with the capacity to collect ethnicity information. However, the standard information form filled out does not include any ethnicity variables.

Criminal Justice Databases

Victoria Police Data The Victoria Police LEAP database provides accurate data about the most serious offence for which persons have been charged by police. The LEAP system is used for statistical reporting purposes and also as a law enforcement tool, containing full criminal histories and other details of all offenders and suspects. The database is also linked electronically to other police organisations’ databases, as well as to licensing and vehicle databases.

The ability of the official police crime statistics, derived from the LEAP database, to give an accurate picture of drug offending is reduced enormously because the statistics only report the most serious offence. Because of this, many of the drug offences for which police have charged offenders remain invisible. Currently, if an offender is charged with drug offences together with armed robbery, abduction or murder, the crime would be recorded in the published statistics as an armed robbery or abduction or murder, and the drug offences committed concurrently would not be recorded. A special analysis would need to be requested to establish the true rate of drug offending detected by police. This is possible, as all charges are recorded on the computer. Whether or not charges were upheld at court is also available through LEAP via Courtlink. Using the more complete version of the drug crime statistics it may be possible to have an analysis conducted by country of birth, ethnic appearance and/or by postcode. All the cautions and limitations related to these ethnicity variables would apply.

Except for prisoner data (as will be seen later), it is impossible to gauge from any of the databases whether crimes other than drug offences were motivated, or in any other way associated with, the supply or use of illicit drugs. To obtain a measure of such a connection from police data it may be possible to compare what type of other offences were coupled with less serious drug offences. Alternatively, or as a supplement to this analysis, qualitative data could be collected from police officers

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 163 across several areas within the organisation, who might be expected to be in a position to give an accurate assessment of ethnic group connection based on their experience. In a more expensive option, as is proposed in a study being developed by Makkai at the Australian Institute of Criminology, offenders and suspects could be interviewed and or urine samples taken in a dedicated study.8 A third alternative may be to have police, during the time of arrest and interview, ask the offenders and suspects if drugs were a factor in the crime.

A further dimension of police statistics is the operational and intelligence databases that exist within different sections of Victoria Police. These databases are used to assist and inform investigations and they record police action or activity even in the absence of pending charges. Such data is commonly not computerised. One area, which has its own database and associated analysts, is the Drug Squad. However, as shown by Green and Purnell, the bulk of all drug offences in Australia (and Victoria) continue to be detected and dealt with by personnel outside the dedicated drug units.9 For example, in Victoria in 1993, the drug squad dealt with 259 possess, obtain and use drug offences and 260 traffic, grow or manufacture offences. This compares with 10,328 possess, obtain and use drug offences and 5,128 traffic, grow or manufacture offences for all other areas of the Victoria Police (Green and Purnell, 1995). In light of this, it is clear that while an examination of drug squad data would be useful in informing the present project, particularly about more serious drug offences, it would be equally important to balance this with an examination of data from District Support Groups and Criminal investigation Branches, as it is to these areas that most drug offences are referred for action.10

Given that the police is the body which mostly deals with drug offences, and in light of the limitations of officially reported data on drug offences and the relationship between crime other than drug offences and drugs, it is recommended that drug squad data and DSG/CIB data be further examined, and perhaps supplemented, with interviews.

Court Data While some information is electronically recorded, most of the information on persons appearing before the courts is recorded and stored on a pen and paper basis.

8 Toni Makkai, of the Australian Institute of Criminology, is currently developing a research project which follows the American Drug Use Forecasting Program consisting of urine samples from arrestees, together with interviews, to ascertain whether drugs were present or a motivating factor for the commission of any crimes (conversation with Toni Makkai on 17.8.98). 9 Green P and Purnell I. (1995) Measuring the Success of Law Enforcement Agencies in Australia in Targeting Major Offenders Relative to Minor Offenders. National Police Research Unit. Adelaide. 10 Drug offences are referred to the Drug Squad for their decision on who should follow up the case. Cases not kept by the drug squad for their own attention are passed back to the relevant police districts for action, usually by the DSGs and CIBs.

164 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Prisoner Data Prisoner data is the only database that gives a full list of offences and asks prisoners whether current offences were committed under the influence of drugs, or whether current offences were committed to support a drug habit. However, this database is still limiting, in that the prisoner database contains data on only those few offenders who are at the serious end of the offending spectrum. The database’s ethnicity variables are also limiting, consisting only of place of birth and nationality.11 However, in common with the LEAP system, the prison database remains one of the very few databases that collects information that could be used to make a drug-crime link by ethnicity. Prisoner data, therefore, is recommended for further examination.

Community-Based Disposition Database Community-Based Disposition Database (OASIS) will give details about current offences, drug use, country of birth and nationality, as will the Juvenile Justice program give data about offences, drug use and self-reported ethnicity. They may therefore also be worth further investigation.

Juvenile Justice Data Juvenile justice matters come under the Department of Human Services. A database that records key events for clients, such as care and protection history, court appearances and sentences, has operated since 1996. Data is collected through face- to-face interviews with juvenile offenders, and ethnicity relies on self-report with 74 possible countries listed. This database is worth further investigation, as it may provide some data on young offenders from different ethnic backgrounds involved in illicit drugs and associated crimes.

Criminal Intelligence Data Intelligence data within intelligence organisations is protected and is kept separate from other databases that may be subject to Freedom of Information legislation. Such databases tend not to have a reporting function, and indeed find it difficult to do simple counts and cross-variable analyses. These systems have been designed for the sole purpose of identifying connections between pieces of information and they are excellent at producing maps of associations, some of which can be very complicated. For example, a single piece of information, such as a name, a vehicle registration number or an address, can be entered into the computer. The computer will then search for any connections between that piece of information and another, and will identify the name and address of the owner of the vehicle. This includes: times, dates and operatives’ names who have previously checked that vehicle and for what reason; the owner’s criminal record; their known associates and their criminal records; whether they own a firearm; if there are warrants outstanding; and if there are any violence danger flags for that person or their associates.

11 Published prisoner census data no longer reports on the ethnicity of prisoners (although the data is still collected).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 165 In both the ABCI and Federal Police the intelligence databases are currently being, or have recently been, upgraded. Links between different police and criminal justice agencies’ databases are also currently being established. One of the most recent ones is the National Exchange of Police information (NEPI), which is being developed to link the databases of each police jurisdiction and intelligence organisation. This will make it possible for instant interstate and national criminal checks to be made electronically by police anywhere in Australia. NEPI is also linked with VicRoads data, Courtlink, Firearms Management System, and EAGLE (NSW and Queensland vehicle records).

While no information on intelligence databases is available, the Federal Police Director of Intelligence has offered to be interviewed on the ethnicity-drug-crime connection, based on what he knows is contained in the database. The National Crime Authority publishes the full names of the offenders it has charged and the nature of the charges in its annual report. While problematic from the point of view of reliability, it may be possible to use the surnames as an indicator of ethnicity and to look at the type of other charges that are coupled with drug charges.

166 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Table 2 Summary of Databases and their Ethnicity Variables

Ethnicity Variables

Database Country of birth birth of Country Nationality Citizenship birth of Country mother birth of Country father appearance Ethnic background Ethnic spokenLanguage language Main other Language English than Preferred language home at Surname Postcode Coroner Database or Text X Retrieval Database Drug of Dependence information X X X System (Methadone Registry) Notifiable infectious Diseases X X X Surveillance Alcohol and Drug information X X System Patient Care Record and X Intergraph Victorian Emergency Minimum X X Data Set Victorian Injury Surveillance System Victorian Inpatient Minimum Data X Set Needle and Syringe Exchange Program Database

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 167 Ethnicity Variables

Database Country of birth birth of Country Nationality Citizenship birth of Country mother birth of Country father appearance Ethnic background Ethnic spoken Language language Main other Language English than Preferred language home at Surname Postcode VOSA COATES X X X X Dorevitch Toxicology Database X X National Drug Strategy Household X X Survey Database Illicit Drug Reporting System X X (Victoria) Victorian Adolescent Cohort X X Study Gatehouse Project X Statewide information X X X Technology for Community Health Medibank Private Medicare Data Validation and X (enrol Enrolment File Database data only) Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre HIV-AIDS Surveillance Database X X X

168 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Ethnicity Variables

Database Country of birth birth of Country Nationality Citizenship birth of Country mother birth of Country father appearance Ethnic background Ethnic spoken Language language Main other Language English than Preferred language home at Surname Postcode Secondary Student Alcohol and X X X X Drug Survey Database National Minimum Data Set for X Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Health Survey Database X X Law Enforcement Assistance X X Package Cannabis Cautioning Trial X X Illicit Drug Cautioning Trial X X Victoria Police Family Violence X X data Victoria Police Drug Squad X X Victoria Police Asian Squad X X X District Support Groups and CIBs X X Prosecutions Division Victorian Crime Stoppers Data X by caller

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 169 Ethnicity Variables

Database Country of birth birth of Country Nationality Citizenship birth of Country mother birth of Country father appearance Ethnic background Ethnic spoken Language language Main other Language English than Preferred language home at Surname Postcode Police Community Consultatives Committees Victorian Drug Database Intergraph OOO Courtlink Prisoner Information Management X X X System Community-Based Court X X Dispositions Juvenile Justice Client X self- Information System report National Crime Statistics Federal Police Realtime Online Ethnic Management System group assoc- iations Australian Criminal intelligence X X Database National Crime Authority

170 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Ethnicity Variables

Database Country of birth birth of Country Nationality Citizenship birth of Country mother birth of Country father appearance Ethnic background Ethnic spoken Language language Main other Language English than Preferred language home at Surname Postcode Office of Strategic Crime Assessment National Exchange Of Police X X Information Customs Intelligence X X X X inter- preter Military Intelligence Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 171

Summary of Health and Drug Treatment-Related Databases

Summary of Health and Drug Treatment-Related Databases

Background One of our first tasks was to identify all Victorian and National databases which might be expected to include information on illicit drug use and ethnicity. Twenty- three health and drug treatment service databases were identified and appraised. Little information on ethnicity was found. Six databases were selected for further analysis because each had at least one ethnicity variable. These were: the Drug of Dependency information System, the HIV Surveillance Database, the Victorian 1996 Secondary Students Alcohol and Drug Survey, the Alcohol and Drug Information System, the 1995 Victorian Drug Household Survey and the Victorian Emergency Minimum Data Set.

General Comments on Health and Drug Treatment Related Databases The most common variables used to identify ethnicity were country of birth (COB), COB of the parents, language spoken at home or preferred language. The most common basic ethnicity descriptor (found in all six databases) was COB. While COB can assist in identifying ethnicity, it is problematic. It identifies only first generation migrant groups and biases data towards recent arrivals. Australian-born children of migrants who may have a strong identification with their ethnic background are made invisible in the databases that only use COB, as they appear only in the Australian-born category. Only one database, the Drug of Dependency Information System (linked to the methadone registry) avoids this problem by including the variable ‘self-identified ethnic/cultural background’. The State Coroner’s Database, which contains information about fatal drug overdoses, was examined, but the absence of ethnicity variables thwarted detailed analysis. The researchers originally planned to use the surnames on this database to identify ethnicity; however, except for common Vietnamese surnames, it was impossible to draw any useful conclusions regarding ethnicity from these records.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 175 Key Findings

Drug of Dependency Information System: Methadone Registry ƒ The only database to have the variable ‘self-identified ethnic/cultural background’. Unfortunately, this ethnicity field was the only variable not entered electronically and therefore a manual examination of archival information was required.

ƒ For the 12-month period February 1998 to February 1999 there were 6,019 methadone permit forms which contained full ethnicity data.

ƒ Thirty-one per cent of those having received a methadone permit were from a non-English speaking background (NESB), while the rest were of Australian culture or English speaking background.

ƒ Seventy different ethnic/cultural background groups were identified.

ƒ The most common ethnic backgrounds were Vietnamese, Greek and Italian.

ƒ Of those declaring Italian and Greek ethnicity, 80 per cent were born in Australia.

ƒ Six per cent of those with Vietnamese ethnicity were born in Australia.

ƒ Second-generation Italians have similar rates to the Vietnamese of multiple occasions of starting methadone.

HIV Surveillance Database ƒ Of people (n= 4,085) diagnosed with HIV in Victoria from 1983 to the end of 1998, eight per cent reported having a history of injecting drug use.

ƒ Of the 323 individuals who reported a history of injecting drug use (IDU), 47 per cent supplied their COB.

ƒ Eighty-seven per cent were from ‘main English speaking backgrounds’ (MESB) while 13 per cent were from NESB.

ƒ Eighty-three per cent of the IDUs were born in Australia.

ƒ Twelve NESB countries were identified, with those born in Vietnam constituting the greatest number of individuals.

ƒ The majority of NESB individuals were men and their ages ranged from 29 to 31 years.

ƒ Fifty-seven per cent of the injecting drug users, regardless of ethnicity, said they were homosexual or bisexual.

ƒ Those from NESB with a history of IDU, were less likely to declare their homosexuality.

176 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The Victorian 1996 Secondary Students Alcohol and Drugs Survey ƒ The number of participants who responded to drug use questions was 4,432.

ƒ Seventeen per cent of the participants lived in households where English and another language were spoken at home; two per cent were from a household where no English was spoken.

ƒ Except for marijuana use there are generally no contrasts in substance use between English only speakers and those of NESB. The other substances used were heroin, LSD, cocaine, speed and ecstasy.

ƒ The prevalence of lifetime (ever used) heroin use for NESB and English only speakers were four per cent and three per cent respectively.

ƒ Marijuana use was statistically more prevalent among English-only speakers over their lifetime.

Alcohol and Drug Information System (Treatment for Heroin Use) ƒ Limitations in the database mean particular care is required when interpreting the data; for example, ‘episodes of care’ is the unit of measurement rather than individual clients.

ƒ The COBs examined were Australia, Vietnam, China, Romania, Cambodia, Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Italy and Macedonia. National groups were also re- classified into NESB and mainly English speaking background (MESB).

ƒ Persons listed on the database were more likely to be from the local government areas of Greater Dandenong, Maribyrnong, Yarra, Port Phillip and Brimbank.

ƒ The majority in treatment were men, and the COB ages ranged from 21 to 36 years; most indicated they had never been married.

ƒ NESB men were more likely to use residential drug withdrawal services. Those born in Australia were more likely to use an individual client service.

ƒ The proportion of English language speakers was high for all the COB examined. Vietnamese language was the most frequent after English.

ƒ Unemployment was generally high; it was lower among those of MESB compared with NESB (25 per cent and 57 per cent respectively).

ƒ The median period of drug use was longer among those of MESB (36 months compared with 20 months for NESB).

ƒ The proportion of those currently injecting drugs was greater for those of NESB compared with MESB (74 per cent and 55 per cent respectively).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 177 1995 Victorian Drug Household Survey ƒ The sample size was 1,200, when including Victorians from the National Drug Household survey.

ƒ Eighty-five per cent of the sample was of MESB and 15 per cent was of NESB.

ƒ Illicit drug use by those of MESB and NESB was similar. For those of MESB, the prevalence of heroin use was two per cent, while it was <1 per cent for those of NESB.

ƒ Use of amphetamines was significantly different with seven per cent of MESB using compared with one per cent of NESB.

ƒ Cannabis was the most prevalent illicit drug used by both MESB and NESB respondents.

ƒ Illicit drug use by language spoken indicated that a significantly larger proportion of English-only speakers used cannabis and amphetamines.

ƒ Only one per cent of MESB reported ever injecting drugs, while no people of NESB did so.

ƒ Only two per cent of those born in Europe and Asia had ever used cocaine, ecstasy heroin, inhalants or amphetamines.

ƒ Most respondents, both of MESB and NESB, had never sought help for a drug and alcohol problem either for themselves or for others.

ƒ Of those having sought assistance in the past five years most were from MESB.

The Victorian Emergency Minimum Data Set ƒ A total of 1,366 had illicit drug use in their ‘character text narrative’ for the period January 1996 to June 1998.

ƒ Ninety-one per cent of those providing information about their COB were from English speaking backgrounds.

ƒ More than 50 per cent of ‘preferred language’ data was missing for those entered as illicit drug users.

ƒ Regardless of background, most individuals were male, and the average age was 26 years.

ƒ Heroin was the illicit drug most frequently reported used by people of NESB and English speaking backgrounds (89 per cent and 85 per cent respectively).

ƒ Other illicit drugs recorded in the ‘narrative text’ were amphetamines, inhalants, hallucinogens and ecstasy.

178 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement ƒ The local government areas of Greater Dandenong, Moonee Valley, Maribyrnong and Casey had the greatest number of residents of NESB presenting with illicit drug use problems.

ƒ Compared with other health regions, those presenting with illicit drug problems who lived in the Western Metropolitan Health Region were more likely to be of NESB.

Alcohol and Drug Information System (ADIS) Description of Database In 1996, the Alcohol and Drug information System (ADIS) was introduced to replace the outdated Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy). ADIS is the largest information database for drug treatment services and provides a range of performance indicators for management and planning of funded services. Currently, information is documented and collected by service providers, using a client registration form, which is then forwarded to the Department of Human Services to be entered electronically. In 1997, the number of clients on the database for both alcohol and drug-related conditions was estimated to be 25,000. There were various responses possible for the principal drug problem being treated, but the focus for this research was on heroin and amphetamines.

The ADIS database provided to the researchers was dated from 1.7.97 to 30.6.98. Ethnicity variables identified on ADIS are restricted to the variables ‘country of birth’ (COB) and ‘languages spoken’. For those receiving treatment for heroin use there were 13,6663 episodes of care among main English speaking background (MESB), compared with 840 episodes of care for those of non-mainly English speaking background (NESB). For amphetamine use the numbers were significantly fewer, with those of NESB numbering only nine ‘episodes of care’. The unit reported to the Drug Treatment Services Unit is an ‘episode of care’, which consists of a completed course of treatment undertaken by a client under the care of an alcohol and drug worker. An episode of care may consist of a number of client contacts with the agency, which will vary according to the individual needs. Episodes of care do not refer to individual clients. One client may have several episodes of care.

Methodology The following countries of birth were selected for examination: Australia, Vietnam, China, Romania, Cambodia, Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Italy and Macedonia. There was also an examination of the data by re-classifying national groups into NESB and MESB. In order to try to develop a social profile of those on the ADIS database a number of variables were examined. Within most variables there are various value labels. The variables examined include local government area, age, sex, marital status, service type, source of referral, language interpreted, employment status, living status, accommodation, legal status, period of drug use (months), injecting drug use, previous alcohol and drug treatment and concurrent methadone program.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 179 Various limitations were discovered in the 1997–98 interim ADIS database and thus care should be taken in interpretation of the data. Prior to the analysis of the data, the researchers were informed by Drug Treatment Services (Department of Human Services) of the appearance of duplicated records in some of the data tables. Additionally, the database has recorded both client contacts (as recorded by Community Health Centres using the ADIS module in the SWITCH database) and episodes of care (as recorded by agencies using interim ADIS). Prior to analysis of the database the major problem with the duplicated records was the inability to convert the contacts provided by the Community Health Centres into episodes of care, furthering the cautionary note when interpreting the data.

As the number of individual clients were not reported it is likely that a multiple of episodes of care are in fact related to the same individual. All these issues mean that interpretation of the ADIS database must be done with extreme caution.

Results

1. Local Government Areas Postcodes were grouped into local government areas (LGAs) for the purposes of clustering and easier interpretation. The proportion with valid responses ranged from 86 per cent to 100 per cent. Clients were from a spectrum of LGAs, and those displayed represented the greatest proportion of the sample in each area. The proportion of those who responded in each LGA ranged from two per cent to 62 per cent. In Melbourne, the LGAs of Greater Dandenong, Maribyrnong, Yarra, Port Phillip and Brimbank were most frequently indicated, with the greatest prevalence for those with valid responses for the countries listed below.

Table 3 Clients’ episodes of care by LGA

COB Proportion with valid Local Government Area Proportion of those responses % who responded %

Australia 96 Greater Bendigo 38 (n=13,264) Port Phillip 5 Yarra 2 Maribyrnong 2 Brimbank 2 Vietnam 91 Greater Dandenong 19 (n=300) Maribyrnong 16 Yarra 15 Brimbank 10 China 88 Brimbank 43 (n=8) Boroondara 43 Greater Dandenong 14

180 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement COB Proportion with valid Local Government Area Proportion of those responses % who responded %

Romania 88 Brimbank 43 (n=8) Greater Dandenong 29 Cambodia 100 Greater Dandenong 62 (n=39) Monash 10 Turkey 93 Melbourne 21 (n=30) Moonee Valley 14 Hobson’s Bay 14 Kingston 14 Lebanon 100 Manningham 47 (n=17) Whittlesea 24 Greater Dandenong 18 Greece 94 Monash 27 (n=67) Greater Dandenong 13 Glen Eira 11 Greater Geelong 10 Italy 91 Glen Eira 25 (n=84) Maribyrnong 12 Whittlesea 9 Macedonia 86 Whittlesea 33 (n=7) Melton 33 MESB 96 Greater Bendigo 38 (n=13,663 Port Phillip 5 Frankston 4 Maribyrnong 2 Brimbank 2 Yarra 2 Darebin 2 NESB 92 Greater Dandenong 15 (n=840) Maribyrnong 7 Yarra 8 Port Phillip 3 Brimbank 5

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 181 2. Age For the age variable, the proportion with valid responses ranged from 63 per cent to 100 per cent. The median age ranged from 21 to 36 years. The youngest were found among those from Cambodia and the oldest were among those born in Italy (21 and 36 years respectively). Those of MESB were older than those of NESB (29 years and 25 years respectively). The age range of clients was from 14 to 74 years of age.

Table 4 Clients’ episodes of care by age

COB Proportion with valid Median age Age range responses % Australia (n=13,264) 93 29 14—74 Vietnam (n=300) 97 22 14—47 China (n=8) 100 23 19—29 Romania (n=8) 63 24 22—30 Cambodia (n=39) 74 21 16—27 Turkey (n=30) 73 24 19—43 Lebanon (n=17) 100 30 29—57 Greece (n=67) 100 33 18—56 Italy (n=84) 89 36 23—52 Macedonia (n=7) 100 26 23—47 MESB (n=13,663 93 29 14—74 NESB (n=840) 91 25 14—63

3. Sex The following are the value labels for this variable:

X male/female

The proportion of valid responses ranged from 96 per cent to 100 per cent. Among all the countries listed, males were consistently shown to represent greatest proportion amongst those with valid responses. It was only among those of MESB and Australian-born where the proportion gap between males and females was less marked (55 per cent and 45 per cent respectively). For those of NESB, the different in proportion between males and females was large (77 per cent and 23 per cent respectively). Males consistently showed the highest proportion among those born overseas. The only difference in the trend was to be found among those born in Lebanon, where females rather than males had the largest proportion among those with valid responses.

182 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Table 5 Clients’ episodes of care by sex

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 99 male 55 (n=13,264) female 45 Vietnam 96 male 83 (n=300) female 17 China 88 male 100 (n=8) Romania 100 male 100 (n=8) female Cambodia 100 male 74 (n=39) female 26 Turkey 100 male 93 (n=30) female 7 Lebanon 100 male 12 (n=17) female 88 Greece 96 male 84 (n=67) female 16 Italy 100 male 82 (n=84) female 18 Macedonia 100 male 100 (n=7) female MESB 99 male 55 (n=13,663 female 45 NESB 98 male 77 (n=840) female 23

4. Marital Status The following are the value labels for this variable:

X never married X married X de facto X divorced X separated

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 183 Of marital status, the proportion of valid responses ranged from 50 to 100 per cent. The majority of responses indicated they had never been married and this was found in many countries. Those born in Asian countries were more likely to have never been married compared with those born in Europe. Those born in Greece had the greatest proportion married (49 per cent), while the proportion in de facto relationships were similar amongst those of MESB and NESB.

Table 6 Clients’ episodes of care by marital status

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 67 never married 65 (n=13,264) married 8 separated 7 Vietnam 85 never married 75 (n=300) married 8 separated 4 China 50 never married 75 (n=8) married 25 Romania 100 never married 50 (n=8) married 25 de facto 13 Cambodia 94 never married 79 (n=39) married 3 de facto 16 Turkey 68 never married 40 (n=30) married 30 separated 25 Lebanon 88 never married 27 (n=17) separated 73 Greece 70 never married 32 (n=67) married 49 divorced 9 Italy 75 never married 52 (n=84) married 11 de facto 17

184 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Macedonia 85 never married 17 (n=7) married 33 widowed 50 MESB 67 never married 65 (n=13,663 married 8 de facto 16 NESB 83 never married 64 (n=840) married 11 de facto 12

5. Service Type The following are the value labels for this variable:

X drug withdrawal residential (w/d resident) X drug withdrawal outpatient (w/d outpatient) X drug withdrawal home X drug withdrawal rural X youth outreach X counselling, consultancy and continuing care (CCCC) X supported accommodation X residential accommodation X specialist methadone (spec methadone) X peer support X drink/drive assessment X brokerage X Individual client X family

Of the service types that were nominated the proportion of valid responses ranged from 68 per cent to 100 per cent. While there were various service types available, those of NESB indicated a greater proportion of drug withdrawal residency compared with those of MESB (52 per cent and 21 per cent respectively). Those born in Australia or of MESB were more likely to use the individual client service than those of other countries, where it was either omitted or not significant. Other services commonly used among the countries listed were CCCC and specialised methadone.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 185 Table 7 Clients’ episodes of care by services type

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 68 drug w/d resident 20 (n=13,264) CCCC 23 Individual client 43 specialist methadone 8 Vietnam 93 drug w/d resident 54 (n=300) CCCC 31 specialist methadone 7 drug w/d outpatient 4 China 100 drug w/d resident 63 (n=8) drug w/d outpatient 38 Romania 100 drug w/d resident 63 (n=8) CCCC 38 Cambodia 97 drug w/d resident 54 (n=39) CCCC 38 resident rehabilitation 5 Turkey 100 drug w/d resident 53 (n=30) CCCC 20 specialist methadone 20 Lebanon 88 drug w/d resident 60 (n=17) CCCC 13 spec methadone 27 Greece 69 drug w/d resident 35 (n=67) CCCC 30 specialist methadone 33 Italy 79 drug w/d resident 58 (n=84) CCCC 27 specialist methadone 9 Macedonia 100 drug w/d resident 57 (n=7) CCCC 14 specialist methadone 29 MESB 68 drug w/d resident 21 (n=13,663 CCCC 23 Individual client 43

186 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % NESB 88 drug w/d resident 52 (n=840) CCCC 30 specialist methadone 9 Individual client .8

6. Source of Referral The following are the value labels for this variable:

X self X family friend X GP X alcohol and drug service (A&D service) X direct line X DACAS X hospital X community health centre X other welfare X Child Protection X psychiatric service X purchased service X step out X police/CJP X COATS X Drink Drive program (DD program) X other treatment same service X Juvenile Justice X Office of Corrections X courts X other

For source of referral, the proportion with valid responses ranged from 42 per cent to 100 per cent with those from MESB having the lowest proportion with valid responses. The majority of the responses indicated their source of referral was ‘self’ and this was consistent for all countries. Self-referral was greatest among those born in Italy and lowest among those of Turkish birth. Those born in Greece indicated a

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 187 significant use of a GP (31 per cent). The response of using family/friend ranged from eight per cent (NESB) to 21 per cent (Cambodia).

Table 8 Clients’ episodes of care by source of referral

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 44 self 45 (n=13,264) family/friend 9 GP 12 A&D service 9 Vietnam 85 self 41 (n=300) family/friend 9 GP 6 COATS 9 other welfare 7 China 63 self 60 (n=8) other treatment same service 40 Romania 100 self 38 (n=8) purchased service 25 COATS 25 Cambodia 100 self 26 (n=39) family/friend 21 COATS 21 DD program 15 Turkey 93 self 25 (n=30) family/friend 14 purchased service 14 DD program 14 Lebanon 88 Self 47 (n=17) A&D service 27 hospital 27 Greece 67 self 29 (n=67) family/friends 13 GP 31 COATS 13

188 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Italy 77 Self 83 (n=84) A&D service 14 Macedonia 100 Self 57 (n=7) GP 43 MESB 42 Self 45 (n=13,663 family/friend 8 GP 12 A&D service 9 NESB 83 Self 43 (n=840) family/friend 9 GP 11 A&D service 6 COATS 6

7. Language Interpreted Of the languages interpreted, the proportion with valid responses ranged from 60 per cent to 100 per cent. The proportion who were English speaking was high for all countries, ranging from 63 per cent to 100 per cent. However, for those of NESB, the Vietnamese language was shown to be the most prominent after English: the proportion indicating Vietnamese was 13 per cent.

Table 9 Clients’ episodes of care by language interpreted

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia (n=13,264) 76 English 99 Vietnam 89 English 64 (n=300) Vietnamese 36 China 100 English 63 (n=8) Cantonese 13 Romania 100 English 63 (n=8) Romanian 37 Cambodia 90 English 77 (n=39) Chinese 8 other SE Asian 8

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 189 COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Turkey (n=30) 87 English 100 Lebanon 88 English 100 (n=17) Greece (n=67) 60 English 90 Italy 98 English 90 (n=84) Hebrew 10 Macedonia 100 English 86 (n=7) Dutch 14 MESB 77 English 99 (n=13,663 NESB 87 English 77 (n=840) Vietnamese 13 other SE Asian lang 2

8. Employment Status The following are the value labels for this variable:

X child not at school X student X employed (f/t or p/t) X unemployed X home duties X pensioner X retired X sickness benefits X self-employed X other X NewStart X sole parent X disability/age pension X other pension X young homeless X government income support X family support

190 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement

Of employment status, the proportion with valid responses ranged from 63 per cent to 100 per cent. The unemployed proportions were generally high and commonly found among all the countries listed. It was lower among those of MESB compared with NESB (25 per cent and 57 per cent respectively). Unemployment was high among those born in Vietnam, Cambodia and Macedonia.

Table 10 Clients’ episodes of care by employment status

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 91 unemployed 25 (n=13,264) employed (full-time or part-time) 10 other 13 NewStart 24 Vietnam 84 unemployed 76 (n=300) student 12 pensioner 4 China 63 unemployed 20 (n=8) employed 20 student 60 Romania 63 employed 40 (n=8) unemployed 60 Cambodia 97 unemployed 76 (n=39) pensioner 8 other 11 Turkey 87 employed 23 (n=30) unemployed 54 other 15 Lebanon 88 unemployed 60 (n=17) home duties 27 pensioner 13 Greece 76 employed (full-time and part-time) 10 (n=67) unemployed 29 other 35 Italy 88 employed (full-time) 35 (n=84) unemployed 37 pensioner 20

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 191 COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Macedonia 100 unemployed 71 (n=7) pensioner 29 MESB 92 unemployed 25 (n=13,663 employed (full-time and part-time) 9 other 12 NewStart 24 student 1 NESB 83 unemployed 57 (n=840) employed (full-time and part-time) 10 student 9 pensioner 8 other 8

9. Living Status The following are the value labels for this variable:

X spouse/partner X alone with children X spouse/partner/children X friends X other relatives X parents X house-mates X alone

Of living status, the proportion of valid responses ranged from 13 per cent to 85 per cent. A significant number of clients indicated they were still living with their parents, ranging from 11 per cent to 60 per cent (Italy and Cambodia respectively). The proportion living with a spouse/partner was marginally different among those of MESB compared with those of NESB (24 per cent and 22 per cent respectively). The proportion living alone was highest among those born in Italy (52 per cent).

192 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Table 11 Clients’ episodes of care by living status

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 79 spouse/partner 24 (n=13,264) spouse/partner/children 19 parents 22 Vietnam 57 spouse/partner 11 (n=300) parents 51 other relatives 11 China 25 spouse/partner 50 (n=8) parents 50 Romania 75 spouse/partner 50 (n=8) spouse/partner/children 33 parents 17 Cambodia 13 friends 20 (n=39) other relatives 20 parents 60 Turkey 60 spouse/partner 33 (n=30) spouse/partner/children 33 parents 22 Lebanon 35 alone with children 67 (n=17) alone 33 Greece 85 spouse/partner 30 (n=67) spouse/partner/children 11 parents 49 Italy 76 spouse/partner 25 (n=84) parents 11 alone 52 Macedonia 57 spouse/partner 50 (n=7) alone 50 MESB 79 spouse/partner 24 (n=13,663 spouse/partner/children 19 parents 22 alone 11 NESB 60 spouse/partner 22 (n=840) parents 34 alone 21

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 193 10. Accommodation The following are the value labels for this variable:

X owned/buying X rental X room/board X Institution X no fixed abode X other X rental/buy/own X rental/owner/buying

Of accommodation type, the proportion with valid responses ranged from 35 per cent to 99 per cent. Owned/buying was higher among those of NESB compared with MESB (17 per cent and five per cent respectively). The proportion of those in rental accommodation was highest among those born in Vietnam (39 per cent), while those stating no fixed abode were found only among those born in Italy (nine per cent). The accommodation status of a room/board was commonly found among all the countries and the proportion amongst those with valid responses ranged from 17 per cent to 60 per cent.

Table 12 Clients’ episodes of care by accommodation

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia rental 21 (n=13,264) 95 room/board 20 rental/owned/buying 45 Vietnam 91 owned/buying 15 (n=300) rental 39 room/board 35 China 63 rental 20 (n=8) room/board 60 other 20 Romania 75 owned/buying 33 (n=8) rental 33 room/board 33

194 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Cambodia 59 rental 22 (n=39) room/board 57 Institution 17 Turkey 67 owned/buying 20 (n=30) rental 30 room/board 50 Lebanon owned/buying 67 (n=17) 35 room/board 33 Greece 99 owned/buying 29 (n=67) rental 27 room/board 21 rental/owned/buying 23 Italy 92 owned/buying 18 (n=84) rental 25 room/board 27 no fixed abode 9 rental/owned/buying 21 owned/buying 68 Macedonia 86 room/board 17 (n=7) other 17 MESB 95 rental 21 (n=13,663 room/board 20 rental/owned/buying 44 owned/buying 5 NESB 87 owned/buying 17 (n=840) rental 32 room/board 34

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 195 11. Legal Status The following are the value labels for this variable:

X none X bond X community-based order (CBO) X parole X ICO X section 28 X section 11 X bail/charged X court order X combined custody and community treatment order (CCCTC) X other

For legal status, the proportion with valid responses ranged from 63 per cent to 99 per cent. The proportion indicating no legal record was highest among those born in Lebanon and lowest among those born in China (87 per cent and 20 per cent respectively). A CBO was commonly found among most listed countries, with the proportion ranging from six per cent to 38 per cent. The proportion receiving bail and charged was greater among those of NESB compared with those of MESB (21 per cent and ten per cent respectively).

Table 13 Clients’ episodes of care by legal status

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 90 none 69 (n=13,264) CBO 6 parole 5 bail/charged 10 Vietnam 90 none 44 (n=300) CBO 14 bail/charged 31 China 63 none 20 (n=8) CBO 20 bail/charged 40 court order 20

196 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Romania 75 none 38 (n=8) CBO 38 parole 25 Cambodia 87 none 24 (n=39) CBO 12 parole 18 bail/charged 38 Turkey 84 none 84 (n=30) ICO 8 court order 8 Lebanon 88 none 87 (n=17) parole 13 Greece 99 none 61 (n=67) CBO 29 bail/charged 9 Italy 96 none 79 (n=84) bail/charged 17 Macedonia none 67 (n=7) 86 bail/charged 33 MESB 90 none 70 (n=13,663 bail/charged 10 CBO 7 parole 5 NESB 89 none 56 (n=840) CBO 11 bail/charged 21 parole 3

12. Period of Drug Use (months) The proportion with valid responses assessing the period of drug use was generally poorly documented. The median period for drug use was between 11 to 90 months. Those of NESB had a median of 20 months while for those of MESB it was 36 months. The range of months was extremely varied being from one to 720 months.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 197 Table 14 Clients’ episodes of care by period of drug use

COB Proportion with valid Months (Median) Range of months responses % Australia (n=13,264) 20 36 1—720 Vietnam (n=300) 56 19 1—120 China (n=8) 75 24 24—48 Romania (n=8) 63 90 36—120 Cambodia (n=39) 54 20 10—36 Turkey (n=30) 33 11 5—24 Lebanon (n=17) 24 48 48 Greece (n=67) 33 40 6—220 Italy (n=84) 41 36 4—348 Macedonia (n=7) 14 180 180 MESB (n=13,663 20 36 1—720 NESB (n=840) 44 20 348

13. Drug Use Status The following are the value labels for this variable:

X hazardous X abuse X dependence X not current X remission

For drug use status, the proportion with valid responses ranged from 75 per cent to 100 per cent. The proportion of dependency was substantially greater for most countries and for both those of NESB and MESB there was only a marginal difference (72 per cent and 77 per cent respectively). The proportion with hazardous use of drugs was greater among those of NESB than those of MESB (11 per cent and three per cent respectively).

198 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Table 15 Clients’ episodes of care are by drug use status

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 98 hazardous 3 (n=13,264) abuse 15 dependence 77 Vietnam 94 hazardous 14 (n=300) abuse 18 dependence 68 China 75 hazardous 17 (n=8) abuse 33 dependence 50 Romania 100 abuse 25 (n=8) hazardous 75 Cambodia 100 hazardous 26 (n=39) abuse 10 dependence 64 Turkey 80 abuse 8 (n=30) dependence 92 Lebanon 88 hazardous 47 (n=17) dependence 53 Greece 96 dependence 69 (n=67) not current 13 remission 14 Italy 99 abuse 13 (n=84) dependence 82 Macedonia 86 dependence 100 (n=7) MESB 98 hazardous 3 (n=13,663 abuse 15 dependence 77 NESB 95 hazardous 11 (n=840) abuse 14 dependence 72

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 199 14. Injecting Drug Use The following are the value labels for this variable:

X yes, current X yes, past X no

For injecting drug use the proportion with valid responses ranged from 77 per cent to 95 per cent. The proportion with current injecting of drugs was greater compared with those who had a past history of injecting for all countries on the list. The proportion of current injecting of drugs was greater among those of NESB compared with MESB (74 per cent and 55 per cent respectively). Those from NESB indicated they were less likely to have a past history of injecting drug use compared with those of MESB (11 per cent and 40 per cent respectively).

Table 16 Clients’ episodes of care by injecting drug use

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia 95 yes, current 54 (n=13,264) yes past 41 no 5 Vietnam 72 yes, current 63 (n=300) yes past 11 no 26 China 75 yes, current 68 (n=8) no 33

Romania 75 yes, current 67 (n=8) yes past 33 Cambodia 82 yes, current 84 (n=39) yes past 9 no 6 Turkey 93 yes, current 71 (n=30) yes past 25 no 3 Lebanon 77 yes, current 85 (n=17) no 15

200 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Greece 87 yes, current 79 (n=67) no 21 Italy 86 yes, current 86 (n=84) yes past 8 no 6 Macedonia 86 yes, current 67 (n=7) no 33 MESB 95 yes, current 55 (n=13,663 yes past 40 no 5 NESB 79 yes, current 74 (n=840) yes past 11 no 15

15. Previous Alcohol and Drug Treatment The following are the value labels for this variable:

X no X yes in the last 12 months X yes, over 12 months ago

For those having previously received alcohol and drug treatment, the proportion with valid responses was generally poorly documented. The proportion amongst those with valid responses, who had received prior treatment, ranged from 13 per cent to 100 per cent. Most of those who had received treatment had done so in the last 12 months. For those born in Cambodia, the proportion was 87 per cent. The general proportion of those who had received treatment over 12 months ago was low for all countries.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 201 Table 17 Clients’ episodes of care by previous alcohol and drug treatment

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded %

Australia 50 no 35 (n=13,264) yes, last 12 months 62 yes, over 12 months 3 Vietnam 40 no 22 (n=300) yes, last 12 months 76 yes, over 12 months 2 China 25 no 100 (n=8) Romania 50 no 50 (n=8) yes, last 12 months 50 Cambodia 59 no 13 (n=39) yes, last 12 months 87 Turkey 73 no 32 (n=30) yes, last 12 months 68 Lebanon 35 no 100 (n=17) Greece 33 no 50 (n=67) yes, last 12 months 50 Italy 29 no 79 (n=84) yes, last 12 months 21 Macedonia 100 no 57 (n=7) yes, last 12 months 43 MESB 50 no 35 (n=13,663 yes, last 12 months 62 yes, over 12 months 3 NESB 43 no 40 (n=840) yes, last 12 months 60 yes, over 12 months 0.6

202 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 16. Concurrent Methadone Program The following are the value labels for this variable:

X yes X no X unknown

For those concurrently on the methadone program the proportion with valid responses ranged from 40 per cent to 100 per cent. The proportion receiving methadone was greater among MESB than NESB (17 per cent and 12 per cent respectively). The prevalence of those indicating a no response to concurrently receiving methadone was greater among those of NESB compared with those of MESB (82 per cent and 78 per cent respectively).

Table 18 Clients’ episodes of care by concurrent methadone program

COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Australia (n=13,264) 39 yes 17 no 78 unknown 5 Vietnam (n=300) 94 yes 8 no 86 unknown 6 China (n=8) 100 no 63 unknown 37 Romania (n=8) 100 no 100 Cambodia (n=39) 100 no 100 Turkey (n=30) 100 yes 20 no 73 unknown 7 Lebanon (n=17) 100 no 100 Greece (n=67) 60 yes 20 no 78 unknown 2 Italy (n=84) 77 yes 20 no 79 unknown 1

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 203 COB Proportion with valid Value label Proportion of those responses % who responded % Macedonia (n=7) 100 no 100 MESB 40 yes 17 (n=13,663 no 78 unknown 5 NESB 88 yes 12 (n=840) no 82 unknown 6

COB and Amphetamine Use An analysis of COB by amphetamine use was severely limited due to the minor number (nine) of episodes of care for those of NESB identified on the ADIS database. As for those of MESB, there were 1,580 episodes of care identified as being treated for using amphetamines. The substantial disparity of episodes of care renders a comparison between the two groups meaningless. However, when data was examined the most substantial difference identified was for the service type drug withdrawal residential between NESB and MESB (57 per cent and six per cent respectively). Additionally, it was shown that the median period for drug use for NESB was 36 months compared with 60 months for those of MESB.

Concluding Remarks and Recommendations As emphasised previously, the ADIS database has a number of limitations. Of these, the problem of duplicated records and the episodes of care, not individual client numbers being collected, requires cautious interpretation. Additionally, the potential for biases in recordkeeping in the different Department of Human Services regions cannot be ignored; some health regions in Victoria would be better than others at recordkeeping. The recommendations follow:

ƒ A self-reported ethnic/cultural background variable should be included to capture second and third generation Australians who identify with another ethnic/cultural background and currently are rendered invisible in the database.

ƒ Records should document the individual client numbers, in order to assess the number of individuals accessing the services, rather than examine the same individuals utilising the services.

ƒ Encouragement should be given to all those in data collecting to complete all the variables in order to enhance the quality of the ADIS database.

204 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Drug of Dependency Information System Methadone Registry

Description The Drug of Dependency information System (DODIS) is maintained for three different purposes: issuing permits for Schedule 8 poisons (issued when a client requires a prescribed opiate for a particular ailment); maintaining data of suspected drug dependency as notified by medical practitioners and pharmacists; and issuing treatment permits for the Victorian Methadone Program. The methadone registry is part of DODIS.

Information for the electronic methadone registry is entered from forms submitted by prescribing medical practitioners. Ten per cent, or 802, of the total methadone permit forms examined for our project, which were dated from 12 February 1998 to 12 February 1999, were ‘old forms’ still being used by prescribing doctors but which did not include a field for ethnicity. Both the new and old methadone permit forms include the variable country of birth (COB), and provision is made for its entry into the electronic system. The self-identified ‘ethnic/cultural’ background variable appears on the new forms but it is a field not entered on the electronic system. It needs to be noted that the methadone registry is the only database in Victoria, known to the researchers, to have the self-identified ‘ethnic/cultural’ background variable.

Permits to prescribe methadone are issued to medical practitioners, who are approved methadone providers, each time they apply for a permit. Permits for an individual’s methadone program must be renewed each time the individual changes methadone provider or each time a methadone provider applies for a new treatment after a break in treatment episodes. While there may be a number of forms sent in for one individual over a period of time, the client retains the same unique identifying number enabling case tracking where a patient moves from one doctor to another.

Methodology Methadone registry forms for the 12-month period from 12 February 1998 were examined. It was necessary for the researchers to manually extract ethnicity information direct from the new forms, which were stored in archive boxes at the Department of Human Services. A total of approximately 20,000 forms (forms for the three different purposes, as described earlier, are stored together) were examined.

The only way to determine the number of individuals with multiple permits would have been to manually enter all the unique identifier numbers (UINs) in order to establish how many of the numbers were repeated. Due to time constraints, it was not possible in the examination of the methadone registry to establish the difference in permit numbers and the number of individuals.

Given the enormous amount of paper records involved it was not possible for the researchers to manually check all the UIN of Australian or English speaking

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 205 individuals appearing more than once. However, the researchers were able to single out (due to a manageable number of permit forms) the Vietnamese, Greek and Italian ethnic groups (the three main ethnic groups represented on the methadone registry) for additional examination. Identification numbers were examined to establish the number of individuals and the number of repeat prescriptions for methadone treatment.

Results We examined a total of 8,236 permit forms related to new applications for the treatment of an opiate dependent person with methadone syrup. On 1 January 1998, the official number of people using methadone was 4,600, and by 4 January 1999 it was 5,850. The difference in the number of permit forms examined by the researchers from that of the official figures was because some methadone users ceased methadone treatment and then recommenced within the 12-month period. Consequently, some individuals were reported in the database more than once.

Missing Fields Of the 8,236 new applications for the treatment of an opiate dependent person with methadone syrup (within the time period previously described), 802 were old forms and contained no ethnicity fields. Of the new forms (7,434), where there was provision to indicate ethnicity, 1,415 were blank for country of birth and ethnicity/cultural background. With the new forms therefore, there was a 19 per cent non-compliance rate in filling out the ethnicity fields. Individual’s names, which appeared on the forms that had blank ethnicity fields, appeared to be from a large variety of backgrounds.

Ethnic Backgrounds Of the 6,019 methadone permit forms which contained full ethnicity data, 4,174 (69.3 per cent) indicated that the individual was either of ‘Australian’ culture or English speaking backgrounds. Where country of birth was nominated as ‘Australia’ but the ethnic/culture question was left blank, the person was assumed by the researchers to be of an Australian culture. However, it should be noted that the names of these individuals frequently indicated that they might have been from non- English speaking backgrounds.

Of the individual methadone permit forms that did provide information in the ethnic fields (total 6,019), 1,845 of those, or 31 per cent, indicated that the individual was from a non-English speaking background (NESB). These individuals were either born overseas and identified with a NESB culture, or were born in Australia and identified their ethnicity/culture as NESB. Seventy different ethnic/cultural backgrounds were nominated. They were: Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Iraqi, Hungarian, Greek, Italians, Maltese, Timorese, Japanese, Papua New Guineans, Turkish, Lebanese, Russian, Yugoslavian, Macedonians, Indians, Dutch, Chinese, Finnish, Swiss, Polish, Pakistani, Spanish, Ukrainian, Filipino, Fijian, German, Serbian, Portuguese, Croatian, Egyptian, Lithuanian, Malaysian, Chilean, Syrian,

206 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Czech, Thai, Bosnian, Romanian, Sri Lankan, Afghan, Belgian, French, Indonesian, Colombian, Albanian, Iranian, Moroccan, Slavic, Burmese, Tongan, Ethiopian, Jordanian, Korean, Armenian, Slovenian, Costa Rican, Bulgarian, Palestinian, Swedish, Seychellois, Norwegian, Uruguayan, Israeli and Mauritian. Less specific ethnic groups mentioned were European, Asian, Pacific Islander and Arab.

As can be seen by this list, it appears likely that very few ethnic groups are immune from illicit drug use. It could be deduced from this that the issue of ethnicity is irrelevant. However, ethnicity may have very important implications for access to drug treatment and (as is illustrated below) without proper analysis, it is impossible to know if there are in fact ethnic/cultural issues which need to be addressed and to which service providers need to be sensitive.

From the methadone permit forms, the most commonly occurring ethnic backgrounds were:

ƒ Vietnamese: n = 400 (22 per cent of the total ethnic group)

ƒ Greek: n = 287 (16 per cent of the total ethnic group)

ƒ Italian: n = 271 (15 per cent of the total ethnic group).

There were a number of individuals issued with methadone permit forms from various ethnic groups. Only ethnic groups with ten or more individual permit forms issued appear on the following graph (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Individual methadone permit forms by ethnic groups, Victoria, 12 February 1998 to 12 February 1999

Loatian

Filipino

Dutch

Lebanese

Yugoslavian

German

Chinese

Macedonian

Italian

Vietnamese

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Number of Individual Methadone Permit Forms

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 207 Further Analysis

Country of Birth and Ethnic/Cultural Background Of individuals who declared Italian ethnicity on their methadone forms, 80 per cent were born in Australia; of those declaring Greek ethnicity, 80 per cent were born in Australia; of those declaring Macedonian ethnicity, 65 per cent were born in Australia; of those declaring Maltese ethnicity, 64 per cent were born in Australia. In all other databases these Australian-born individuals would be invisible, as the variable most often used to denote ethnicity is COB. Our analysis of the methadone permit data shows that people born in Australia may still identify strongly with their ethnic background to the extent that they will nominate their ethnicity/culture as that of NESB (see Figure 2).

Figure 2 Individual methadone permit forms by ethnicity, by country of birth, Methadone Registry, Victoria, 12 February 1998 to 12 February 1999

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

Overseas

50% Australia

Proportion(%) 40%

30%

20%

10%

0% Italian Greek Vietnamese Macedonian Maltese Chinese Ethnic Background

Of course the more recently arriving migrants, such as the Vietnamese, will appear more often in databases which only ask for country of birth—the standard question asked for ethnicity on the great majority of databases. For example, of those declaring Vietnamese ethnicity, only six per cent were born in Australia; and of those declaring Chinese ethnicity, only ten per cent were born in Australia (perhaps reflecting the new wave of Chinese immigrants). On the other hand, larger and more established groups, such as Greeks and Italians, become ethnically invisible in databases in the second generation because they are recorded as born in Australia. Nevertheless, there may be significant issues within more established ethnic communities which also need to be addressed in a culturally sensitive way.

208 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Individuals with Multiple Usage Methadone Treatment

Vietnamese Out of the 400 methadone treatment permits issued to people nominating Vietnamese ethnicity/culture, 310 individuals were given one or more prescriptions for treatment within the 12-month study period. Sixty-five individuals of Vietnamese background were issued with multiple permits (total: 90 permits) to be treated with methadone syrup. There were 45 individuals who had permits issued twice, 16 individuals who had permits issued three times, three individuals who had permits issued four times and one individual who had a permit issued on five occasions during the 12-month study period. Seventeen per cent were treated with methadone syrup on more than one occasion either because they went to a new doctor, entered prison and were further treated there, or because they had terminated their use of methadone and then recommenced at a later time.

Greek Out of the total of 287 methadone treatment permits issued to people nominating Greek ethnicity/culture, 237 individuals were given one or more prescriptions for treatment within the 12-month study period. Thirty-three individuals of Greek background were issued with multiple permits (total 50) to be treated with methadone syrup. There were 21 individuals who had permits issued twice, nine individuals who had permits issued three times, two individuals who had permits issued four times and one individual who had a permit issued on five occasions during the 12-month study period. Eight per cent were treated with methadone syrup on more than one occasion for reasons previously noted.

Italian Of the total of 272 methadone treatment permits issued to people nominating Italian ethnicity/culture, 227 individuals were given one or more prescriptions for treatment within the 12-month study period. Thirty-nine individuals of Italian background had multiple permits (total 44) to be treated with methadone syrup. There were 34 individuals who had permits issued twice, four individuals who had permits issued three times, one individual who had permits issued four times and no individuals who had a permit issued on five occasions during the 12-month study period. Fifteen per cent were treated with methadone syrup on more than one occasion for reasons previously noted.

Anecdotally, during key informant interviews by the researchers of workers in the drug treatment area, people of Vietnamese background were more likely than other ethnic groups to spend less time in methadone treatment. As can be seen by this preliminary analysis, it appears that second generation Italian background people have a similar rate to Vietnamese background people of going on methadone more than once. Databases have the potential to illuminate a number of important issues to do with treatment usage and access, which currently are based almost entirely on perceived appropriate practice.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 209 Recommendations for Further Research The analysis conducted here was limited due to our inability to link electronically the ethnicity data that was extracted by the researchers with the rest of the methadone register data. If more detailed analysis was to be conducted it would be necessary to manually enter all the UIN extracted for the ethnic/culture fields onto the system. Time restraints prevented the researchers from undertaking this task. Electronic input of the ethnicity variable should be encouraged to enhance the quality of the data that already exists.

A more comprehensive analysis could provide a wealth of information about the patterns, trends and demographics of methadone usage, including:

ƒ The length of time individuals stay on the methadone program.

ƒ Age at which heroin (or another opiate) was first used.

ƒ Whether or not needles were shared more frequently in some ethnic communities than in others (which may give an indication of the level of understanding of harm reduction in different ethnic user groups).

ƒ Whether age, rather than ethnicity, influenced the pattern of use of methadone treatment.

ƒ The extent to which other medical conditions, such as AIDS/HIV and hepatitis C are present in different groups.

ƒ The prevalence of dual conditions, such as active psychosis in people from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds.

ƒ Whether an individual had previously been admitted to a therapeutic community, inpatient detoxification or a program incorporating methadone.

ƒ Whether overall rates varied between ethnic groups, perhaps indicating if some ethnic groups may have more difficulty in accessing treatment services than do individuals of English speaking background.

210 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement

Databases

Databases

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Surveillance Database

Description of Database Information on new HIV diagnoses is sought directly from three sources: laboratory reports of new HIV diagnoses from the testing laboratories; reports as a result of call- back to all diagnosing doctors; and, since 1996, notification by diagnosing doctors. A range of demographic, exposure and behavioural information is collected through the notification process and through the callback process by utilising partner notification officers from the Victorian Department of Human Services. HIV became a notifiable disease in 1996, although information has been collected since, and can be accessed back to 1984.

The variables that were available to determine ethnicity include country of birth (COB), a person’s cultural/ethnic background, and language other than English spoken at home. HIV-infected individuals with a history of injecting drug use (IDU) were determined by examining the notification forms that included questions pertaining to past and current IDU.

Prior to September 1996, when HIV became a notifiable disease, information relating to COB and language spoken at home was only opportunistically collected, therefore there is very little information available.

Results A total of 4,085 individuals were identified as diagnosed with HIV in Victoria from 1983 to the end of 1998. Of this number, 323 (eight per cent) individuals identified having a history of IDU.

Country of Birth Amongst the 323 individuals who reported a history of IDU, 152 (47 per cent) provided information about COB. The COB can be broken down as follows:

ƒ 20 (13 per cent) were from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB).

ƒ Mean age: 31 years (range: 17–66 years).

ƒ 18 (90 per cent) were male.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 213 ƒ 133 (87 per cent) were main English speaking backgrounds (MESB).

ƒ Mean age: 29 years (range: 18–48 years).

ƒ 113 (93 per cent) were male.

For those individuals for whom no COB could be determined, the average age was 28 years (range: 14–60 years) and 151 (89 per cent) were male.

Excluding those with missing and unknown data on COB, the overwhelming majority of IDUs were from Australia (N=128; 83 per cent) with another five individuals born in New Zealand, England, Scotland and the United Kingdom. Among the NESB individuals, the COB include Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Portugal, Ukraine and Vietnam. Those born in Vietnam constituted the greatest number of those from NESB (N=5).

Cultural Background Thirty four (11 per cent) of the 323 reporting a history of IDU provided information regarding their ethnic background as follows:

ƒ 22 (63 per cent) identified as MESB (that is, Anglo-Saxon, Celtic)

ƒ 13 (37 per cent) identified as NESB (includes European, Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Asian and Lithuanian).

Languages Spoken At Home Only nine individuals (three per cent) provided information about a language other than English spoken at home.

Sexuality and Injecting Drug Use The percentage of IDUs who, regardless of ethnicity, responded that they were homosexual or bisexual, was 57 per cent. Regardless of ethnicity, 25 per cent of the total number of IDUs responded that they were heterosexual, while the rest did not indicate their sexual orientation.

Of the total number of NESB who were IDUs, 40 per cent responded they were homosexual, 55 per cent as heterosexual and five per cent responded only to being an IDU. Of the total number born in Australia, 69 per cent responded they were homosexual, 23 per cent were heterosexual and eight per cent identified only as IDU.

Summary Among those diagnosed HIV positive, eight per cent have a history of IDU. Of those with a history of IDU, over 50 per cent were either homosexual or bisexual. The low rate of HIV infection among those with a history of IDU in Victoria has largely resulted from highly successful, targeted education programs and accessible facilities

214 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement for IDUs; not sharing injecting equipment; and the establishment of widely used needle exchange programs throughout the State.

Determining the cultural/ethnic background of individuals has been restricted, as over half the respondents did not provide information on the notification forms about their COB. Further, cultural/ethnic identification data were missing or unknown for 89 per cent of the cases. Eighty-seven per cent of those responding to having HIV infection and with a history of IDU were from an English speaking background. The small number of NESB individuals did not permit statistical analysis for each separate record by COB and therefore the need for aggregation.

Those born in Vietnam with a history of IDU and infected with HIV were found to be statistically over-represented when compared with those of other NESB countries. An explanation for this may be due to longer-established ethnic groups becoming invisible in the database, as those of second or more generations are recorded as being born in Australia. Additionally, research does report on significant sharing of needles among Vietnamese IDUs, and anecdotally, there are reports of Vietnamese IDUs returning to Vietnam for holidays or attempted detoxification, and sharing needles with other IDUs. In these instances, the HIV infection rates amongst these groups can rise to 37 per cent and over (Louie, Krouskos, Gonzalez and Crofts, 1998; Crofts, Reid and Deany, 1998).

There was no significant difference in the age of IDUs, regardless of being from a NESB or a MESB (31 and 29 years respectively). Likewise, most of those with a history of IDU, infected with HIV, were male. However, those from a NESB with a history of IDU were significantly less likely to declare homosexuality compared with those for a MESB (40 per cent and 69 per cent respectively). This might be the result of NESB males being reluctant to identify with being homosexual compared with those of an English speaking background (Pallotta-Chiarolli, 1998).

Recommendation ƒ An encouragement to all doctors and partner notification officers from the Victorian Department of Human Services to complete all the ethnicity variables, in order to enhance the quality of the HIV/AIDS surveillance database.

The Victorian 1996 Secondary Students Alcohol and Drugs Survey

Description of Database and Methodology The Victorian 1996 Secondary Students’ Alcohol and Drugs Survey collected data from just over 4,700 participants, of which the total valid cases (those responding to drug use questions) numbered 4,432. Secondary students were from Government, Catholic and independent schools, Years 7 to 12. Schools were selected using a random sampling methodology. A total of 69 secondary schools participated in the

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 215 study. The ethnicity variables used in the questionnaire were the country of birth of mother and father and languages spoken at home. Ninety per cent of students completing the survey were born in Australia. Thirty per cent of students’ mothers and 36 per cent of students’ fathers had been born overseas. Eighty-one per cent of students lived in households where English was the only language spoken, 17 per cent lived in households where both English and another language were spoken at home, and two per cent of students lived in households where no English was spoken.

Few secondary students who spoke languages other than English at home—and indicated their father’s country of birth (COB) was not an English speaking background—reported use of illicit substances. This meant all language and COB groups had to be re-classified for statistical analysis to have any meaning. A new variable ‘language group’ was created: individuals whose father’s COB was Australia, New Zealand and Britain/Ireland were labelled as ‘mainly English speaking background’ (MESB). Those whose father’s COB was Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Turkey and the ‘other’ were labelled ‘non-English speaking background’ (NESB). For the purpose of this analysis, those speaking languages at home other than English—or no English at all—have been classified as NESB.

Results The number of secondary students who spoke only English was 3,626 (82 per cent). The total number of secondary students who spoke a language other than English at home was 806 (18 per cent). One hundred and fifty-six individuals provided no response to the question of primary household language. The number of students whose father was born in an English speaking country was 3,212 (73 per cent) compared with 1,188 (27 per cent) students in which the father’s COB was classified as NESB. Thirty-four students did not know their father’s COB.

Students were asked questions concerning drug use over their lifetime. A series of questions was asked about how many times, if ever, they had used or taken a substance. The time periods examined were: the last four weeks; the last year, and lifetime. Substances asked about were heroin, LSD, cocaine, speed, marijuana and ecstasy.

Substances Used in the Last Four Weeks The number of Victorian secondary students surveyed who spoke only English at home and had used heroin in the four weeks preceding the survey was 18 (<1 per cent). Those who had used heroin and spoke a language other than English at home numbered nine (one per cent). Two per cent of English-only students had used LSD, compared with one per cent of NESB. The percentage of English-only speaking students having used, separately, cocaine and speed, was less than one per cent, while it was slightly more for those of NESB (two per cent). Percentage use of ecstasy for both language groups was less than one per cent. Marijuana was the most noted illicit substance. Six hundred and fifty-three English-only speakers indicated it had been used (representing 18%; 95% CI 16.8, 19.2). This compares with 100 people of

216 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement non-English speaking background who indicated it had been used (representing 12%; 95% CI 10.1, 14.7).

For secondary students whose father’s COB was either English language-based or NESB, the use of heroin and cocaine were the same (two per cent). Similarly, the percentage rates between the English based and NESB COB groups were barely different for the use of LSD (three per cent and two per cent respectively), ecstasy (two per cent and three per cent respectively) and speed (two per cent and three per cent respectively). Marijuana use by students where the father’s COB were English language-based was 19 per cent, compared with 16 per cent of the students with NESB fathers.

Substances Used in the Last Year Two per cent of English-only speakers (n=73) and those of NESB (n=20) had used heroin in the last year. The use of LSD was barely different among English-only speakers (n=18; five per cent) compared with NESB (n=30; four per cent). Cocaine use was reported to be barely different among those of NESB (n=30; four per cent) than English-only speakers (n=73; three per cent). Four per cent of English-only speakers (n=145) and those of NESB (n=35) reported the use of speed. The percentage of those of NESB having used ecstasy was barely different (three per cent) than for English-only speakers (two per cent). Marijuana use for English-only speakers was 32 per cent (n=1,160; 95 per cent CI; 30.5, 33.5) compared with 24 per cent among NESB (n=193; 95 per cent CI; 21.0, 26.9).

Whether the father’s COB was English-based or of NESB, there were no differences identified among students regarding the use of heroin (three per cent), cocaine (three per cent) and speed (five per cent). For those having used LSD there were 220 (seven per cent) students whose father’s COB was English-based compared with 62 (five per cent) students of NESB fathers. There was a higher prevalence of marijuana use among those whose father’s COB was English-based, compared with those students with NESB fathers (33 per cent and 28 per cent respectively).

Substances Used in Their Lifetime There was little difference in the prevalence of heroin use among those of NESB (four per cent) compared with English-only speaking secondary students (three per cent). There was a higher percentage of LSD use among English-only speakers (seven per cent) compared with NESB (five per cent). The use of cocaine was reported to be greater among those of NESB (five per cent) compared with English- only speakers (two per cent). There was no reported difference in the use of speed (five per cent) or ecstasy (three per cent) among both NESB and English-only speakers. Marijuana use was reported to have been used by 1,305 (36 per cent; 95 per cent CI; 34.4, 37.6) English-only speakers and 215 (27 per cent CI; 23.6, 29.7) NESB.

Of those who reported having used heroin and speed, there were marginal differences between the two COB groups (four per cent and six per cent respectively). There were only slight percentage differences on the basis of the

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 217 students father’s COB, either English-based or NESB, for the use of cocaine (four per cent and five per cent respectively), ecstasy (three per cent and four per cent respectively) and LSD (eight per cent and six per cent respectively). There were 1,173 (37 per cent) students whose father’s COB was English-based compared with 367 (31 per cent) students of NESB fathers.

Summary Aggregation of all the fathers’ COB and NESB language groups was necessary because of the small number of students who reported their fathers’ COB were of NESB and speaking another language other than English at home. This has not permitted an analysis of specific ethnic groups. To examine the various ethnic groups separately would have been pointless, because of the very small numbers in each ethnic language group. Confidence intervals on the proportions of students using illicit drugs in both language and father’s COB groups, in the three time periods, almost always overlap significantly. However, in the case of marijuana use, there are statistical differences for English-only speakers and those of NESB for all time periods.

Except for the use of marijuana, there are generally no contrasts in substance use between the English-only speakers and those of NESB. The data reveal that each language and fathers’ COB group is exposed to the use of marijuana, while not all ethnic language groups are reported to be using heroin, speed and ecstasy. The percentage of students from both English-only speakers and NESB using substances does vary between the different time periods. The number of individuals who have used substances does increase with examination of longer time periods for both language and fathers’ COB groups, as might be expected.

It needs to be noted that the methodology used to represent a broad selection of students remains open to bias when used to represent a range of different ethnic groups. This is due to small numbers: random sampling was able to provide accurate national and state-specific estimates for each age group and sex, but the results, in relation to patterns of use for particular ethnic groups, must be interpreted cautiously.

Recommendations Low student numbers from many ethnic groups limited analysis of the data. While the survey did ask about the country of birth of both parents and about the language spoken at home other than English, the following are recommended for inclusion in further surveys:

ƒ Use of the variable ‘self-identified ethnic or cultural background’.

ƒ Sampling for ethnic composition of students to improve comparisons with English-only speaking students and to obviate the need to combine all language groups. This would also enable comparison between ethnic groups.

218 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The Victorian Emergency Minimum Data Set (VEMD)

Description of the Database The Victorian Emergency Minimum Data Set (VEMD) is a computerised collection of data about persons attending Victorian hospital emergency departments from 1995 onwards. Currently, information for the database is collected from 25 hospitals representing 80 per cent of Emergency Department presentations in the State. Prior to 1995, data were paper-based and maintained as the Original Victorian injury Surveillance System (VISS). The present database constitutes a program of ongoing surveillance of both the number and severity of injuries in the community by identifying hazards (that is, poisons and traffic accidents).

VEMD reports that in June 1998 there were 410,000 cases on the database, and that between January 1996 and December 1997 there were 10,257 cases of poisoning, which include all drug-related entries.

For the Drugs in a Multicultural Community project the researcher analysed information on the VEMD for the period January 1996 to June 1998. The ethnicity of individuals was determined by the variables ‘country of birth’ (COB) and ‘preferred language’. The most appropriate way to determine illicit drug-related entries was found to be by analysis of the character text narrative. A total of six drug names were selected: amphetamines, ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, LSD and inhalants. Most of these drugs can be described either by the use of slang terms—for example, ‘chroming’ can be used as a text word for inhalants, ‘smack’ can be used to describe heroin—or they can be grouped under a particular drug category. With this in mind, a total of 45 drug names was used for the character text narrative. A triage nurse, medical staff or a medical clerk most often wrote the narrative text.

A range of problems relating to consistency and validity in the VEMD database was identified. They included: a lack of availability of information; the low priority assigned to this task in busy emergency departments; and unreliable information with variables frequently being incomplete or duplicated.

Results A total of 1,366 individuals were found to have illicit drug use in their character text narrative. Of this number, COB was missing for 237 individuals (17 per cent). Of the individuals who did provide information on COB, 103 (nine per cent) were of non- English speaking background (NESB). Those born in Vietnam (28), Italy (11), Chile (6), Greece (5), Germany (5) and Turkey (5) were the most represented of the 45 countries or continents nominated by individuals. One thousand and twenty-six (91 per cent) of those providing information about their COB were from English speaking backgrounds. Most individuals were born in Australia (976; 86 per cent), with others born in New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland and the United States.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 219 The preferred language variable was missing, not known or wrongly coded in more than half of the total cases on the VEMD (746; 55 per cent). Where information about preferred language was given, 99 per cent (615) indicated English.

Of the 101 NESB individuals providing COB information, 89 (86 per cent) were male. Of the English speaking individuals, 665 (65 per cent) were male. Of the 237 individuals who were missing data for COB, 183 (77 per cent) were male.

The mean age for those of NESB was 26 years, with a range of 13 to 69 years. Total number of individuals with information available on age and English speaking COB was 1000. Mean age for this group was 25 years with a range of 11 to 66 years. For those with missing data on COB there were 197 individuals who also had a completed age variable, mean age was 26 years, with a range of 15 to 46 years.

Description of Drug Use The total number of valid cases for people of NESB (with correct coding and responding appropriately to illicit drug references) presenting at an emergency Department with drug problems, was 101. Of these, 90 (89 per cent) were assessed for having a heroin-related problem. The remaining 11 cases were treated for using amphetamines, LSD, ecstasy, chroming or the inhalation or ingestion of petrol. Two individuals had an invalid word narrative text.

Out of the total number of English speaking individuals (1,026), four cases which initially appeared to be illicit drug-related proved, on closer examination, to be otherwise (for example, the word speed also related to the motion of a car involved in an accident), and these were deleted from the sample. Of the remaining valid cases, 867 (85 per cent) involved heroin use, 58 (six per cent) involved amphetamines and cocaine, 44 (four per cent) involved chroming—including inhalation of petrol, glue, lighter liquid and paint thinners, 15 (one per cent) involved hallucinogens— including LSD and magic mushrooms, 16 (two per cent) involved ecstasy and 13 (one per cent) related to marijuana or overdosing on various prescription tablets (Valium, Temazepam, Rohypnol).

In the majority of cases where COB data was missing (237), 227 (96 per cent) were related to heroin use. Ten cases (four per cent) involved amphetamines, hallucinogens or ecstasy.

Further Analysis Analysing the data by COB by demographic profile and type of drug used was not possible due to the small numbers involved. However, limited analysis was possible after re-classifying records on the basis of COB into the categories of European, Asian and English speaking countries.

The total number of individuals born in European countries was 34. Countries were: Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, former Yugoslavia, Germany, Romania and the Russian Federation. The total number of individuals born in Asian countries was 43. Countries included: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,

220 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and China. The largest number of individuals (1,026) was from English speaking countries, the majority of whom were born in Australia.

Males comprised 79 per cent of the European-born, 90 per cent of Asian-born and 65 per cent of those born in English speaking countries. The mean age was 31 years for those born in Europe, 23 years for those of Asian birth and 25 years for those born in an English speaking country.

Of the 34 Europeans presenting with a drug use problem, 26 (76 per cent) were for heroin. Similarly, of the 43 Asian cases, 34 (79 per cent) were related to heroin. Eighty-six per cent of those born in an English speaking country presented with a heroin-related problem.

Local Government Areas (LGAs) When data was examined by LGA, Moreland (129) and Yarra (103) were found to have the greatest number of people presenting at hospital emergency departments for illicit drug use. For an analysis of attendance at hospital emergency departments for illicit drug use by people of NESB, LGA were selected only if the total number of individuals from NESB was six or greater, and if the percentage of NESB presenting at an emergency Department and living in the LGA was 20 per cent or above. The LGA of Greater Dandenong, Moonee Valley, Casey and Maribyrnong met these criteria.

Fifty-eight individuals lived in the LGA of Greater Dandenong; of the 49 cases providing COB information, 35 per cent were from NESB and 65 per cent were from English speaking countries. In the LGA of Moonee Valley there were a total of 54 individuals, of whom 15 per cent did not provide COB information. Of the 46 cases with valid information, 22 per cent were from NESB. Similarly in the LGA of Maribyrnong, of the 35 individuals providing information about their COB, 20 per cent were from NESB. In the LGA of Casey there were a total of 20 individuals of whom 20 per cent had missing COB data. Of the 16 individuals providing information about their COB, 38 per cent were from NESB.

Health Regions The health regions with the greatest proportion of residents presenting at hospital emergency departments with illicit drug use were Northern Metropolitan Region (352 people), Southern Metropolitan Region (297 people), Eastern Metropolitan Region (259 people), and Western Metropolitan (204 people).

In the Western Metropolitan region there was a total of 204 individuals assessed for drug-related incidences, of whom 19 per cent had missing data on COB. Of the 164 individuals providing valid information on COB, 15 per cent were from NESB.

In the Eastern Metropolitan region there was a total of 259 individuals assessed for illicit drug-related problems, of whom 12 per cent had missing data and five per cent were from NESB. In the Northern Metropolitan region 27 (nine per cent) of individuals for whom there was COB information were from NESB. In the Southern

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 221 Metropolitan region 33 (13 per cent) individuals for whom there was COB information were from NESB.

Summary The VEMD database has some severe flaws in relation to any analysis of ethnicity. Reliance on COB to define ethnicity identifies only those with a recent migration history and takes no account of people born in Australia who nevertheless have strong cultural ties, such as in the case of Italian and Greek communities.

Relying on COB to define ethnicity has a major flaw in that the longer-established ethnic groups become invisible in databases as second generations are recorded as being born in Australia. It could be suggested that the high percentage (91 per cent) of people from English speaking backgrounds attending hospital emergency departments does not in fact accurately reflect the ethnicity of the clients. Many of those born in Australia may nevertheless identify with a wide range of ethnic/cultural backgrounds.

The ethnicity variables of COB and preferred language are missing for a large number of individuals presenting at emergency departments: 17 per cent of the COB data and 55 per cent of preferred language data are missing for those entered as illicit drug use. The poor response to the preferred language variable has severely limited any assessment of individuals’ ethnicity or cultural background. Where information on preferred language was recorded (in less than half of all cases), English was nominated in 99 per cent of these cases. This figure gives rise to speculation about whether recording of preferred language is in any way related to assessment about the need for an interpreter. Given the large number of languages present in Victoria, it is highly likely they will still be able to be treated and therefore will be omitted from the data system, and this may explain their preference for English.

The small number of NESB individuals did not permit statistical analysis for each country of birth. Aggregation and homogenising of differing ethnic groups into NESB and English speaking background categories, and then division into categories of European, Asian and English enabled some limited analysis to be done. Findings are summarised below:

ƒ Fewer women of NESB attend hospital emergency departments for illicit drug- related incidences than do women of English speaking backgrounds.

ƒ Mean ages for NESB and English speaking background groups are very similar, being 25–26 years.

ƒ People of Asian and English backgrounds in the database are younger than are people of European background—23 to 25 years of age, compared with 31 years for people of European background.

An analysis of the word narrative text indicates that heroin was overwhelmingly the most reported illicit drug used by Victorian people of both NESB (89 per cent) and English speaking backgrounds (85 per cent) presenting at emergency departments.

222 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The number of people being treated for heroin use in hospital emergency departments would be much greater but for the fact that many of those treated by ambulance crews elect not to go to hospital. Other illicit drugs recorded in the narrative text were amphetamines, inhalations, hallucinogens and ecstasy.

Of the 58 local government areas examined, the LGAs of Moreland and Yarra had the greatest number of residents presenting at hospital emergency departments for illicit drug use (129 and 103 people respectively). The LGAs of Greater Dandenong, Moonee Valley, Maribyrnong and Casey had the greatest number of residents of NESB presenting at hospital emergency departments for illicit drug use. Relative to other health regions, people presenting at emergency departments with illicit drug- related problems from the Western Metropolitan Health Region were more likely to be of NESB (15 per cent). However, overall, this region had the fourth largest number of residents presenting for illicit drug use (204 people). The health regions with the greatest number of residents presenting at hospital emergency departments with illicit drug use were Northern Metropolitan Region (352 people), Southern Metropolitan Region (297 people) and Eastern Metropolitan Region (259 people).

Recommendations ƒ Staff in hospital emergency departments should be encouraged to complete information on ethnicity variables in order to enhance the quality of VEMD data.

ƒ The variable ‘preferred language’ should be re-worded to ’language(s) spoken at home’.

ƒ A self-report ethnic/cultural background question should be included to capture the ethnic/cultural background of second generation Australians who identify with an ethnic/cultural group.

1995 Victorian Drug Household Survey

Description of Survey and Database The 1995 Victorian Drug Household Survey (VDH) was undertaken in parallel with the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDS). Additional interviews were conducted in Victoria using a few specific Victorian questions about alcohol and drug treatment services. A total of 600 interviews were completed throughout Victoria and these were supplemented with an additional 600 Victorian interviews as part of the NDS: the total sample size was 1,200. Information was collected from persons aged 14 years and over. One person was randomly selected from each household involved in the survey.

The first section was an interviewer-administered questionnaire, which included ethnicity variables: country of birth (COB) and languages spoken at home other than English. To gauge the use of drug and alcohol treatment services, questions related to accessing information about drug and alcohol problems were used (only in the

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 223 VDH). The second section was a self-completed, sealed questionnaire, focusing on personal drug use.

Methodology As will be shown in the results section, the number of respondents in the ethnic group is small. To perform any meaningful statistical analysis it was necessary to classify the records by COB into those who were of main English speaking background (MESB) countries and those who are from non-English speaking background (NESB) countries. For the purpose of this study countries classified as MESB were Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), Ireland, US, and South Africa. The NESB countries were China, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Turkey, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and ‘other’.

For further analysis COB was used to create a new variable. Region of birth and the regions were compared with the classified MESB countries. The regions chosen were Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

Before analysis on the basis of major languages spoken at home, records were classified into MESB only and into NESB languages. The NESB languages included Italian, Greek, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Arabic (including Lebanese), German, Vietnamese, Spanish and Croatian. The use of broader categories was necessary due to the small numbers in each language group. However, there were sufficient respondents who spoke Italian and Greek for them to be independently analysed.

Results Data were first analysed on the basis of COB and then by language.

Country of Birth There were 1,200 respondents in the survey. Of these, 56 respondents (four per cent) had missing or unknown COB data. The majority was born in Australia (76 per cent). Eighty-five per cent were from MESB countries and 15 per cent were of NESB. The respondent numbers for regions under the category of NESB were Europe (96), the Middle East (17), Asia (55) and Latin America (4).

As can be seen in Table 19 (below), most of the illicit drugs used indicated small differences between those of MESB and NESB. However, a significantly high proportion of MESB respondents had at some stage of their lives tried cannabis (MESB 95 per cent CI; 29.7 per cent to 35.6 per cent and NESB 95 per cent CI; 8.5 per cent to 18.9 per cent). Similarly, there were significant differences identified for those who had ever tried amphetamines between those of MESB (95 per cent CI; 5.4 per cent to 8.65 per cent) and NESB (95 per cent CI; 0.0 to 1.7 per cent).

224 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Table 19 Illicit drug use by COB—MESB and NESB

Drug MESB % NESB % Significant difference Cocaine 3 1 Heroin 2 <1 Ecstasy 2 1 Cannabis 33 14 T Amphetamines 7 1 T Inhalants 2 0

Records were classified by region of birth. The two major regions were Europe and Asia. Those who were born in India and other countries of the subcontinent (not specifically identified in the data) were included as Asian. The numbers of respondents from the Middle East and Latin America and the number reporting use of illicit drugs were too small to allow any worthwhile analysis.

The percentage of respondents of European and Asian birth ever having used cannabis were only marginally different (12 per cent and 15 per cent respectively), but significantly lower than those of MESB (33 per cent) . Over 98 per cent of those born in Europe and Asia had never taken the following illicit drugs: cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, inhalants or amphetamines.

Of those who provided valid information (1119) few people of MESB (one per cent) and no reported respondents of NESB had ever injected illicit drugs.

Specific questions related to drug and alcohol services were only asked in the Victorian component of the household survey and were not undertaken in the NDS. The result was the sample size was reduced to 600 respondents, of whom 574 gave information. Of those providing information about seeking help for a drug- or alcohol-related problem, either for themselves or for another person, most people of MESB and NESB had never sought assistance (89 per cent and 93 per cent respectively). Of those seeking assistance, four per cent of MESB had sought assistance for themselves compared with two per cent among people of NESB. Percentages of respondents seeking assistance for someone else were the same for both MESB and NESB (four per cent). Even when the regions are divided into Europe and Asia, most had not sought assistance for alcohol and drug problems (95 per cent and 88 per cent respectively).

Of the number of people of a MESB who had sought drug and alcohol assistance, 29 respondents (58 per cent) had done so in the past five years. Of those with a MESB having sought assistance in the past five years, 14 per cent had done so for themselves. Only six of those of NESB had sought any assistance for themselves or for others in the past five years.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 225 Languages Spoken Eighty-one per cent of the respondents spoke only English at home, with 19 per cent speaking another language, Italian and Greek being the most common. Other languages spoken were Chinese, Arabic, German, Vietnamese, Croatian, and Spanish. Few languages were available for nomination by the respondents of the survey. The two language groups used for analysis were English-only and non- English (spoke a language other than English).

Table 20 Illicit drug use by language spoken

Drugs English only % Non-English % Significant difference Cocaine 7 2 Heroin 2 <1 Ecstasy 2 <1 Cannabis 32 19 Τ Amphetamines 7 2 Τ Inhalants 2 0

As can be seen in Table 20, there were significant differences for cannabis use between those who spoke English only (95 per cent CI; 29.3 per cent to 35.2 per cent) and for those non-English speakers (95 per cent CI; 14 per cent to 24.4 per cent). A statistical difference was also identified for the use of amphetamines between non- English speakers (95 per cent CI; 0.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent) and for those who spoke English only (95 per cent CI; 5.2 per cent to 8.4 per cent).

The only illicit drug for which there was a significant difference when comparing English-only, Italian and Greek speakers was cannabis. Of those speaking English- only, 32 per cent (95 per cent CI; 29.3 per cent to 35.2 per cent) had ever used cannabis compared with 18 per cent (95 per cent CI; 8.0 per cent to 28.4 per cent) among those who spoke Italian. There were no statistically significant differences between English-only and Greek speakers. Analysis of all other illicit drugs by those speaking either Italian or Greek identified insignificant numbers of respondents ever having tried illicit substances.

Of those who spoke English-only and provided information about seeking drug and alcohol services, 12 per cent had sought assistance compared with five per cent among non-English speakers. Only six speaking respondents of non-English had sought assistance for themselves or for others.

Statistical analysis of available data by the type of assistance and where assistance was sought for drug and alcohol problems, regardless of ethnicity, was not possible as 98 per cent of the data were either missing or unknown.

226 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Summary As with a number of other databases, it was necessary to aggregate records by COB and language into MESB and NESB. This improved statistical analysis but it also meant that ethnic diversity was ignored. Separate analysis of the various ethnic groups, except for the Italian and Greek speakers, was not possible, due to the small numbers.

Eighty-five per cent of the respondents were of MESB. The COB variable is not wholly satisfactory for identifying NESB because its use means that second generations of long-established ethnic groups, born in Australia, are made invisible in the databases.

Cannabis was the most-used illicit drug by both MESB and NESB people (33 per cent and 14 per cent respectively). While amphetamines were the next most used illicit drug by those of MESB (seven per cent) there was little use among those of NESB (<1 per cent). Prevalence of all other illicit drugs by respondents of NESB ranged from one to less than one per cent. Those of European and Asian birth were compared in order to assess if there were any major disparities in their use of illicit drugs. There was very little difference identified between these two groups of having used cannabis and for all other illicit drugs there was no significant difference.

Although the second section of the survey was a self-completed, sealed questionnaire it is possible the illicit nature of the drugs under review inhibited those of NESB from answering with more frankness than those of MESB. The issue of illicit drugs generally among those of NESB is a taboo topic and the shame and stigma associated with using illicit substances can often prevent the truth from being told (Ja and Aoki, 1993; Mudaly, 1997). Additionally, as a result of often poor proficiency in English, which has been reported amongst this group (NSW Health, 1993), it may be that those of NESB did not fully understand the questions.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to distinguish the nature of an alcohol or illicit drug problem, as the questionnaire did not permit the respondent to identify the focus of the problem (that is, alcohol or illicit drugs). The vast majority of both MESB and NESB people had never sought assistance either for themselves or for others. Only six NESB had sought assistance for themselves or for others. However, while the numbers are small, seven per cent of those identifying their COB as NESB sought assistance once in their lives, compared with 11 per cent among those of MESB. Interestingly, when examining the regions, 11 per cent of those born in Asia, compared with five per cent of European-born, had sought assistance.

For those providing information, non-English speakers were less likely to seek out assistance compared with English-only speakers (five per cent and 12 per cent respectively). An explanation for this, based on extensive literature reviews, is that non-English speakers encounter language and cultural barriers and therefore are reluctant to seek out external assistance to address alcohol and drug problems (Dollis, Gifford, Henenberg and Pirkis, 1993; Jackson and Flaherty, 1994).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 227 Recommendations ƒ The inclusion of a self-reported, ethnic/cultural background question, to capture the ethnic/cultural background of second generation Australians who are otherwise rendered invisible.

ƒ For those who speak a language other than English, it is important that the sealed section of the survey is completely understood before self-completion is undertaken.

ƒ There is no mention in the survey methodology of alternative language translations of the sealed questionnaire. Translations of the sealed questionnaire should be undertaken in the major alternative languages.

Victoria Police Statistics: Illicit Drugs

Data Sources Victoria Police statistics have been derived from Victoria Police Crime Statistics publications, from additional tables purchased from Victoria Police and from the Australian Bureau of Criminal intelligence Illicit Drug Report.

Results It is evident from the statistics reported below that there has been a significant change in statistical patterns for illicit drugs over the previous few years. Whereas previously police concentrated mostly on the effects of alcohol on crime, and on cannabis, there has now been a change in police focus so that heroin is the number one priority (Senior Victoria Police officer). The increased focus is clearly reflected in the arrest statistics.

Total arrests for trafficking heroin have increased in Victoria from 348 in 1994–95 to 928 in 1996–97, and 1,857 in 1997–98, so that Victoria now has the highest heroin- related arrest rate per 100,000 population in Australia—more than double that of NSW (see Table 21).

The high priority held by heroin offences in Victoria is also illustrated by the enormous decrease in drug offences involving cannabis.12 There were 9,034 reported cannabis offences in Victoria in 1997–98, down 53.1 per cent from 1995–96, when there were 19,210 cannabis offences reported in Victoria (ABCI, 1999: 20). Of the eight Australian jurisdictions, Victoria had the second lowest rate for cannabis offences per

12 Note also the different mode of detection of cannabis from heroin offences. Criminal justice key informants considered that cannabis offences were detected most commonly in situations where police had arrested the person for another offence and subsequently found cannabis was present as well. In the case of heroin-related offences the offender was more likely to be detected directly for the drug offence (Police and court key informants).

228 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 100,000 population in 1997–98 (see Table 22). This rate was similar to that of the previous year, but represents a considerable decrease from 1995–96, when the rate was 417.38 (ABCI, 1999: 21). 13

Table 21 Heroin − consumer and provider arrests, by jurisdiction and per 100,000 population, 1997–98

Arrests 1997–98 Jurisdiction Consumer (use heroin) Provider (traffic heroin) Total Arrest per 100,000 pop. Victoria 3,636 1,901 5,537 119.7 NSW 2,651 685 3,336 52.9 Queensland 207 216 423 12.3 Western Australia 393 193 586 32.4 South Australia 136 56 192 13.0 Tasmania 1 0 1 .2 ACT 58 28 86 27.8 NT 6 0 6 3.2 Total 7,088 3,079 10,167 (Source: ABCI 1999: 39)

Table 22 Cannabis offences by jurisdiction, per 100,000 population, 1997–98

Cannabis offences 1997–98 Jurisdiction No. of cannabis offences State population Offences per 100,000 pop. Victoria 9034 4,627,303 195.23 NSW 15,460 6,306,334 245.15 Queensland 13,021 3,430,384 379.58 Western Australia 11,487 1,811,126 634.25 South Aust. 13,452 1,482,869 907.16 Tasmania 1,196 471,789 253.50 ACT 374 308,990 121.04 NT 635 189,185 335.65 (Source: ABCI 1999: 20)

13 Police statistics in relation to drug offending in Victoria show clearly that drug crime rates are related primarily to police activity and focus rather than being an accurate reflection of actual drug offending rates.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 229 The enormous increase in heroin-related arrest rates in Victoria in recent years, that is out of all proportion to those of other states, is attributed by Victoria Police to an increase in ‘special police operations’. These have predominantly been in the most well publicised, visible drug areas around Melbourne, Footscray, Frankston, Springvale and Dandenong during the reporting period (ABCI, 1999: 40). These areas all have high Vietnamese residency. The greatest majority of arrests are of street level dealers14 (Senior Victoria Police officer).

A considerable proportion of people arrested for traffic heroin offences are born in Vietnam.15 (See Table 23.16)

Table 23 Number and proportion of offenders aged 15–49 years arrested in Victoria for trafficking heroin, by year and country of birth

1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 No. % No. % No. % No. % Born in Vietnam 131 37.6 328 47.7 451 48.6 679* 36.6 Born in Australia 123 35.3 201 29.2 254 27.4 679* 36.6 Total arrests for traffic heroin 348 687 928 1,857 *These figures were re-checked with Victoria Police and are correct

Rates per 100,000 population shown in Table 4 were calculated using the ABS 1996 Census data by country of birth for people living in Victoria. The numbers are very small in the more established ethnic communities, which would be expected, given that most people in the peak offending ages of 15–44 years in these communities are second generation and thus would be included in the ‘Australian born’ category.

14 Because police performance indicators include number of arrests as a measure of success it may be that police will, from time to time, focus on the visible street level dealers to boost their arrest figures. The group most visible and predictable, and therefore the easiest to target and arrest, are arguably those of Asian background who tend to gather in the same geographical areas (Victoria police key informant). 15 Note that the figures are numbers of arrests not numbers of individuals. It is possible that a smaller number of individuals are being arrested on multiple occasions. 16 Criminal justice statistics, like other government databases, use ‘country of birth’ rather than self-identified ethnic/cultural background. Thus reports are biased toward recent migrant/refugee groups. Second and third generation people, even while identifying strongly to their ethnic origins, are categorised within the ‘Australian born’ category and are thus invisible in any statistical analysis.

230 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Table 24 All drug offences by country of birth of alleged offenders of all ages in Victoria, 1997–98

Country of birth Australia Greece Italy Lebanon Somali Turkey Vietnam Other Total Drug cultivate, man, 3,529 41 44 26 8 22 701 1146 5517 traffic Per 100,000 population 109.7 66.3 44.4 185.1 565.0 148.6 1267.6 Drug (possess, use) 341 38 54 41 4 38 552 1,732 10,800 Per 100,000 population 259.4 61.4 54.5 291.9 282.5 256.7 998.2 Total 11870 79 98 67 12 60 1253 2,878 1,6317 Total per 100,000 369.1 127.7 98.8 477.0 847.5 405.4 2,265.8 population

Age of Alleged Drug Offenders in Victoria The peak offending age for alleged offenders with drug offences in Victoria is 15–44 years, with most of these in the 15–29 year age group. (Sixty-three per cent of alleged offenders for drug traffic/manufacture/cultivate offences are in this latter age group, as are 77 per cent of alleged offenders for drug use and possession offences.) In 1997– 98 there were 11,738 alleged drug offenders aged 15–29 years, compared with 3,628 aged 30–44 years. The number of alleged drug offenders decreases as age increases. Only 571 alleged drug offenders were aged over 44 years in 1997–98. The same pattern is observable in previous year data. Whether these statistics reflect less offending by people of older age, or whether it is simply that young offenders are more likely to be noticed by police, is unknown.

The rates of offending shown in Table 25 have been calculated using crime statistics for alleged drug offenders aged 15–24 years and Victorian Census population figures for persons aged 15–24 years. The rates in the table below indicate that a disproportionate number of people being processed by police for drug traffic offences are people of Vietnamese background, who are aged 15 to 24 years. Of the total 679 Vietnamese-born, alleged offenders for trafficking heroin in 1997–98 (see in Table 25), 77 per cent were aged 15 to 24 years. Given their young age and taking into account the comments of court-based key informants about the backgrounds of Vietnamese appearing in court, it may be assumed that the greatest majority of these offenders are at the lower, street dealing level.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 231 Table 25 Number of alleged traffic heroin offenders in Victoria, by age, by selected countries of birth, per 100,000 ethnic population 1997–98

Alleged traffic heroin offenders Total pop 15–24 Total pop 25–44 15–24 Rate Per 25–44 Rate Per years (96 Census) years (96 Census) years (No.) 100,000 years (No.) 100,000 Australia 518,643 970,311 429 82.7 248 25.5 Greece 976 13,964 0 0 3 21.5 Italy 901 18,239 0 0 4 21.9 Lebanon 664 7,315 0 0 3 41.0 Somalia 425 515 8 1,882.0 0 0 Turkey 1,695 8,000 5 294.9 7 87.0 Vietnam 12,183 28,775 524 4,301.1 153 531.0

Conclusion Victoria Police drug crime statistics show an enormous increase in heroin-related offences and a decrease in cannabis offences. To a large degree, drug offences are detected directly by police because of police initiative, as opposed to having the crime reported to them by the public. (This assumption is supported by the key informants and by the 97.5 per cent clearance rate reported for drug offences.)

The drug offence statistics reflect a disproportionate number of Vietnamese-born people. The explanation for this may be related to several interrelated factors, including the apparent police focus on heroin-related offences in areas of high Vietnamese residency. The explanation may also be related to the fact that the Vietnamese community has a very high proportion of its members in the peak offending age group. (Seventy-four per cent of the Vietnamese-born community in Victoria is aged between 15 and 44 years, compared with 46 per cent of the Australian-born population.) Ninety-two per cent of alleged offenders processed by police for drug traffic/cultivate/manufacture offences are in the age group 15–44 years, and 96 per cent of offenders processed for drug use/possess offences are in the 15–44 year age group.

Another reason for the high representation of Vietnamese-born people in drug offence statistics may be due to the fact that they are a recently arrived migrant group, and by the fact that ‘country of birth’ is used as the definer of ethnicity in the statistics. People of Vietnamese background show up much more prominently in the statistics than do people from other ethnic communities who have been in Australia for a longer time. This is because these communities tend to have the greatest proportion of their young people (in the peak offending age group) incorporated into the ‘born in Australia’ category.

Whether drug offending by people from the Vietnamese community is actually any higher than that by other communities is very much open to debate. Certainly, police

232 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement crime statistics are not as good an indicator of actual offending as they may be of police activity (as discussed above).

To a large degree, police are the gateway to the criminal justice system. As such, statistics from Juvenile Justice Services and Prisons also reflect a growing proportion of Vietnamese-born in their statistics as the offenders pass through the criminal justice system. What is apparent from the Juvenile Justice statistics (and it is suspected in the prison statistics too, which are yet to be finalised) is that Vietnamese drug offenders are less likely than their Australian counterparts to also commit offences involving violence and property. It is also suspected that a majority of the Vietnamese drug offenders being processed through criminal justice are involved at the lower end of the drug trafficking chain. These offenders are considered by many in the justice system to be receiving custodial sentences at a much earlier stage of their involvement with the criminal justice system than are offenders of Australian background. This may represent a serious inequity in the criminal justice system (Court and Juvenile Justice key informants). This area deserves further research.

Juvenile Justice Client Information System (SSCIS)—Illicit Drugs

The Data The Juvenile Justice Client information System (SSCIS) is used to track clients through their supervised court orders with the Juvenile Justice program. The database assists decisions about the appropriate care of clients and fulfils a case management function. Data comes from assessment forms filled in by regional Juvenile Justice staff, who supervise community-based orders, and from reception staff at youth training centres. Offence data is drawn directly from the Court Order/Warrant, as recorded by the Clerks of Court. The Youth Parole Board also enters data directly onto the SSCIS. Most court orders originate in the Children’s Court (for 10–16 year olds), although adult courts may issue custody orders to 17–20 year old offenders, for serving in the Juvenile Justice system. Note that the variable ‘ethnicity’ is recorded by Juvenile Justice workers and may reflect a subjective judgment by the worker. Ethnicity was stated in 97 per cent of the Orders.

Caution Offence data relies on the accuracy and thoroughness with which the Clerk of the Court enters offences. There may be occasions when not all offences are recorded, or if considered relatively minor, listed as ‘other’. Also, an offence could be committed to support a drug habit but if no drug-related charges are made at the time of the arrest, nothing can be recorded. The offence data analysed is therefore likely to be understated.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 233 Results An analysis of 1997–98 Juvenile Justice data shows that seven per cent of clients are ‘Vietnamese’ (N = 109) and 84 per cent of these have drug offences. This compares with only 17 per cent of ‘Australian’ clients who had drug offences. An examination of clients with drug offences shows that ‘Vietnamese’ clients are less likely also to have property or violence offences than are ‘Australian’ clients with drug offences.

Juvenile Justice Clients Nearly three out of every four clients under Juvenile Justice supervision were nominated as ‘Australian’. Next most numerous were ‘Vietnamese’, followed by ‘Cambodian’. (See Table 26.)

Table 26 Total number and percentage of clients supervised by Juvenile Justice Service 1997–98, by ethnicity

Ethnicity Number Proportion Australian 1,088 74 Vietnamese 109 7 Cambodian 34 2 Maori 18 1 Turkish 15 1 New Zealand 13 0.9 Filipino 13 0.9 Greek 11 0.8 Italian 11 0.8 Lebanese 11 0.8 42 other ethnic backgrounds 143 10 Total 1,466 99.2 Total individuals with no ethnicity variable 64

Drug Offending Three hundred and sixty-one clients (24 per cent of all clients) had been charged with one or more drug offences in 1997–98. Of these, 51 per cent (N=185) were designated ‘Australian’; 26 per cent (N=92) ‘Vietnamese’; and seven per cent (N=26) ‘Cambodian’. (See Table 27.) (Because the age categories are incompatible, it has not been possible to calculate what these figures represent per 100,000 population.) The remaining drug offenders were from 27 different ethnicities. Of the total 109 Vietnamese Juvenile Justice clients, 92 (or 84 per cent) had drug offences, compared

234 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement with the total 1,088 Australian clients of whom 185 (or only 17 per cent) had drug offences.

Approximately half the clients with drug use offences were ‘Australian’, while one quarter was ‘Vietnamese’. For drug traffic offences, however, this pattern is reversed: approximately half the clients with drug traffic offences were ‘Vietnamese’, while 20 per cent were ‘Australian’. Only seven per cent of ‘Cambodian’ clients had any drug offences, or drug use offences, and 14 per cent had drug traffic offences. (Note that numbers are very small for ‘Cambodian’ ethnicity.) (See Table 27.)

Table 27 Drug offences of Juvenile Justice clients by ethnicity, 1997–98

Drug offences Any drug offence Drug use Drug traffic Drug man./grow No. % No. % No. % No. % Australian 185 51 169 53 33 20 7 64 Vietnamese 92 26 79 25 80 49 - - Cambodian 26 7 21 7 23 14 - - Other 58 16 51 15 29 17 4 36 Total 361 100 320 100 165 100 11 100 Note: a client who has more than one type of drug offence will appear in more than one column. Thus, if an individual had an offence of drug use and drug traffic, they would appear in the drug use and the drug traffic columns and in the ‘any drug offence’ column. ‘Any drug offence’ includes any client who has one or more of the three offence types.

Drug Offending and Concurrent Offences Sixty-eight per cent of Juvenile Justice clients with drug use offences also had property offences or violence offences (35 per cent). Of the 117 clients who had drug use and violence offences, 76 (65 per cent) had one or two violence offences and 41 had three or more violence offences. Offenders with drug traffic offences were less likely also to have property or violence offences. Only a minority had property offences (32 per cent), or violence offences (23 per cent). All Juvenile Justice clients with drug manufacture or grow offences also had property offences (100 per cent) and 36 per cent had violence offences.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 235 Table 28 Drug offence by type of concurrent offence, Juvenile Justice clients 1997–98

Type of drug offence Use illicit drugs Traffic drugs Man/grow drugs Concurrent offences No. % No. % No. % Property offences 224 68 54 32 11 100 Violence offences 117 35 39 23 4 36 Sex offences 2 .6 1 .6 - - Other offences 180 54 67 40 8 73 Note: some individuals are counted more than once where they have more than one type of concurrent offence. For example, where a client has a drug offence and both a property offence and a violence offence, they will be counted twice in the above Table.

Juvenile Justice clients with drug offences and violence offences, or with drug offences and property offences, were more likely to be ‘Australian’ (68 per cent and 73 per cent respectively). Only 17 individuals of ‘Vietnamese’ ethnicity who had a drug offence also had a violence offence. (This group represents 16 per cent of the total Vietnamese clients and 14 per cent of clients with drug and violence offences.) Only 17 clients of ‘Vietnamese’ ethnicity who had a drug offence, also had a property offence. (This represents 16 per cent of total ‘Vietnamese’ clients and eight per cent of clients with drug and property offences.) (See Tables 29 and 30.)

Table 29 Juvenile Justice clients with drug and violence offences, by ethnicity 1997–98

Drug offences and violence offences Any drug offence and Drug use and Drug traffic and Drug man/grow and violence violence violence violence No. % No. % No. % No. % Australian 84 68 79 69 14 37 4 100 Vietnamese 17 14 15 13 13 34 - - Cambodian 3 2 3 3 3 8 - - Other 20 16 18 15 8 21 - - Total 124 100 115 100 38 100 4 100

236 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Table 30 Juvenile Justice clients with drug and property offences, by ethnicity 1997–98

Drug offences and property offences Any drug offence and Drug use and Drug traffic and Drug man/grow and property property property property No. % No. % No. % No. % Australian 166 73 156 72 20 39 7 64 Vietnamese 17 8 17 8 14 28 - - Cambodian 3 1 3 1 2 4 - - Other 42 18 40 19 15 29 4 36 Total 228 100 216 100 51 100 11 100

Number of drug use offences for each Juvenile Justice client with drug offences 1997–98:

ƒ ‘Australian’ Juvenile Justice clients with drug use offences had an average of 1.7 drug use charges each. Range was one to seven drug use offences each.

ƒ ‘Vietnamese’ Juvenile Justice clients with drug use offences had an average of two drug use charges each. Range was one to six drug use offences each.

ƒ ‘Cambodian’ Juvenile Justice clients with drug use offences had an average of two drug use charges each. Range was one to seven drug use offences each.

Number of drug traffic offences for each Juvenile Justice client with drug traffic offences 1997–98:

ƒ ‘Australian’ Juvenile Justice clients with drug traffic offences had an average of 1.2 drug traffic charges each. Range was one to three drug traffic offences each.

ƒ ‘Vietnamese’ Juvenile Justice clients with drug traffic offences had an average of 1.4 drug traffic charges each. Range was one to four drug traffic offences each.

ƒ ‘Cambodian’ Juvenile Justice clients with drug traffic offences had an average of two drug traffic charges each. Range was one to seven drug use offences each.

Conclusion The majority of Juvenile Justice clients with drug offences is ‘Australian’ (51 per cent), compared with 26 per cent being ‘Vietnamese’. However, a large majority of the total ‘Vietnamese’ Juvenile Justice clients (84 per cent) has drug offences. The analysis has shown that ‘Vietnamese’ drug offence clients are much less likely than ‘Australian’ clients to have concurrent property or violence offences. Only 17 (or 16 per cent of total Vietnamese clients) have drug offences and concurrent violence

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 237 offences and 18 per cent have drug offences and concurrent property offences. In contrast, 68 per cent of Australian-born Juvenile Justice clients have drug offences and concurrent violence offences and 73 per cent have drug offences and concurrent property offences. It therefore appears as though ‘Vietnamese’ drug offenders are much less likely than ‘Australian’ clients to have committed violence or property offences.

Prisoner Information Management System—PIMS: Prison Statistics: Illicit Drugs

The Prisoner Population Victoria has the second lowest per capita rate of imprisonment in Australia. The rate is almost half that of New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia, and that of Australia as a whole (Table 31). As at 30 June 1998, there were 2,858 prisoners in Victoria, (ABS, 1999). Victoria has the highest proportion of secure custody prisoners: 87.8 per cent of all prisoners in Victoria. (No proportions were given for other states.) (Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision, 1999: 530.)

Table 31 Prisoners in custody, per 100,000 adult population, as at September 1998, by State or Territory

States and Territories Imprisonment rate per 100,000 pop. NSW 140.4 VIC 79.1 QLD 188.7 SA 125.9 WA 185.1 TAS 93.2 NT 459.3 ACT 52.4 AUST 136.7 (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, December 1998: 7)

Most Serious Offence a Drug Offence The national prisoner Census shows that in mid-1997 there were 188 male and ten female prisoners in Victorian prisons whose most serious offence was a drug offence (4.5 per 100,000 Victorian population). This was considerably less than in NSW prisons where the numbers were 867 male and 67 females (15.4 per 100,000 NSW

238 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement population) (ABS Sept, 1998: 21–23). Victoria has the lowest rate of imprisonment for drug consumption in Australia, with these offences usually resulting in a community- based order rather than imprisonment (Victorian Prison Service, 1996: 24). In Victoria the number of prisoners with drug offences as their most serious offence has remained relatively stable over the previous decade and has declined slightly as a proportion of all prisoners (Table 32). However, in 1998 the number and proportions have risen sharply.

Table 32 Number of prisoners in Victoria and proportion whose most serious offence was a drug offence, by year

Year 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

No. of 2,256 2,316 2,310 2,277 2,272 2,522 2,467 2,440 2,643 2,858 prisoners No. with a 237 250 226 223 232 255 237 239 232 346 drug offence Per cent of 10.5 10.8 9.8 9.8 10.2 10.1 9.6 9.8 8.8 12.1 prison pop. (Source: ABS June 1999: 99)

The number of Victorian prisoners in prison for drug trafficking offences increased dramatically in 1998, up almost 50 per cent on the previous year (see Table 33).

Table 33 Sentenced Victorian prisoners whose most serious offence was a drug offence, by type of drug offence, sex and year of incarceration

(Mid-year) 1995 1996 1997 1998

Drug Offence M F M F M F M F

Possess or use 14 1 12 1 12 - 19 1

Deal or traffic 173 14 175 10 166 10 238 16

Manufacture or grow 2 - 4 - 10 - 12 -

Total 189 15 191 11 188 10 269 17 (Source: Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner. February 1999: 11)

Ethnicity of Prisoners Approximately 15 per cent of the total prisoner population have culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLDB). This proportion remained relatively stable from 1987 through 1997, but rose to its highest point in 11 years in 1998 when it reached nearly 20 per cent of the male prisoner population (Table 34).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 239 Table 34 Ethnic background of Victorian prisoners by sex and year, 1995–98

1995 1996 1997 1998

M F M F M F M F

No. from NESB 1,958 97 1,918 109 2,031 135 2,150 132

Per cent 83 85 84 86 83 89 81 87

No. from CLD 378 17 376 18 432 16 518 19

Per cent 16 15 16 14 17 11 19 13

Total No. 2,336 114 2,294 127 2,463 151 2,668 151 (Source: Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner. February 1999: 11)

It is suspected that the rise in the proportion of prisoners from CLDB is associated with the rise in the number of prisoners whose most serious offence is traffic illicit drugs, and the rise in the number of prisoners born in Vietnam. Vietnam is the only country of birth that showed a consistent rise in numbers and proportions. The number and percentage of prisoners born in Vietnam rose steadily from 1987 through 1996 but then increased dramatically over the next two years (Table 35).

Table 35 Number of male prisoners in Victoria, born in Vietnam and proportion of all prisoners, by year

Year 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Number 9 22 22 39 41 39 42 58 66 98 139

Proportion % 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.7 2.5 2.9 3.9 5.1 (Source: Office of the Correctional Services Commissioner., February 1999: 11 and ABS 1999)

Analysis of Prison Information Management System Data 1997–98 A specific analysis of Prison information Management System (PIMS) data was conducted. The data set contained information on the latest prison episode for all persons who were in prison during the period 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998—a total of 8,915 individuals. Some of these people may have been in prison for the entire 12- month period, others may have had short sentences, and others may have finished or started their sentences during the study year period. The information referred to below is from each individual’s latest entry into prison. Thus, if a person entered prison twice in 1997–98 the information will have been taken from their latest (‘current episode’) intake record. Each time a prisoner enters prison they are interviewed and their current details entered onto the PIMS database. Primarily the data is used for prison management purposes.

240 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Of the 8,915 people who had an episode of imprisonment during the year 1997–98, 7,639 or 85.7 per cent were born in Australia. This is a rate of 23.7 per 100,000 Australian-born, Victorian population. Two hundred and twenty-two (222), or 2.5 per cent of prisoners, were born in Vietnam. This is a rate of 401.4 per 100,000 Vietnam-born, Victorian population. Four hundred and seventeen (417) prisoners, or 4.7 per cent of all prisoners, were from other English speaking backgrounds, and 574, or 6.4 per cent, were from CLDB other than Vietnam.

Prisoners’ Most Serious Offence Most prisoners enter prison with a string of charges for which they have been convicted and sentenced. The offence which has the most severe penalty attached to it is recorded as the ‘most serious offence’. This variable appears in most of the published statistics on prisoners. A majority of prisoners born in Australia, or born in other English language countries, have violence as their most serious offence (53 per cent and 58 per cent respectively), and 41 per cent of prisoners from CLD countries have violence as their most serious offence. In contrast, only 25 per cent of Vietnamese-born prisoners had violence as their most serious offence.

Proportions of prisoners with offences of property as their most serious offence were similar across groups, although much lower for Vietnamese born prisoners (approximately eight per cent compared with 18 per cent). However, while only ten per cent to 20 per cent of prisoners in other ethnic categories had drug offending as their most serious offence, 48 per cent of Vietnamese born prisoners had drug offending as their most serious offence. (See Figure 3.)

100.0

80.0 violence 60.0 property drug 40.0 other

Percentage 20.0

0.0 AUS ESB CLD VIET COB

Figure 3 Prisoners’ current episode most serious offence by COB, 1997-98

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 241 Because the numbers for other countries of birth were low, only Vietnamese and Australian-born prisoners were calculated per 100,000 population. It can be seen in Figure 4 (below) that rates per hundred thousand population were higher for Vietnamese-born prisoners, except in the case of ‘violence’ and ‘other’ crime categories. The greatest discrepancy was for most serious offence: drugs. The rate was 168 per 100,000 Vietnamese population, compared with 22 per 100,000 Australian-born population. Violence as most serious offence was 60 per 100,000 for Vietnamese-born prisoners, compared with 117 per 100,000 for the Australian-born.

Figure 4 Prisoners’ current episode most serious offence by COB, rate per 100,000 ethnic population

180.0

160.0

140.0

120.0 violence 100.0 property 80.0 drug other 60.0 Rate per 100,000 40.0

20.0

0.0 AUS VIET COB

Drug Offending Twenty-seven per cent of the Vietnamese-born prisoner population had a drug offence as their most serious offence. For other backgrounds the proportions were: approximately 18 per cent of prisoners born in Turkey, 18 per cent of prisoners born in Lebanon, ten per cent of prisoners born in Australia, eight per cent of prisoners born in Italy, seven per cent of prisoners born in Greece and 12 per cent of prisoners born in other countries. Thus, while just over one in four prisoners who were born in Vietnam had a drug offence as their most serious offence, only one in ten of the Australian-born prisoner population had a drug offence as their most serious offence. (See Figure 5.)

242 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 5 Prisoners’ country of birth/most serious drug offence 1997-98

30

25

20

15

10

5 Proportion of All Prisoners (%)

0 Australian Greek Italian Lebanese Turkish Vietnamese Others Country of Birth

An examination of the 933 prisoners who had a drug offence as their most serious offence shows that 75 per cent are born in Australia and ten per cent are born in Vietnam (Table 36).

Prisoners who had drug traffic charges among their string of offences numbered 1,034. Of these, 748 (72 per cent) were born in Australia and 112 (11 per cent) were born in Vietnam.

Table 36 shows that a majority of Vietnamese-born prisoners, whose most serious offence was a drug offence, were aged under 26 years (53.4 per cent). (For all prisoners, the proportion in this age group is 33 per cent.) In comparison with the Vietnamese-born, a majority of Australian-born prisoners, other English speaking background prisoners and prisoners born in cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds (excluding Vietnam), whose most serious offence was a drug offence, were aged 26 years and over.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 243 Table 36 Age distribution of prisoners by ethnicity, whose current episode most serious offence is a drug offence, 1997–98

Age 18–21 21–25 26–30 31–40 41+ Total No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. Australian— 63 9.0 158 22.7 124 17.8 207 29.7 145 20.8 697 (75%) born Other ESB 3 7.7 6 15.4 4 10.3 14 35.9 12 30.8 39 (4%) Other CLD 7 6.7 17 16.3 16 15.4 32 30.8 32 30.8 104 (11%) Vietnamese- 18 19.0 32 34.4 20 21.5 16 17.0 7 7.5 93 (10%) born Total 91 10% 213 23% 164 18% 269 29% 196 21% 933 Missing variable ‘country of birth’ = 20 cases

Total Drug Offending Prisoners who had drug charges among their string of offences numbered 2,059. This figure is perhaps a better indication of prisoner drug offending than is ‘most serious offence’ because, in many cases, drug offending is subsumed by other types of offending, such as violence and property, which may be deemed to be more serious. This is particularly the case for the Australian-born prisoner where there is a high proportion with more serious violence offending, which masks the extent of their drug offending.

While Australian-born prisoners were equally likely to have drug use and drug traffic offences (44 per cent and 46 per cent respectively), the Vietnamese-born prisoners were less likely to have drug use offences and more likely to have drug traffic offences: 15 per cent and 84 per cent respectively. This may lead to an assumption that Vietnamese-born drug traffickers are less likely to be drug users than are the Australian-born prisoners. However, this may be a wrong assumption given the findings for drug use shown below.

Illicit Drug Use by Drug Offender Prisoners On entering the prison system prisoners are asked a number of questions about drug use (including alcohol). However, two questions were considered to point to illicit drug use exclusive of alcohol. These were: ‘Have you injected in the previous 12 months?’ and ‘Did you commit your present offences to support a drug habit?’ For the purposes of this analysis, where a ‘yes’ answer was given to either of these questions, the prisoner was considered to be a user of illicit drugs.

Drug use among Australian-born prisoners with drug traffic charges was 65 per cent, compared with 82 per cent for Vietnamese-born drug traffickers. A similar pattern is observed among prisoners whose most serious offence was a drug offence. Seventy per cent (70 per cent) of Australian-born prisoners, whose most serious

244 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement offence was a drug offence, indicated that they used illicit drugs, compared with 83 per cent for the Vietnamese-born. From the analysis of drug use, it appears that Vietnamese-born drug offending prisoners are more likely than drug offending Australian born prisoners to be using illicit drugs.

Illicit Drug Use of All Prisoners When the drug use of the entire prisoner population was looked at (using the definition of drug use as described above), 72 per cent of Australian-born and 73 per cent of Vietnamese-born prisoners indicated they used illicit drugs. Prisoners from non-English speaking backgrounds (exclusive of the Vietnamese-born) had the lowest proportion of illicit drug use (58 per cent). (See Figure 6.) Thus overall, drug use by prisoners is extremely high, with this analysis indicating that fewer than three out of every four prisoners had used illicit drugs before their imprisonment.

Figure 6 Prisoners' illicit drug use by COB, 1997-98

100

80

60

40

20 % of prison pop'n

0 Australian Other ESB CLD Vietnam COB

Some Further Observations The rise in the number of prisoners born in Vietnam is consistent with:

ƒ An enormous increase in heroin-related arrests by police in Victoria and the concentration of Victoria Police on areas of high Vietnamese population, including Footscray, Frankston, Springvale and Dandenong (ABCI, 1999: 39).

ƒ An apparent trend in courts to sentence higher proportions of drug traffic offenders to periods of incarceration than any other category of offender. (An analysis of court outcomes for defendants with proven charges, by offence categories, in the Magistrates Court in July to October 1998, shows that incarceration rates are highest where the offence is one of ‘drug cultivate, manufacture or traffic’.)

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 245 ƒ Just over 50 per cent of offenders whose principal proven offence was so defined received a disposition of incarceration. This is considerably higher than other common categories of offences heard in the Magistrates Courts. For example, only approximately five per cent of (non-rape) sex offenders receive sentences of incarceration, less than five per cent of assault offenders receive incarceration, approximately ten per cent of burglary offenders receive incarceration and 20 per cent of robbery offenders receive incarceration (Criminal Justice Statistics and Research Unit, 1998).

ƒ The increase in rates of Vietnamese offenders appearing in the Juvenile Justice system and the Corrections system corresponds to the introduction of legislation which gives tougher sentences to drug offenders and creates a ‘serious drug offender’ category for repeat drug traffickers. (Sentencing and Others (Amendment) Act 1997. No. 48. Victoria, Australia.)

Corrections—Community-Based Court Dispositions (OASIS): Illicit Drugs

The Database OASIS The OASIS database contains data on all persons sentenced to community-based dispositions by the Courts. Convicted offenders sentenced to a community-based order by the Courts are interviewed by Community Corrections assessment staff before commencing their disposition. All the client’s details, including demographic data, are entered onto the electronic OASIS database. The database is used to manage an individual through the disposition period until it is completed. Data may be added throughout the sentence, as required.

The computerised database was commenced in the early 1980s. The database has records for approximately 150,000 past and present clients. The average daily number of offenders on community-based orders was 7,063 in 1996–97.

Where drugs are indicated and the client is on a more serious community disposition, such as parole or intensive care order, or there are conditions from the court for treatment, the client is referred for a full assessment and linking into drug treatment. Clients with less serious community-based orders, even if for drug offences, or where the client is having problems with drugs, they are not assessed for drug treatment.

The data analysed below contains information on all persons who received a community-based order in the period 1 July 1997 to 30 June 1998. This was a total of 40,433 individuals. Some of these people may have been on a community-based order for the entire 12-month period, others may have had shorter-term community orders and others may have finished or started their community dispositions during the study year. If a person received two or more separate community-based dispositions within the study year, only their latest entry data is counted.

246 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Clients’ Ethnicity The variables ‘country of birth’ and ‘nationality’ are the variables used on the OASIS database to indicate ethnicity. Of the 40,433 clients on community-based orders during 1997–98, 38,914 (96 per cent) had country of birth specified. Of these, 32,100 (82.5 per cent) of clients were born in Australia, 2088 (5.4 per cent) clients were born in other English language countries, 3,836 (9.8 per cent) clients were born in CLDB countries, and 890 (2.3 per cent) clients were born in Vietnam.

Clients with Drug Offences Excluding clients where no country of birth was stated, 5,845 (15 per cent) of all clients (38,914) had a drug offence. Drug offences were present for 14.5 per cent of clients born in Australia; 13.8 per cent of clients born in other English speaking countries; and 13.9 per cent of clients born in CLDB countries. For the clients born in Vietnam, however, the pattern was quite different, with 42.2 per cent of the Vietnamese-born clients having drug offences.

The number of clients with drug offences who were born in Australia was 4,657, a rate of 144.8 per 100,000 Australian born population in Victoria. The number of offenders with drug offences who were born in Vietnam was 367, a rate of 663.6 per 100,000 Vietnam-born population in Victoria.

As can be seen in Table 37, clients born in Vietnam were more likely to have drug offences and while type of drug offence was relatively evenly spread for each of the different backgrounds, for the Vietnamese-born the greatest proportion had drug traffic offences (some of whom may also have had drug use offences).

Table 37 Offenders on community-based orders for drug offences, by country of birth 1997–98

Type of Drug Offence No drug Drug use Drug traffic Drug man/grow Total offences offences offences offences Country of birth No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Australia 27,443 85.5 2,663 8.3 779 2.4 1,215 3.8 32,100 100 Any other English 1,799 86.2 161 7.7 48 2.3 80 3.8 2,088 100 speaking country CLDB county 3,304 86.1 260 6.8 178 4.6 94 2.5 3,836 100 Vietnam 523 58.8 95 10.7 268 30.1 4 0.4 890 100 Total 33,069 3179 1,273 1,393 38,914 Country of birth not specified for 1,519 clients. Note: individual clients appear only once in the above table. Drug offences have been classified into a hierarchy. Thus, if a client has a drug man./grow offence and also has other traffic or use drug offences, they will only appear in the drug man./grow column. If a client has drug use and traffic offences they will only appear in the drug traffic column. If a client has drug use offences and no other drug offences they will appear in the drug use column. It was not possible in this analysis to determine how many drug traffickers were also drug users.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 247 Of the clients who had drug use (only) offences, 2,663 (83.8 per cent) were born in Australia, 161 (5.1 per cent) were born in another English language country, 260 (8.2 per cent) were born in CLDB countries and 95 (three per cent) were born in Vietnam.

Of the clients who had drug traffic offences (and had no drug manufacture or grow offences, and may or may not have had drug use offences), 799 (61.2 per cent) were born in Australia, 48 (3.8 per cent) were born in another English language country, 178 (14 per cent) were born in CLDB countries and 268 (21.1 per cent) were born in Vietnam.

Of the clients with drug manufacture or grow offences (and who may or may not have had drug traffic or drug use offences), 1,215 (87.2 per cent) were born in Australia, 80 (5.7 per cent) were born in another English language country, 94 (6.7 per cent) were born in CLDB countries and 4 (0.3 per cent) were born in Vietnam.

Clients’ Country of Birth by Other Types of Offences Of the 5,845 clients who had drug offences, and where country of birth was indicated, 3,854 (65.9 per cent) had no other offences except those relating to drugs. Of these, 77.4 per cent were born in Australia, five per cent were born in other English language countries, 9.7 per cent were born in CLDB countries and 7.9 per cent were born in Vietnam.

A different pattern emerges when the proportions are calculated within each birthplace category. For the Australian-born, 9.3 per cent had drug offences alone; 9.2 per cent of clients born in other English language countries had only drug offences, and 9.8 per cent of clients born in CLDB countries had only drug offences. For the clients born in Vietnam, 34 per cent had drug offences only.

As can be seen in Figure 7, the proportion of clients with violence offences was similar for all background groups except for those born in Vietnam. While approximately 14 per cent of clients from other background groups had violence offences, only 7.5 per cent of the Vietnamese-born clients did. A more even distribution was found for property offending, although a higher proportion of clients born in Australia and other English language countries had property offences (37.6 per cent and 34 per cent respectively) while this rate was a little less for those from CLDBs (30.4 per cent) and the Vietnamese-born (29.2 per cent). As shown above, proportion of clients with drug offences was similar for all background groups except for the Vietnamese-born, where the proportion was much higher (approximately 14 per cent for other backgrounds and 41.2 per cent for the Vietnamese-born).

Thus Vietnamese-born clients are less likely to have violence offences, more likely to have drug offences, and more likely to only have drug offences.

248 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 7 Offences of offenders on community-based dispositions by COB, 1997-98

100 90 80 70 60 Violence 50 Property 40 Drugs

Percentage 30 20 10 0 AUS ESB CLD VIETNAM COB

Age of Drug Offenders Analysis of the age of clients with drug offences also showed distinct patterns. Drug offenders born in Vietnam tended to be much younger than drug offenders in other background categories are. Drug offences for the other background categories were relatively evenly spread across age groups and of a similar distribution pattern. However for the Vietnamese-born, the greatest majority of clients were aged under 26 years.

Of the Australian-born clients with any drug offences, 45.7 per cent were aged under 26 years compared with 79 per cent of the Vietnamese-born who were aged under 26 years. This pattern is similar for clients with drug use and drug traffic offences.

Of the Australian-born clients who had drug use offences as their only drug offence, 47 per cent were aged under 26 years, compared with 71.6 per cent of the Vietnamese-born who had drug use only offences. (For other ESB clients the rate was 37.3 per cent and for clients from CLDB countries, 40 per cent.)

Of the Australian-born clients who had drug traffic offences (and who had no drug manufacture or grow offences, and who may, or may not, have had drug use offences), 59.9 per cent were aged under 26 years, compared with 81.8 per cent of the Vietnamese-born. Fifty-three per cent (53.4 per cent) of the Vietnamese-born clients with drug traffic offences were aged under 21 years, compared with 30 per cent of the Australian-born who had drug traffic offences.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 249 Numbers were too small to make any meaningful comparisons between Australian- born offenders and Vietnamese-born offenders with manufacture or grow drug offences. (Only three individuals of Vietnamese birth and nine from CLDB had these offences.) Of the 1,215 Australian-born offenders with manufacture or grow drug offences, 78 per cent were aged between 21 and 40 years, and 55.3 per cent were aged 26 to 40 years.

Overall, the patterns found in the OASIS database mirror those of the police, prisons and Juvenile Justice databases. The Vietnamese-born are over-represented in comparison with their size in the community. Vietnamese-born offenders are more likely than any other group to be in the criminal justice system as a result of drug offending. They tend to have fewer violence offences or other types of offending, and they are of a younger age demographic than are other offenders.

Statistical Profile of Victorians from Main and Non- Main English Speaking Countries, 1996 Census (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Introduction Social and economic characteristics of ethnic groups (where ethnicity is determined by country of birth), which may determine vulnerability to illicit drug use, were examined. For the purpose of this section of the report, culturally and linguistically diverse communities are described as Non-Mainly English Speaking Countries (NMESC) in accordance with the term used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Census data examined included unemployment and labour force status (15–24 and 25–64 years), proficiency in English (15–24 and 25–64 years), education (15–24 years), proficiency in English by labour force status (15–24 years) and labour force status by local government area (15–24 years). For the purpose of this report, the term ‘youth’ will be 15 to 24 years of age.

Our analysis included data for Victorians born in Vietnam, Somalia, Laos, Cambodia, Romania, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russian Federation, China, Indonesia, Lebanon, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Greece, Italy, Turkey and Australia. This selection of countries of birth encompassed those migrant groups with more established links to Australia, those who arrived during the 1980s and lastly those who arrived in the 1990s. These countries of birth were then grouped into Main English Speaking Countries (MESC) and NMESC. The reason for the age categories was largely due to the belief that those aged 15 to 24 years were perceived to be more vulnerable to using drugs as a result of various factors, in contrast to those aged 25 to 64 years.

250 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Unemployment and Not in Labour Force Rates for Persons Aged 15 to 24 Years

Unemployment Over all 62,000 youth (15–24 years) born in MESC and NMESC were unemployed in 1996, an unemployment rate of 16 per cent. This is in contrast to the unemployment rate recorded at the 1991 Census (21 per cent).

Figure 8 Unemployment and not in labour force rates for persons aged 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria

100 Unemployment Rate (%) Not in labour force (%) 90

80

70

60

50 Rate (%) 40

30

20

10

0

Iraq Italy Laos China Greece Turkey Vietnam Somalia Romania Lebanon Australia Cambodia Indonesia Afghanistan Total MESC Total NMESC

Russian Federation Bosnia-Herzegovina Country of Birth

ƒ The unemployment rate for MESC youth was 16 per cent, a decrease from 20 per cent in the 1991 Census. The unemployment rate for NMESC youth in 1996 was 29 per cent, down from 34 per cent in 1991.

ƒ In 1996, over 50 per cent of the youth labour force of those born in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan were unemployed, although youth labour force numbers from these countries was small. High unemployment rates were also found among youth born in Indonesia (39 per cent), Lebanon (38 per cent), Turkey (38 per cent), Vietnam (38 per cent), Bosnia-Herzegovina (37 per cent) and Romania (37 per cent). Figures from the 1991 Census show unemployment rates among these groups, excluding Bosnia-Herzegovina (which were not available), have changed little except for those from Vietnam and Romania, which were above 50 per cent. In 1996, the unemployment rate for those born in Laos, Cambodia and China was approaching 35 per cent. The lowest unemployment rate was

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 251 found among those born in Italy and Greece (18 per cent). The unemployment rate for Australian-born was 15 per cent.

Not in the Labour Force17 ƒ In 1996, the proportion of MESC youth not in the labour force was 33 per cent, a rate similar to that of 1991. However, this was in marked contrast to youth from NMESC, where up to 60 per cent were not in the labour force in 1996, up from 51 per cent in 1991.

ƒ Reasons for the high percentage of NMESC youth not in the labour force are not clear. It may be a result of a high proportion of the population being engaged in studies, house duties or family responsibilities. However, there is probably a significant number of hidden unemployed who may like to work but are not actively seeking work.

ƒ A large number of NMESC youth was not in the labour force. Rates ranged from 45 per cent to 60 per cent. For youth not in the labour force who were born in Somalia, Afghanistan, China and Indonesia, the rates were greater (65 per cent and above). There was little change in the rates of those not in the labour force for those born in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Romania and Lebanon when compared with the 1991 Census. However, there was an increase by over ten per cent for youth born in Turkey between the 1991 and 1996 Census. In 1996, the lowest rate not in the labour force was found for Australian-born (33 per cent).

Unemployment and not in labour force rates for persons aged 25 to 64 years, 1996

Unemployment Over 1.6 million working adults in Victoria were in the labour force in 1996. Of these, eight per cent were unemployed; a lower rate than in the 1991 Census that indicated ten per cent were unemployed.

17 Not in the labour force includes those persons who, during the Census week, were not in the categories ‘employed’ or ‘unemployed’. These categories can include people who are retired; inactive people; people permanently unable to work; trainee teachers; person in hospital or in unpaid voluntary work for charitable organisations. They can also be persons with marginal attachment to the labour force (i.e. wanted to work and were available to work within 4 weeks; although claiming to have looked for work in the four weeks up to the end of the survey week, had not taken active steps to find work.) They can also be discouraged job-seekers. These were people who wanted and were available for work but whose main reason for not taking active steps to find work was they believed they could not get a job for some of the following reasons: they were considered by employers too young or old; difficulties with language or ethnic background; lack of skills or experience. (For further details, see Census Dictionary 1996 and A Guide to Labour Statistics ABS 1986).

252 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 9 Unemployment and not in labour force rates for persons aged 25 to 64 years, 1996 Census, Victoria

100

90 Unemployment Rate (%) Not in labour force (%) 80

70

60

50 Rate (%) 40

30

20

10

0

Iraq Italy Laos China Greece Turkey Vietnam Somalia Romania Lebanon Australia Cambodia Indonesia Afghanistan Total MSEC Total NMSEC

Russian Federation Bosnia-Herzegovina Country of Birth

The unemployment rate among those from MESC was seven per cent, compared with 13 per cent for persons from NMESC.

Unemployment rates for those born in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq were highest (rates above 48 per cent) while at the other end of the scale those born in Greece and Italy were lowest (just under 11 per cent). In 1996, the unemployment rate for those born in Vietnam was 25 per cent, a decline from 38 per cent in 1991. A similar declining unemployment rate was found for those born in Cambodia (33 per cent to 25 per cent) and Romania (31 per cent to 18 per cent). There was a slight rise in unemployment rates for those born in Lebanon and Turkey. Australian-born had an unemployment rate of seven per cent.

Not in the Labour Force The total number of adults from MESC not in the labour force was over 1.6 million (22 per cent). This is in contrast to those of NMESC where 33 per cent were not in the labour force. Those from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece, Italy and Turkey had rates above 40 per cent, while 21 per cent of Australian- born were not in the labour force.

Summary of Unemployment and Not in Labour Force The unemployment rate for youth and adults born in NMESC was considerably greater than for those born in MESC. Unemployment among NMESC youth was higher among newly arrived migrant groups in Victoria than migrants who are well

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 253 established in Victoria. Generally, the unemployment rate among the various NMESC decreases as people become older. While the unemployment rate was generally less than in the 1991 Census among NMESC youth, this was not the case for those not in the labour force. The reasons for not being in the labour force were varied. This makes it difficult to establish why youth of NMESC experienced nearly double the rate of not being in the labour force compared with youth born in MESC.

Figure 10 People aged 15-24 years who arrived in Australia between 1991–1996: Proficiency in English by Birthplace, 1996 Census, Victoria

Speaks English Only Rate (%)

100 Other language & English, Very well to well, Rate (%) 90 Other language & English, Not well to None, Rate (%) 80

70

60

50

Rates (%)

40

30

20

10

0

Iraq Italy Laos China Greece Turkey Vietnam Somalia Romania Lebanon Cambodia Indonesia Afghanistan Total MESC Total NMESC

Russian Federation Bosnia-Herzegovina Country of Birth

ƒ Seventy-one per cent of people from NMESC who arrived between 1991–1996 and were aged 15–24 years spoke other languages and indicated they spoke English well to very well. Twenty per cent of NMESC spoke another language and indicated their English was poor or not spoken at all.

ƒ Over 65 per cent of recent arrivals from Somalia, Romania, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russian Federation, China, Indonesia and Bosnia-Herzegovina reported they spoke another language and spoke English well to very well. Fifty-two per cent (52 per cent) of recent arrivals from Vietnam and fewer than 38 per cent of those from Laos and Turkey reported they spoke English well to very well.

ƒ A substantial number of people arriving from Turkey, Laos and Cambodia reported that their spoken English was poor or not spoken at all (over 50 per cent). Over 40 per cent of those from Vietnam reported poor proficiency in English.

254 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement ƒ Those of Indo-Chinese origin generally indicated difficulties with English when compared with most of the other countries (excluding those from Turkey, Lebanon and Greece).

Figure 11 People aged 25–64 years who arrived in Australia between 1991 to 1996: Proficiency in English by birthplace

100.00 Speaks English Only Rate (%)

90.00 Other language & English, Very well to well, Rate (%)

80.00 Other language & English, Not well to None Rate (%)

70.00

60.00

50.00

40.00

Rates (%)

30.00

20.00

10.00 0.00

Iraq Italy Laos China Greece Turkey Vietnam Somalia Romania Lebanon Cambodia Indonesia Afghanistan Total MESC Total NMESC

Russia Federation Bosnia-Herzegovina Country of Birth

ƒ Fifty-three per cent of recent arrivals (of an older age) from NMESC spoke other languages and rate their English well to very well. Thirty-seven per cent indicated their English proficiency was either poor or not spoken at all.

ƒ Most older recent arrivals from Romania indicated they spoke English well to very well (64 per cent) as did up to 50 per cent of those from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia Federation, Lebanon, Greece and Italy. Only 35 per cent from Turkey and 21 per cent from Cambodia reported they spoke English well to very well.

ƒ Over 73 per cent of older recent arrivals from Vietnam and Cambodia, and 60 per cent of those from Turkey, indicated their English proficiency was either poor or not spoken at all. Fifty-five per cent of those who arrived from Laos and China reported poor or no English.

Summary of Proficiency in English Overall, a majority of youth from NMESC who arrived to Australia between 1991– 1996 reported they spoke English well to very well. A substantial proportion of Indo- Chinese youth indicated their spoken English was poor. As might be expected, the ability to speak English was poor for a substantial proportion of older recent arrivals

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 255 from NMESC. Adults arriving from Vietnam and Cambodia had a particularly high proportion having poor or no spoken English.

Secondary Education: Government, Catholic and Non-Government by Birthplace for Persons aged 15 to 24 years ƒ There was very little difference between the percentage of MESC (61 per cent) and NMESC (63 per cent) students attending government schools or between MESC (17 per cent) and NMESC (19 per cent) attending non-government schools. Students born in Somalia, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Romania, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon indicated the highest attendance at government schools. Students born in Indonesia had the lowest attendance at government schools (45 per cent).

ƒ Attendance at Catholic schools was greatest among those from Italy (29 per cent) Vietnam (22 per cent) and Greece (21 per cent). Those from Somalia, Afghanistan and Turkey had no students attending Catholic schools.

ƒ Those from the Russian Federation (37 per cent) and Indonesia (42 per cent) had the highest percentage of students attending non-government schools. This was followed by those from Australia (16 per cent), China (15 per cent) and Greece (14 per cent).

Summary of Those Attending Secondary School The majority of students from MESC and NMESC attended government schools. While there was little difference between the percentages of students from MESC and NMESC attending non-government schools, there were significant differences identified for country-specific birthplaces. As reported, 42 per cent of students born in Indonesia attended non-government schools in contrast to 16 per cent of students born in Australia.

Education Attendance (Full-Time and Part-Time): Secondary School; Technical or Further Education Institution; University or Other Tertiary Institutions; Other (Not Specified); Not attending any schooling. By birthplace, Aged 15 to 24 Years.

ƒ There were similar proportions of MESC and NMESC students attending secondary school (26 per cent and 27 per cent respectively) and attending technical or further education (eight per cent and ten per cent).

ƒ A significant difference was identified for those attending University or other tertiary institution. Among the MESC it was 14 per cent, compared with 29 per cent for NMESC.

ƒ Forty-eight per cent from MESC compared with 28 per cent among the NMESC did not attend any schooling (perhaps it may be that those from MESC were

256 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement more likely to be working). (The ABS has defined not attending any schooling as including being employed, unemployed, not in the labour force or staying at home.)

ƒ Those from Afghanistan showed the highest proportion attending secondary school (43 per cent) in contrast to those from Australia (26 per cent). The lowest proportion was for those from Lebanon (14 per cent), Italy and Turkey (15 per cent).

ƒ A relatively high proportion from Indonesia (20 per cent) attended technical and further education, followed by those from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Somalia and Laos (10 per cent-12 per cent). The lowest proportion was found among those from Iraq (5.8 per cent).

ƒ Highest proportions attending University or other institution were from Indonesia (36 per cent) and China (28 per cent). (It may be that a number of those were overseas students.) The proportion from Vietnam (25 per cent) and Laos (19 per cent) was also higher than for Australian-born (14 per cent).

ƒ People from the most recently emerging migrant groups, Somalia, Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina, had the lowest proportion attending University or other institution (four per cent, three per cent and seven per cent respectively).

ƒ The proportion of those not attending any schooling was highest among those from Lebanon (63 per cent), Italy (59 per cent), Turkey (57 per cent) and Greece (50 per cent). For those born in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia the proportions ranged from 32 per cent to 37 per cent. The lowest proportion was found among the Indonesian-born (12 per cent). For the Australian-born the proportion was 47 per cent.

Summary of Secondary Schooling, Advanced Tertiary/University Education and Not Attending Any Schooling Of particular note was the higher percentage of people from NMESC attending university or other tertiary institutions, in contrast to those from MESC. A higher percentage of those from MESC was not attending any schooling but it may be that many of those people were employed. The proportion attending technical and further education was similar for NMESC and MESC. However, the proportion among Australian-born attending university or other tertiary institution was often lower in contrast to a number of other countries. The most recently arrived migrant groups tended to be less likely to attend university or other tertiary institution.

Persons Aged 15 to 24, by Birthplace, by Proficiency in English, by Labour Force Status Of the total NMESC who indicated they spoke poor or no English, 15 per cent were found be unemployed in contrast to <1 per cent among the total MESC. Disparity was also found among the NMESC and MESC having poor English proficiency and

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 257 not being in the labour force (12 per cent and <1 per cent respectively). Although six per cent of those from NMESC with poor English were employed, the figure was significantly less than for those of MESC (0.1 per cent).

Figure 12 Persons aged 15 to 24, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force, 1996 Census, Victoria

50,000

45,000

40,000

35,000

30,000

English not well or at all

25,000

English only, v-well, well Number

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0 Employed F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Total Non-Main English Speaking Countries

Analysis of the data indicated 12 per cent of people of NMESC not in the labour force had poor or no English compared with six per cent of NMESC people who were employed, and 15 per cent of people unemployed but looking for work.

For those with poor or no English and born in Turkey, Cambodia and Iraq, the unemployment rates were between 30 per cent and 34 per cent. For others with poor or no English and born in Afghanistan, Somalia, Russian Federation, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Indonesia and China, the unemployment rates were between 18 per cent and 24 per cent. Vietnam-born youth with poor or no English had an unemployment rate of 26 per cent. For the Australian-born with poor English, the unemployment rate was <1 per cent.

258 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 13 Persons aged 15 to 24, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria

8,000

7,000

6,000

5,000

English not well or at all

4,000

English only, v-well, well Number

3,000

2,000

1,000

0 Employed F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Vietnam

Analysis of the data indicated 15 per cent of Vietnamese-born people not in the labour force had poor or no English, compared with 26 per cent of Vietnamese born people unemployed and looking for work. For Vietnamese-born people employed and with poor or no English it was 15 per cent.

A relatively high proportion of those born in Turkey and Somalia who had poor or no English were not in the labour force (26 per cent and 29 per cent respectively). For those born in Lebanon, Iraq, Cambodia, Vietnam, Italy and China with poor or no English, the rates of those not in the labour force ranged from 15 per cent to 21 per cent.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 259 Figure 14 Persons aged 15 to 24, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria

900

800

700

600

500

English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well

Number 400

300

200

100

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Turkey

Analysis of the data indicates that 29 per cent of Turkish-born not in the labour force had poor to no English, compared with 12 per cent of people who were employed and 31 per cent of people unemployed but looking for work.

Summary of Proficiency in English by Labour Force Status The ability to speak English well or very well appears to have been an advantageous factor in having employment. The consequence of poor or no English significantly increases a person’s likelihood of not being able to find employment. (Other graphs of persons aged 15 to 24, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status are to be found in Appendix 1.)

260 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Total NMESC Groups, by Labour Force Status, in Select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, Aged 15 to 24 Years The criteria for selecting the various local government areas (LGA) by ethnic groups, by labour force status, were based upon higher concentration of ethnic population size.

Figure 15 Total main English speaking country groups, by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00 Brimbank

Greater Dandenong

50.00 Monash

Boroondara

Rates (%) Melbourne 40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Main English Speaking Countries

Among people from MESC, unemployment levels in the LGA of Brimbank, Greater Dandenong, Monash, Boroondara and Melbourne ranged from nine per cent to 18 per cent. For those of NMESC in the same LGA, the unemployment rates ranged from 23 per cent to nearly 39 per cent. The largest disparity was in the LGA of Melbourne where MESC unemployment was 15 per cent compared with 39 per cent for the NMESC.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 261 Figure 16 Total non-main English speaking groups, by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00 Brimbank

Greater Dandenong

50.00 Monash

Boroondara

Rates (%)

Melbourne 40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Non-Main English Speaking

Rates of not being in the labour force, for people from MESC, were lowest in Greater Dandenong (31 per cent) and greatest in Brimbank (36 per cent). This in contrast to the total NMESC where ‘not in the labour force’ rates ranged from 53 per cent to 79 per cent. The greatest percentage of people of not being in the labour force was found in the LGA of Melbourne (79 per cent) followed by Boroondara (75 per cent).

High unemployment among NMESC was identified in the LGA of Greater Dandenong, Maribyrnong, Darebin and Yarra. In Greater Dandenong the unemployment levels for those from Cambodia, Romania and Afghanistan ranged from 37 per cent to 67 per cent respectively.

262 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 17 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00

Brimbank

Greater Dandenong

50.00 Maribyrnong

Yarra Rates (%)

40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Vietnam

In the LGA of Maribyrnong, unemployment rates were high among those from Bosnia-Herzegovina (58 per cent), Vietnam (49 per cent) and Somalia (100 per cent). It must be emphasised there were only eight Somalian youths in the labour force.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 263 Figure 18 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria

100

90

80

70

60 Boroondara

Melbourne 50

Stonngton

Rates (%) Yarra

40

30

20

10

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and Looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Indonesia

In the LGA of Darebin there were four major ethnic groups. Unemployment levels were highest for those from Iraq (88 per cent), Greece (58 per cent), China (41 per cent) and Italy (36 per cent).

In the LGA of Yarra unemployment was high among those from Laos (81 per cent), Vietnam (47 per cent) and Indonesia (46 per cent).

Unemployment levels in various LGA were found to be high among Indonesian born people living in Melbourne (56 per cent), among Lebanese-born in Moreland (43 per cent), among Russian Federation born in Port Phillip (35 per cent) and among Turkish-born in Hume (39 per cent).

264 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 19 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00 Darebin 50.00 Hume Moreland Rates (%) 40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Lebanon

Higher rates of not being in the labour force were found among all the ethnic groups and across many LGA. The highest levels were found in Melbourne for Indonesian- born (88 per cent) and in Monash for Chinese-born (80 per cent). For those born in Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq and residing in the LGA of Hume, 50 per cent and above were not in the labour force.

Summary of Birthplace, by Labour Force in Select LGA An examination of ethnic groups by employment status identified that people from NMESC were significantly disadvantaged in various selected LGA by their inability to find employment in contrast to those from MESC. For people of NMESC this pattern continued with higher rates of not in the labour force and lower rates of having employment. There were generally high rates of unemployment and not in the labour force among most of the ethnic groups studied across various selected LGA. (Other graphs by labour force status, in select local government areas, Melbourne, aged 15 to 24 years, by country of birth are to be found in Appendix 2.)

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 265 Discussion As was the case with many other databases the variable used to identify ethnicity was country of birth (COB). The COB variable, while being useful in identifying ethnicity, still remains problematic as it identifies only the first generation or recent migrant groups. Thus there was a bias towards recent arrivals.

The profile of those born in NMESC, following an analysis of particular social and economic characteristics, has clearly indicated they are experiencing various disadvantages in contrast to those from MESC. Literature has suggested unemployment is a vulnerability that can place people at risk of the use and trafficking of illicit drugs. While the unemployment rate among youth from NMESC had decreased somewhat, when compared with the 1991 Census, their rates were still nearly double that of youth who are from MESC. As would be expected, ethnic groups with long-established links with Australia had the lowest rates of unemployment. This may be a result of increased acculturation of these ethnic groups as a whole. However, for the more recently arrived migrant groups, unemployment rates were over three times those of Australian-born people. It can be assumed these rates of unemployment will decrease over time following longer settlement, as they have done previously with other ethnic groups. However, it can also be suggested the economic hardships associated with the major dismantling of the manufacturing sector (previously an area that absorbed many migrant workers both young and old), will have a significant and prolonged impact upon those from NMESC in their ability to find work.

Youths are the most vulnerable group for exposure to using illicit drugs, regardless of ethnicity. While youth unemployment rates among those of NMESC remain significantly higher, their risk of exposure to drug use may also be higher. While the definition of those not in the labour force remains broad, a larger proportion of youths and adults from NMESC fall into this category in contrast to those from MESC. It could be suggested that many in this category would like to work, but for various reasons are not classified as part of the labour force. This group may be potentially vulnerable also. There is a need to have an improved categorisation for those not in the labour force in order to better determine the proportion of those who are part of the ‘hidden unemployed’ (particularly given the very large numbers in this category).

To gauge level of English proficiency can be difficult as determined by the Census process. However, while many youths of NMESC declared their spoken English good to very good, there was still a substantial proportion from various ethnic groups who indicated a poor ability to speak English. The literature review has suggested a lack of English proficiency may act as an obstacle to obtaining employment and consequently contributes to poverty. Analysis of the Census has indicated people from NMESC who could not speak English well were disadvantaged when looking for work. Lack of English skills and exclusion from the labour force clearly places many from NMESC (particularly young people) into a vulnerable position in relation to risk of involvement with drugs.

266 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Attendance at university and/or other tertiary institutions was significantly greater among those from NMESC compared with those from MESC. A common expectation among ethnic groups is of higher academic achievements for their children, and this may explain the disparity between those of NMESC and MESC. However, as has been reported by Watson (1998), achieving higher educational qualifications does not necessarily remove all the obstacles towards achieving employment for those of NMESC, in contrast to those of MESC. In 1993, the incidence of long-term unemployment for those of NMESC with tertiary education was 35 per cent. This was nearly double the rate for the Australian-born (Watson, 1998).

An assessment of the labour force status in selected LGA indicates the youths of NMESC were at a disadvantage compared with youth of MESC. The LGA that have been identified with larger ethnic communities do have substantially higher youth unemployment in contrast to those of MESC. The labour status findings should provide impetus to LGA administrators to address some of the unemployment inequities and not in the labour force disparities encountered by various ethnic communities. This may be achieved through implementation of appropriate programs and policies.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 267

The Key Informant Interview Phase Health, Welfare and Drug Treatment Services

The Key Informant Interview Phase: Health, Welfare and Drug Treatment Services

Description of the Health, Welfare and Drug Treatment Service Key Informants Key informants from the health, welfare and drug treatment service sector were chosen on the basis of their understanding and knowledge about ethnic or illicit drug-related issues and on the basis of their experience or their seniority. The key informants were from a broad range of organisations and were largely chosen by Project Steering Committee members and the recommendations of prominent others in the field.

The key informants were grouped under the broad headings of drug-specific services, medical doctors and ethnic-specific health and welfare services. One Melbourne City Councillor was also interviewed. They included the following:

ƒ Two medical doctors who provide health services for drug users in inner Melbourne.

ƒ Twelve drug specific service workers, including: those directly involved in drug treatment and detoxification; outreach drug support workers; managers of needle syringe programs; outreach needle syringe workers; drug and community research officers; and a coordinator of a self-help drug resource centre.

ƒ Ten people involved in ethnic-specific health and welfare services including senior managers of community health centres attracting a high number of clientele from NESB; coordinators of ethnic youth and health services; a multicultural commissioner; and senior welfare workers within the Vietnamese community.

ƒ One Melbourne City Councillor involved with safe city and drug-related initiatives.

Methodology Twenty-five key informant interviews were conducted between September and November 1998. A telephone conversation outlining the project and requesting their participation, occurred with each key informant. A list of questions and topics to be covered was sent prior to the interview to each participant who agreed to participate.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 271 All interviews were conducted on a one-on-one basis. The majority of the key informants were interviewed in their work environments. Each key informant provided consent for the interview to be taped. Only one key informant requested a transcript of the interview and this was followed by a request to add more information to the transcript.

The questions were semi-structured, with probing questions to elicit more information on issues of particular interest. Interviews were approximately 45 minutes in duration. The majority of those interviewed had many work demands on their time and extending the interviews was not usually an option. Most of those interviewed needed little encouragement to speak about the issues of illicit drugs within the various ethnic communities. Many of those interviewed had years of experience in the field and spoke freely about their personal and professional observations. None was hesitant about their views being publicly known.

Summary of Key Informant Interviews on Health, Welfare and Drug Treatment Services

Common Main Issues At the commencement of each interview the main issues on the question of illicit drugs for culturally diverse communities, as perceived by the key informants, were diverse but various common themes did emerge. Frequently cited was the issue of unemployment and the impact this could have upon the individual and the community. Finding a job is of crucial importance and can be looked upon by the youth as a stabilising manoeuvre. Youth unemployment, particularly among newly- emerging ethnic groups, is extremely high and unfortunately results in wide- ranging, serious consequences:

We have discovered that trading in illicit drugs is a quick way of making money. Young people get involved due to issues of unemployment or simply because of being an entrepreneur…they have lost their purpose due to a lack of employment, lacking a vision of what they want for themselves for the future (Commissioner with Victorian Multicultural Commission).

Ironically, for even those who can achieve employment, the wages can sometimes be extremely poor and the commitment to work excessively can prove disruptive to the family unit:

Gradually as unemployment rose people were driven to things like outwork where they would slave away for 12–18 hours per day. The whole family became involved in sewing and pressing and so on and limiting the time with their kids, time to socialise, to study and basically pick up a fairly normal life (Community settlement service worker and cross-cultural consultant and trainer).

272 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement A result of unemployment is that the trafficking of illicit drugs has a tendency to be incorporated into an informal economy. It is suggested that a drug culture offers relatively low risk—initially by diversion—and then becomes income generating:

Any kid that I have worked with has always wanted a job. They tend to see illicit drugs as the rest of society views it and that is as a crime. These kids do not necessarily want to be involved in this trade but it is an option and sometimes they make their choice (Outreach/Project worker, Jesuit Social Services).

Some spoke about the changing drug market scene and how it had evolved from being something clandestine to a current state of remarkable explicitness. Accessibility, affordability and purity levels, particularly with regard to heroin, have all changed:

Ten years ago you needed a contact. Now all you need to do is walk down the streets, anonymously and score. The convenience factor has kicked in, technology has kicked in, the service aspect has kicked in. It’s like any product. Certainly the Vietnamese have absolutely played a role in this marketing mutation (Inner City Needle Syringe Program).

The refugee experience and the oft-difficult process of settlement were discussed. In recent years, many refugees to Australia have come from areas of social and political upheaval often resulting in the emergence of personal characteristics of vulnerability:

Whether they are Vietnamese, from the Horn of Africa or from Bosnia, these refugee experiences can create vulnerability problems. Experiencing severe disruptions to families, where people have been killed, their parents or the adolescents may be severely traumatised, a relationship breakdown…prior experiences of trauma may have the effect of making people more vulnerable to the use of illicit drugs (Victorian Foundation for Survivors).

With recent migrant arrivals the support structure and settlement services available have increasingly been dismantled propelling aspects of vulnerability to develop:

The less support that is available for them when they arrive, the greater the chance they have got of getting lost in the system, not making contact, remaining outside the system, becoming more isolated and alienated (Community settlement service worker and cross-cultural consultant and trainer).

Ethnic identity conflicts, homelessness, family abandonment, educational difficulties and issues of racism, marginalisation and discrimination all contribute to a lack of inclusiveness within the broader community. The pressure upon ethnic communities to succeed is great, and it has been suggested that the acceptance of diversity within these groups has diminished:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 273 What we are denying them is that we are expecting them to be either extremely successful or to be criminals and that there is nothing in between (Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health).

A denial of drug use within various ethnic communities is still very common and although the shame of such activities has lessened within some groups, ignorance about drug treatment services, accessing services and general confusion about illicit drugs remains a perennial problem:

The older generation does not have a full understanding about illicit drugs. What are they, what are the side-effects so they can identify when something is happening. There is not a lot of information as to where they can get help (Ethnic Youth Issues Network).

It had been suggested that an honest dialogue and an openness when talking about drug issues needs to be fostered:

Real education—not scare education—are going to help young people and their families in an appropriate way (Outreach worker, Open Family).

Only one key informant suggested the War on Drugs needed to be enhanced to resolve the problems of illicit drugs within the community:

I see the drug problem out there as a war. We won’t win all the battles but someone has to do it (Melbourne City Councillor).

Ethnic Communities and Illicit Drugs There were various ethnic communities on which the key informants could comment regarding illicit drug use. These included Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Chinese, from the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Eritrean, Ethiopian), Greek, Italian, Yugoslavian, Turkish, Lebanese, Macedonian and East Timorese. However, one key informant suggested that:

It is big in all the communities and other subcultures within these cultures (Outreach worker, Open Family).

Understanding of Harm Reduction When the key informants were asked about their understanding of harm reduction, the overwhelming number were well versed in their commentary about the concept. Some key informants provided very succinct descriptions, while others broadly defined and interpreted the concept to also include not going to jail as a way of reducing harm:

274 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement It is not saying no, you cannot use drugs. If they [youth] say I do not want to give up yet then harm reduction is a way of allowing young people to be connected to a range of networks and information resources that will allow them to minimise the dangers to themselves (Ethnic Youth Issues Network).

Many of the key informants divided their response into first talking about the reception of harm reduction amongst the drug users themselves, followed by an understanding and applicability with the wider ethnic community. The majority of key informants believed that harm reduction was definitely a concept that could be successfully applied among drug users of ethnic origin. It was suggested that drug users are not always consciously aware of implementing a harm reduction approach but issues related to not sharing needles are increasingly understood. Drug users could be very receptive to advice and were increasingly accessing services:

Just because people use illicit drugs does not mean they are self-destructive. I do not believe they wish to harm themselves or they wouldn’t be using the needle and syringe program (North Richmond Community Health Centre).

The kids (Vietnamese) are much more aware of their syringes being placed into containers, not to share needles and so on. They are much more open about asking for stuff which is really a remarkable change (Youth worker, VIP Youth Housing).

The transfer of harm reduction knowledge to drug users does have obstacles and primarily this is to do with language difficulties, poor strategic planning and the political issues of an acceptance of drug use within communities:

I guess they are very surprised when they find you are not judgmental and are accepting with their drug use. A Vietnamese GP would not be so likely to be accepting of their drug use or talk so openly about what they can do to make it safer for themselves (GP, Gertrude Street Clinic).

A number of ethnic youth, particularly those from recently-emerging communities, do not have a very good grasp of English. It was remarked that a sizeable number of Vietnamese youth also have difficulties with reading Vietnamese, therefore misunderstandings of harm reduction do occur. Strategies to promote harm reduction need to be flexible for the concept to be embraced among all drug users:

Grasping the concept of harm reduction will depend on what community you are talking about, the newly-arrived or the more established communities (Ethnic Youth Issues Network).

The overwhelming majority of interviewees did not believe that the wider ethnic community has come any closer to accepting the harm reduction concept. Harm reduction was frequently viewed as a promotion of drug use and the problems could be resolved if people simply abstained from these practices:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 275 To the ethnic community there are a lot of myths and misconception about the use of drugs…it is equated with criminality and equated with the loss of control and also the cause of a lot grief for individuals and their families. People have not been able to distinguish between drug use and harm reduction (Action on Disabilities within Ethnic Communities).

For the older person from the ethnic community, it is more of a state of resistance and fear of losing their kids basically (Ethnic Youth Issues Network).

Interestingly, methadone programs—widely viewed as a successful harm reduction approach—have little support among Vietnamese doctors treating drug users:

They look upon it as another drug. It’s addictive. The difficulty is that when they recommended this to their Vietnamese patients they really don’t want that involvement. They want to detoxify the person, stop it (Springvale Community Health Centre).

In recent times there has been a lot of focus upon Vietnamese drug users and this has caused much consternation among the wider Vietnamese community. While still reluctant to embrace the harm reduction concept, a cautious change of opinion is slowly emerging:

I think people are learning that the ‘get rid of them’ attitude has been totally ineffective and so people are beginning to look at other options, which is really quite positive (Youth worker, VIP Youth Housing).

The division of acceptance of harm reduction between drug users and the wider community appears great among the ethnic groups:

I would say the majority of people view the use of illicit drugs as a crime to be punished. For the youth I would say the concept (harm reduction) is definitely being accepted and readily taken up (Australian-Vietnamese Women’s Welfare Association).

Although there can be a deep resistance to harm reduction among all non-drug- users in ethnic communities, it has been suggested that the focus must first be directed to the drug users themselves, as they are the ones who are most at risk:

My feeling is you by-pass the community and worry about them later. From my point of view harm reduction is when you are working on the streets, with the users, or engaging the users with specific projects or models that they have helped to generate (Self-help and Addiction Resource Centre).

276 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Levels of Drug Use Key informants had various views about the level of drug use in ethnic groups, compared with mainstream communities. Only one key informant explicitly stated the problem was less among ethnic communities. A number of the interviewees could not comment with confidence about the level of drug use and stated they had no idea of the situation. As suggested by one key informant, the level of drug use within all communities could be viewed as a moot point:

We have the household survey and a couple of other things which we always lean on for our stats to justify our work. The fact is we don’t really know the level of drug use and how many people have been introduced to drugs (Self-help and Addiction Resource Centre).

Many key informants suggested there really was no difference when measuring the level of drug use between ethnic groups and the wider mainstream community:

I would assume there is illicit drug use in all communities (Moreland Community Health Centre).

I cannot statistically say if it is less or greater but there is substantial amount of illicit drug use in the Vietnamese, Greek, Turkish and Yugoslavian communities (GP, Fitzroy Central Clinic).

A number of the interviewees maintain links with the Indo-Chinese community and, in particular, the Vietnamese. An intimate working relationship with Vietnamese youth has fostered major concerns about their greater level of illicit drug use. However, there was a common reluctance to focus on just one ethnic group:

I do not believe this is a problem with the Vietnamese ethnic community alone. It seems to be also among new communities to Australia that are establishing themselves (Case manager in Methadone and Drug and Alcohol services).

Interestingly a few of those interviewed remarked how identification of particular ethnic groups has fostered a heightened societal perception about differing levels of drug use. Many of those from the Asian community are ‘visible’ and this has potentially given rise to inaccurate interpretations as to the extent of drug use within this community:

Ethnic communities tend to stand out more. I do not know per head of population whether there are more Vietnamese choosing heroin compared with Macedonians or the Anglos, it’s just they tend to be more visible because of their appearance (Nurse with the home/outpatient detoxification team).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 277 It is difficult to work out who is the Australian community now. There are some ethnic communities who have now been here for second and third generation and there is not much attention paid to them because they are more difficult to identify; they do not stand out (Drug and Alcohol Worker, North Richmond Community Health Centre).

Understandably ethnic communities do not like the focus being placed upon them and while the level of drug use may be serious, the evasiveness of such issues can be crucial to save face among the wider community:

Some of the communities tend to hide behind the other communities. It’s more in that community than ours. We don’t have this problem. When you delve into it you will find there are people out there who are affected. It’s a question of some communities needing to face the truth (Commissioner with Victorian Multicultural Commission).

Patterns and Correlations The patterns and correlations of illicit drug use among different ethnic groups were believed to be varied. The age of illicit drug initiation, process of experimentation with ‘hard’ drugs, and continued use were remarked upon as commencing during adolescence. A few of the interviewees specifically focused, although not strictly, upon the Vietnamese youth when commenting about patterns:

A lot of the Vietnamese people tend to be younger. Often we are getting people (into treatment) from the ages of 15–16 and even the ones who are 20 years-old started when they were 17–18 years. The Macedonian people I see tend to be older, early 20s (Nurse with home and outpatient detoxification team).

Some of the younger groups, ethnic or Australian groups, are first going to heroin and not going through the learning curve…trying the harder stuff first up. This is a trend I have noticed and it is my impression that many ethnic groups are following this pattern (GP, Fitzroy Central Clinic).

Many of the interviewees spoke confidently about their insights of Vietnamese youth and how this ethnic group had a much stronger tendency to commence smoking heroin prior to the process of injecting. However, even following this transition onto injecting, the pattern of use could oscillate:

Most of the Vietnamese I work with smoke heroin. They are not keen on injecting heroin because they believe it is more dangerous because you become more addicted (Case manager methadone and Drug and Alcohol services).

278 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement It seems once people start injecting from that group they are not necessarily exclusively injecting drug users from then on. This is a very different pattern from other drug users. It appears the smoking of heroin is unheard of among Anglos or other drug users (IDU Vietnamese Project Officer, Macfarlane Burnet Centre).

A few interviewees stated that the patterns and correlations were no different. It was also remarked that to generalise about drug use behaviour patterns among ethnic groups without considering an array of other circumstances was deeply flawed:

The patterns within different groups are in fact very similar when looking at particular circumstances. Vulnerability and accessibility to the drugs by ethnic groups is very similar particularly if they have a personal disposition to using drugs (Outreach worker, Open Family).

It is difficult to have a one-dimensional perspective on this and it needs to be seen in a broader context and just looking at ethnicity is quite inadequate without adding in other elements: gender, class, migration experience… (North Richmond Community Health Centre).

The choice of drugs does vary but most of those interviewed believed the Vietnamese favoured heroin greater than any other drug. However, polydrug use was still relatively common among the identified ethnic groups, depending upon availability and price. Illicit and licit drugs that were mentioned include marijuana, amphetamines, hallucinogens, Valium, Temazepam, Serepax, Rohypnol and steroids:

Steroid use is fairly active in this area. We have a few gyms in this area and we have a lot of young people who come in here for injecting equipment, clearly for steroid use (Moreland Community Health Centre).

A few interviewees commented upon the pattern of the drug market and the behaviours associated with the scene among the Vietnamese:

The obvious thing with the young Vietnamese is they are fairly indiscreet—from our point of view—about a lot of their drug-using behaviour. There is a presence that you get and you notice it. It’s on the streets, in front of you. With Western cultures they are more discreet (North Richmond Community Health Centre).

Vulnerabilities It was difficult for some people to state which ethnic communities were at risk of illicit drug use but are not the focus of much attention and/or most at risk of illicit drug use. It was clear the Vietnamese were remarked upon frequently as being at risk but, as was indicated by some key informants, the Vietnamese are probably the most analysed and targeted of all the culturally diverse groups. Many spoke not on

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 279 ethnicity being the risk factor but identified a need for more emphasis to be placed upon the numerous characteristics of vulnerability:

It is interesting to see so many poverty-stricken people using drugs and the number of people with no work and no stable home using strong dependant illicit drugs (Outreach worker, Open Family).

Among illicit drug users there would be a significant number who have experienced homelessness, abuse or have been caught up in the criminal system. This has got nothing to do with whether they are English, Australian, Irish or whatever. It’s to do with their characteristics of their past experiences. I think it is the same for people of different cultural backgrounds (Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture).

The migratory and/or refugee experience, the trauma and pressures of the settlement process, cultural or identity confusion, interrupted education and the background of general disadvantage, was believed to affect both the first and second generation ethnic groups:

Those people who have not come as whole family units have experienced many difficulties. Young people who feel neither Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian nor Australian are having a number of problems working out their identity. This can cause confusion and inner conflicts fitting in with their community as well as the wider community (Australian-Vietnamese Women’s Welfare Association).

The younger you are, the more dysfunctional the background you are from, the more likely the learning disability. Makes it much harder because you are not literate and then there are problems (GP, Gertrude Medical Clinic).

Ethnic groups that were mentioned which may not be the focus of much attention with regard to illicit drug use included those from the Horn of Africa, the Greeks, the Italians, Macedonians, East Timorese, Croatians, Filipinos and the Lebanese:

You see kids coming into the exchange [Needle Syringe Program] who are obviously of African extraction. Even though they are only a very new community coming through, they do make up fairly big numbers on the inner city estates and the associated difficulties of living there can involve various social problems (IDU Vietnamese Project worker MBC).

As cited by many interviewees, focusing on illicit drug use among particular ethnic groups raises many complex issues. There are a myriad of vulnerability characteristics that potentially place a person at risk of illicit drug use. One key informant stated:

280 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement I don’t believe you can narrow it down to ethnic communities that you believe are at high risk. Broadly speaking, we are a substance-abusing community and it is no surprise that a place like Australia has apparently a high rate of people using illicit substances…we are all in a way at more risk of using these drugs (Outreach/Project worker, Jesuit Social Services).

The degree to which ethnic groups may encounter a high degree of social exclusion in terms of poverty, educational disadvantage, unemployment and housing deprivation—and how these factors may influence illicit drug use in ethnic communities—varied. However, an overwhelming majority of those interviewed indicated that one or more of these factors did influence illicit drug use. Housing deprivation was rarely mentioned but the issues of poverty, unemployment and educational disadvantage were believed pivotal to accelerating marginalisation and a feeling of despair within the wider ethnic community:

If you are unemployed or marginalised within your own community or do not have a stable place to live then how you view yourself will be somewhat diminished. If you do not perceive yourself to be useful to society than it is more likely you will use pain-reducing substances (Outreach worker, Open Family).

Predominantly, illicit drug users come from disadvantaged backgrounds. There is a high proportion of Vietnamese drug users who are illiterate both in their mother tongue and the English tongue. This of course significantly impedes their ability to seek employment, education or training, and access appropriate support services (Youth worker, VIP Youth Housing).

A lot of these things are a cause, create an emotional response in people and often to cope with the emotional response, people will turn to substances that will allow them to change their reality or the level of feeling (Project worker, Needle Syringe Program, Springvale).

While supporting the influences of these factors, others believed the issues were more complex—involving various other social characteristics including mental, physical and sexual abuse. However, the complex nature of these factors, as identified by one interviewee, needs cautious interpretation:

I think there is a real danger [of making] these external factors and say if you have A,B,C and D, E is a consequence of it. Earlier on, before the problem even arises, if you have a really good structure to support you may then prevent a lot of the issues from happening later on…but if the person has unresolved issues because of a whole range of things that have not been dealt with, the person may not be able to access the structures (Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 281 Only a couple of the 25 key informants found it difficult to measure or accept the factors of influence to use illicit drugs:

The factors that you have raised in the question I believe are of low degree. There are many wealthy people where the kids turn to drugs because the parents have been working too hard and they never see their kids (Australian-Vietnamese Women’s Welfare Association).

Some of the interviewees were asked about the connections of being socially excluded and the impact this may have on being involved in drug trafficking. All believed there was an intimate connection between the two and for many drug users, trafficking increasingly became a legitimate occupation:

As a society we are conditioned to the concept of being comfortable and in money. The reality is there are a lot of people out there who do not have that. They are accessing alternative economies where they can get a bit of the action (Self-help and Addiction Resource Centre).

The more financially viable the [drug] culture becomes the more difficult the replacement is going to become. What is it we have to offer them? Jobs in factories. We need to have some sophisticated thinking around these issues (Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health).

Denial of Drug Use There are various reasons why ethnic communities have great difficulty openly acknowledging the problem of illicit drug use within their community. The vast majority of interviewees agreed there was a great deal of shame and loss of face involved in acknowledging illicit drug use within their community. For many communities, their sense of pride had been tarnished with this problem. The earnest desire to achieve acceptance by the wider, ‘non-ethnic’ community was of paramount importance:

They try to hide the drug problem because it is almost like having to prove to the wider Australian community that we are good community, you have let us in, we are settling in well, we are integrating. To say we have a problem community…it becomes a blotch on the record. It is almost that you have to keep this facade of a good community (Ethnic Youth Issues Network).

There is widespread belief amongst these groups that they are privileged in coming to Australia and that acknowledging special treatment is a repayment of being hardworking and being loyal to Australia. Admitting they are second generation Vietnamese, selling heroin on the streets of the CBD, may not fit that formula (Outreach/Project worker, Jesuit Social Services).

282 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement For many communities it is not just a state of denial but also confusion as to how best to address this problem:

Sometimes I get the feeling the communities just don’t know how to tackle it, where to begin to discuss it because…for some it is in such contrast from their country of origin (Community settlement service worker and cross-cultural consultant/trainer).

The manner in which the media have presented the connection between ethnic communities and illicit drug use has often been sensationalised and—some have suggested—with a tone of racism:

If people say Australians are drug users, problems would arise. People don’t say Anglos are drug users. The problem is because it is put forward as a racial stereotype (Springvale Community Health Centre).

The Indo-Chinese community are already heavily targeted by the media as being the source of heroin, almost the cause of the heroin problem. To openly acknowledge the problem, it is almost to target yourself for further criticism, which is racially-based and discriminatory (GP, Gertrude Street Clinic).

However, there is a slow mutation towards acknowledging the truth of the problem as the frightening mystique of illicit drug use, held by many people, is fading. This change has partly occurred from the consistent exposure this problem has received in recent times:

The more it becomes less hidden the easier it is to handle. It’s a bit like shopping gossip stuff, the fact you can talk about someone whose grandson or cousin is using. Once it becomes a reality it’s not just the kids you see dealing in front of Safeway in Smith Street. There are actual people you can attach to those things (IDU Vietnamese Project Worker MBC).

There can be a variety of reasons why the discovery of illicit drug use often results in the problem being addressed within the family and not disclosed to others. The majority of the interviewees remarked on the entrenched shame and sense of failure that families experienced when a family member was involved in illicit drug use. It is possible that most families, no matter what their origins, behave in a similar manner. However, as was indicated, poor proficiency in English can further prevent disclosure as there are obstacles to seeking out the appropriate channels of assistance:

I suppose people from English speaking backgrounds would have a better understanding what is going on because they are reading the papers and looking at the services that are being provided in the community. They are more inclined to contact somebody and get some help (Nurse with home and outpatient detoxification unit).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 283 The strong desire to maintain a high level of family pride can be crucial and can either result in a closing up of the family unit or an absolute conflict resulting in eventual family breakdown:

Many with the community [Vietnamese] wish to keep the family name clean and do not wish to have the family linked with drug issues. With a widespread belief that drugs are bad and the family name wishing to remain clean, this would be a big reason for not wishing to use a service (Drug and Alcohol worker, North Richmond Community Health Centre).

Often, the way a problem is solved within the family is that people are ex- communicated from the family. Within the family it is kept secret as long as possible and then it comes out of the shadows into the light. This can result in turmoil and angst for the family (Inner City Needle Exchange).

A few interviewees did remark that some change was occurring in recent times. In circumstances of despair, families were increasingly more comfortable removing the veil of secrecy to those who may not be part of the ethnic community. In fact, talking to someone not ethnically linked to the community can sometimes allay fear about problems being revealed to other ethnic community members:

Only three years ago if a young person came to me seeking advice about a drug problem I would ask that person ‘does your family know and can we get your family to help us?’ The response would always be ‘no’. Now 99 out of 100 say ‘yes’, talk to my family a real conscious shift has occurred. Many Vietnamese families approach me before their children about what can they do about this problem (Outreach Worker, Open Family).

Drug Service Providers Unrealistic expectations of service providers—quick-fix solutions to long-standing problems, such as illicit drug use—among not only ethnic groups but the wider community, was believed to be a major problem. It was clear that most interviewees believed there was a strong desire for quick-fix solutions but such an expectation was endemic across the various strata within society. The complexity of illicit drug use and issues of addiction are frequently misunderstood and not realistically addressed:

For the user there is an expectation of a quick fix. It’s a socially-constructed aspect of drug use. They are looking for the magic pill to stop the rot. There is a lot of press around about quick fix solutions. Drug users are like everyone in that they read papers. They read about the quick fix and then they will come in and say how do I get onto this (Inner City Needle Exchange).

284 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Just recently I had a case of a magistrate basically saying ‘what is wrong with this person?’ they have had support, they have had counselling and why have they not stopped using heroin? Many people have unrealistic expectations about what can be achieved within a certain timeframe (Outreach worker, Open Family).

Solutions to addiction problems were frequently believed to be too narrow and often not sensitive to the needs of the client, either because of their youth or because of their particular circumstances. The pressures to detoxify promptly and the struggle to attain one solution have often resulted in repeated failures for all those involved. Society often rejects long-term solutions and the magic cure is highly sought:

I have clients who have been on the methadone program and appear to be doing well after two months. If the parents are involved with the treatment or are aware about it they are saying to me ‘they should be fixed now’. Can they finish with the program now because they are feeling much stronger and they should be able to do without methadone and go out and get a job? (Case manager in methadone and Drug and Alcohol services.)

Most of the interviewees believed a comprehensive educational approach was imperative—not only for the drug users themselves, but for all service providers and the whole society—before the issues of drug use and addiction could be better understood. Some commented on the importance of educational clarity and of the necessity for reinforcement of information:

Education needs to be a key to their understanding of the solutions. Education must be available. It needs to get back to the community development approach and the community needs to begin the education in their own cultural context (Western Region AIDS Prevention, Needle Exchange).

Often in the service provision we speak a certain shorthand language and we expect the consumer will understand what we are talking about—counselling, treatment, support, etc—not realising the client does not understand the treatment regime, why you are doing it, what is the outcome for the service provider or what the implication will be for the individual over a period of time (Action on Disabilities within Ethnic Communities).

There is full agreement among the interviewees that the current approach of institutionalised drug treatment services (clinic-based) is not serving the needs of ethnic communities. The barriers themselves are believed to be numerous, including issues related to language, layout design of the clinic, inappropriate food, poor communication and support, paucity of information, prolonged waiting times for treatment, fear of broken confidentiality, and an increasing awareness by the drug users themselves of treatment failures:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 285 The Vietnamese community in particular and of non-English speaking background people do not get much further follow-up counselling whether they have completed a detoxification in the clinic or at home. Generally speaking, the treatment ends after the detoxification and they do not get any further follow-up counselling. There is no obligation to follow-up (Nurse with home and outpatient detoxification unity).

I do not think the people understand what the service does, what is the treatment, how long will it take, how long do I take from the front door to the bed. All of these questions require people to negotiate with a great deal of effort (Action on Disabilities within Ethnic Communities).

It is such a middle class, white, Anglo, disease-based model. Treatment does not work and we spend a fortune on it every year. No one is prepared to take the risks. Those that do are often under-resourced, marginalised or ridiculed (Inner City Needle Exchange).

While the treatment services were viewed as inappropriate, a number of those interviewed also believed the pervasive negativity of illicit drug use was endemic within the ethnic community, resulting in a reluctance by drug users to seek out assistance. The importance for media information to become less sensationalised on drug issues may reverse many of the fears held by ethnic communities, in order to address drug problems:

With my non-Vietnamese clients, if they go onto the Methadone program they are quite proud and it is an achievement and they are very open about it. For the Vietnamese person this is not the case. Being on Methadone, you never talk about it. It means, ‘I’m waving a flag that I am a heroin addict’. It’s very negative (Youth worker, VIP Youth housing).

In the Utopian world we would have well-qualified, researched and informed journalists who were able to write on drug issues. We would have more alternative points of view. Less histrionics. Information from good mainstream articles needs to be filtered down to ethnic publications (Inner City Needle Exchange).

As has been suggested, the failure to be flexible and sensitive to the cultural roots of both the client and the community further obstructs the motivation to seek out assistance, particularly for those who have the advantage of knowing what is on offer. The problems were generally acknowledged to be largely bureaucratic and systemic and it was believed that unless an attitudinal change occurred, treatment services would continue to function inappropriately:

The challenge for drug treatment services is to reinvent their programs of care around their individual client and not to make generalisations about who they have got. They tend to provide standardised ‘Big Mac’ solutions for what is a complex issue (North Richmond Community Health Centre).

286 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement We need to manage diversity of the community. Whatever the institution there should be within that structure people who are able to deal with these issues or at least know the network to seek assistance or a counterpart organisation to draw into your service to deal with the issues. Diversity has brought along a lot of diverse issues and problems and we need to understand these (Commissioner with Victorian Multicultural Commission). What needs to be done is to have political will and a real, genuine commitment to self-examination. We are talking about organisational cultural shifts that need to happen. There needs to be organisational vision as to where it wishes to go (Ethnic Youth Issues Network).

It was widely agreed that the number of ethnic groups which turned up for treatment services was small. There appeared to be a real breakdown in communication both within the service and in its ability to interact effectively to address the needs of a wider and culturally diverse community:

In terms of the Methadone treatment, the Vietnamese drop out of treatment very quickly. They may not understand how it works. To give it a formal context, I think it is about expectations. They just did not get what they expected (Western Region AIDS Prevention Needle Exchange).

Drug and alcohol services present themselves in a way that attracts only certain groups and in fact discriminates against some other groups. We need to look at successful institutions and see what they do (North Richmond Community Health Centre).

Illicit drugs and the legal ramifications of using such substances are frequently misunderstood, resulting in a reluctance to seek out treatment unless necessary:

The more formalised it is [the treatment service], the greater it smacks of legal type structures and barriers. They can be very scary for people. Not understanding the process and not understanding what is going to happen. The justice process can create a real barrier…not knowing about confidentiality or what this actually means (Moreland Community Health Centre).

Challenging the rigidity of many of the treatment services and acknowledging the complexity of seeking solutions requires innovation, a holistic overview, a sense of working together for a common purpose. A broader debate with the community about drug-using issues was believed very important. The traditional treatment approaches for ethnic communities were spoken about as being deeply flawed, and the challenge to trial new enhanced supportive methods cannot be discounted:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 287 A community house—where you ideally set up a house where you would expect a family member to stay with them. It dilutes the intensity of the drug culture. There is a drug-dependant person and a non-drug-dependent person staying. It makes it much more likely that somebody will stay (GP, Gertrude Street Clinic).

You must spend more time with a person from a different background so as to create a channel of communication to convey the really important knowledge stuff and what is available (Outreach/Project worker, Jesuit Social Services).

Detoxification at the family home was looked upon as a viable option when appropriate support could be provided by treatment services. Families are often of crucial importance within ethnic communities and incorporating them into the process of home detoxification was believed to have much merit:

Drug treatment services have a very artificial environment and they are not taking into account the fundamental importance of the family. With the family there, they can all go through the difficult phase together and provide support for each other (Australian-Vietnamese Women’s Welfare Association).

Interviewees frequently commented upon the complexity of addiction and how detoxification is often not successful the first time round. While it was believed there were many benefits to home detoxification, various obstacles to attaining success still remained:

I don’t think it matters whether a person is detoxing in a unit, at home or on an outpatient basis. It depends on where that person is at, the process of having to go through a detox and their motivation (Nurse with home and outpatient detoxification team).

Community Development Half the interviewees were asked about community development strategies that could be implemented to address drug issues within the ethnic community. The majority emphasised that it is the inclusion of community consultation, guided in many ways by primary health care principles, which would prove the most successful approach. Not only must the wider ethnic group be involved throughout the process of developing strategies, but the ethnic drug user themselves must be incorporated in order to enhance their understanding of the issues. As research has indicated, drug users can successfully assist in the transfer of knowledge and information to their peers:

The community leadership needs to endorse the strategies and state they are good and do a good job. You cannot isolate a service. Drug treatment services need to be part of a primary health care treatment network as it has the least capacity to stigmatise a person (North Richmond Community Health Centre).

288 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Communities need to be looking inwards and using people from their communities as educators and also using peer approaches (Western Region AIDS Prevention, Needle Exchange). It is going back to the community and asking them how they perceive the problem, what is the problem and how they will deal with it. How would they deal with it in their country of origin and how they will deal with it in Australia (Ethnic Youth Issues Network).

Amongst the interviewees, there occurred opposing ideological views on community development strategies and how drug users are perceived. The result is either maintaining traditional marginalisation of drug users or alternatively believing that by fostering their self-esteem they will be able to engage more productively with the wider ethnic community:

I am happy to give them free needles but why can we not do it on the fringe of the city? It gives a bad image of the city (Melbourne City Councillor).

It is important to get groups of people who are comfortable with their drug use and not feeling terrible for being drug users. Perhaps they will stop using drugs at some stage but this does not need to be the prime focus of what is actually going on in their lives (IDU Vietnamese Project Worker, MBC).

Community resolve for the cessation of drug use is widely problematic. To address this conflict, an educational approach that is clearly understood, accessible and actively marketed by the community, for the community, needs to be encouraged:

We send the message that it is not the end of the world. It is okay, we are not failing because our children are drug users. It happens in other ethnic groups and it is something we can work on together (Youth Worker, VIP Housing).

You need to get community groups themselves more active. It’s not just a case of give, give, give. It also has to be a question of what can I do to help. They want to help and want to be active because it has become an issue (Commissioner, Victorian Multicultural Commission).

While the concept of counselling was acknowledged as potentially being alienating or confronting for ethnic groups, all interviewees (eight) spoke of successful approaches in order to engage a positive dialogue with the client. Counselling can take many forms and its ability not to always be based on a clinical model was believed to be fruitful. There are no strict rules as to the ethnicity of the councillor or the manner in which it is offered, but flexibility and choice are believed important:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 289 When we developed our program for young refugees who are homeless, our initial assumption was they would not respond to individual counselling…a significant number did want individual counselling. The use of group work programs broke down the sense of isolation and got people sharing their experiences. This for them can be affirming and so forth (Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture).

Australia has adopted the philosophy of mainstreaming with regard to migrant services and the requirement to maintain flexibility and sensitivity to cultural differences of the whole community. A small number of interviewees (ten) were asked to comment upon this current mainstreaming with half believing the approach was needed, while the others were not convinced of its applicability to drug treatment services:

We have had community health workers giving overviews about the migrant experience and about how families are structured, how the health systems are different in each country to the difficulties that people come across. I think this has proven beneficial for the people who work here (Nurse with home detoxification and outpatient team).

The problem is that the Vietnamese worker within a mainstream organisation does not receive support, adequate monitoring or supervision that is required for improved services (Australian-Vietnamese Women’s Welfare Association).

290 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement

The Key Informant Interview Phase Criminal Justice

The Key Informant Interview Phase: Criminal Justice

Description of the Criminal Justice Key Informants Thirty-five key informant interviews were conducted, with senior people from a broad range of criminal justice areas, between September 1998 and April 1999. All the key informants had been working in the same criminal justice field for five years or more and a number had worked in their field for two and three decades. Almost all had had practical experience in the field before attaining their managerial/executive role.

The key informants consisted of:

ƒ Five senior officers and operational staff from specialist drug and ethnic focused units within Victoria Police.

ƒ Five senior officers from Victoria Police criminal investigation branches and district support groups.

ƒ Seven senior officers from national agencies, including the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence, Australian Customs Service, Australian Federal Police, National Crime Authority and the Office of Strategic Crime Assessment.

ƒ Two senior officers from specialist drug units within the NSW Police Service.

ƒ Six academics with a special interest in drug issues and crime statistics from the Australian institute of Criminology, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and the University of Melbourne.

ƒ Three senior members of the Victorian judiciary.

ƒ Four senior managers from the Victorian Juvenile Justice Service.

ƒ Three senior managers from the Victorian Prison Service.

Methodology The interviews were conducted one on one, or one on two, in a semi-structured format. All but one key informant—who was interviewed at the Macfarlane Burnet Centre—were interviewed in their own office. A list of the questions and topics to be covered in the interviews were sent in advance to each participant. Following the interview, a copy of the transcript was sent to each participant for their comment and

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 293 any additions. All participants agreed the transcripts were a true account of their comments.

During the interviews, people were encouraged to speak frankly based on their own personal opinions and observations. Many of the opinions expressed are contrary to the public positions the various organisations have had to take. Thus, agreement to participate in the interviews was on the understanding that no comments would be attributed to identifiable individuals. Where quotes are used, they have been identified only through the criminal justice area in which the person works.

Summary of Findings

Introduction In the past, illicit drug taking was seen as a fairly straightforward criminal offence, and traditional policing methods and the court and prison system had been able to cope with it quite adequately. However, the character of drug offending has changed enormously over the past decade and the old ways of looking at and responding to the problem are considered to a large degree to be no longer adequate. Additionally, treatment services were considered by criminal justice key informants to be responding as though the problem were merely one of addiction, when in fact they believe it is very much more complicated than that. It is apparent to the key informants that drug addiction is a symptom of underlying social/psychological or economic problems. It was perceived that the criminal justice response to drug users and low level ‘street’ dealers is becoming increasingly inappropriate and ineffective.

The contemporary drug scene is no longer just about using drugs; it is about peer support, an alternative marketplace, an alternative source of income and alternative social affiliations and recreations. For young people who are struggling with all the problems common to normal adolescence and who may also have a range of family, social and health problems, the drug scene can be very attractive. It gives them many of the things they lack, such as a place in society, something to do with their time, status, peer associations and money. The recent rise in the status of illicit drugs is perhaps also contributing to use by vulnerable people by giving them ‘social notoriety and an importance that they didn’t have before’ (Academic key informant).

We have to keep in mind that we are in a different historical moment now than we were ten years ago and we have a very different set of people with a very different relationship with the state…We need to model the responses we have on the changes that are occurring so we create alternatives which are in tune with the current culture of using (Academic key informant).

A number of criminal justice key informants pointed out that, on the scale of harm in the community, illicit drugs were very low compared with legal drugs. For example, health issues aside:

294 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Alcohol is present in most crimes, particularly those of violence, and is a leading factor present in domestic violence and family breakdown which of course lead to all those other associated problems of children being abused, leaving home, having low self-esteem and so on which may contribute to illicit drug use (Criminal intelligence key informant).

The main drug associated with crime is alcohol…I think that alcohol is the drug that most affects policing and always has been. However, the Penington report more or less forced us into the greater focus on illicit drugs (Police key informant).

The majority of key informants believed that, in order to effectively address the problem of illicit drugs it was important that the problem be considered in the context of overall harm so that there was a possibility of pragmatic and effective responses being developed:

Sometimes I think that the criminal justice system is so driven by moral panic over illicit drugs that it loses sight of the level of actual harm that is happening…the sentences given for crimes where someone has been horrifically hurt and their lives very often ruined, are often less than for someone who has sold drugs to willing buyers and where you would have to say the level of harm is considerably less. This is not to trivialise the offence of traffic illicit drugs, but the sentences involved appear to be unbalanced… (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Good public policy is made by governments and then explained to the public. The politicians should not be led and influenced to the extent they are by the media and public opinion that is based on fear and prejudice (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Academics pointed out that changes to legislation and government policy in the past have been brought about by community-based action, not by politicians, and that this pattern was probably going to be repeated before illicit drug use was responded to in a rational and humane way:

Domestic violence…child abuse, occupational health and safety, and drink driving too, were all issues which were brought to attention by social movements and non-government means. Twenty years ago these were not recognised as social harms and it was only after much lobbying and eventual acceptance by mainstream society that government policy responded (Academic key informant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 295 The Value of Examining Illicit Drug Issues in the Context of Ethnicity The great majority of criminal justice key informants believed there was value in examining drug issues in the context of ethnicity. From a criminal intelligence point of view though, ethnicity was viewed as a factor, like any other, that needed to be taken into consideration when investigating illicit drug offences or building up profiles of the people involved. Key informants were at pains to point out that those few people engaged in illegal activities from particular ethnic communities have been able to make a big impression, out of all proportion to their actual numbers.

From a police perspective it was not considered worthwhile examining illicit drug issues in the context of ethnicity. However, Juvenile Justice, court and prison key informants believed that identification of ethnicity was crucial to a better understanding of their client population and their possibly differing needs, expectations and experiences. It was believed that information about ethnicity would assist agencies in identifying staff training needs and in provision of more culturally appropriate services:

Culture does have an impact. [For example], there is a definite connection between low frustration levels and poor impulse control, and being the eldest son in a [non-English speaking background] traditional household where [he has] been used to being treated like [a] little god because [he is] the eldest son. We see plenty of these in prison and they have a lot of difficulty because they are used to being waited on and being macho…I also think that young Vietnamese are presenting in the classical way that has been documented for the children of holocaust survivors…they have been overprotected and they have been parented in an emotionally remote way. In many ways I think young Vietnamese, who themselves have not experienced war, are more psychologically disturbed than their parents are… (Prison key informant).

Key informants from academic and intelligence areas also all agreed that there was value in examining illicit drug issues in the context of ethnicity:

If you are going to talk about age and drug use, gender and drug use…then to leave out ethnicity is ridiculous…Drug users are assumed to be ethnicity free and research tends to focus on how many times they inject a day for example. The drug user is usually ill defined and we have very little understanding about the role of ethnicity in terms of how that shapes and affects, and is affected by, drug use. This information is very important for a whole range of reasons including better targeting of education campaigns (Academic key informant).

296 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement And, from another academic:

It is critical to investigate drug use in the context of ethnicity and to expose the true picture…the history of all aspects of the criminal justice system in relation to minority groups is that it is distorted and discriminatory. The issue of illicit drugs linked to certain minority groups is a prime example of how this occurs. Examining illicit drug issues in the context of ethnicity is also important from the point of view of the concerns that many ethnic communities have about alienated young people who are cast outs from mainstream society and who may well be suffering grievously as street kids, as well as being involved in illicit drugs. This needs to be identified, dealt with and prevented (Academic key informant).

Difficulties for People from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds in the Criminal Justice System

Understanding of the Legal System The court system and its services and procedures were considered to have been designed to deal with a certain type of person, namely: the Anglo-Saxon male. As such, the system ‘…finds it difficult to deal with anyone who is outside this category of person’ (Court key informant). Often people from NESB have no idea how the Australian legal system works or indeed what behaviour constitutes a crime:

Our legal system is quite a complex intellectual system. The language that is used and the formality are unfamiliar…the average person is pretty overawed—their behaviour changes just because they are inside a court—suddenly they can’t speak, their words lock up—and that’s your average person whose first language is English… (Court key informant).

…although I will explain through an interpreter that they have an opportunity to speak on behalf of the offender, parents and other supporters of the South East Asian offenders do not think it is appropriate for them to speak and it is very difficult for them to do so. Also, explaining to people how the court works takes a lot of time and there is just not that time when we are seeing case after case and there is a schedule to follow (Court key informant).

As well as the systems and procedures, there was concern that the judiciary themselves were not consistent in their outlook. For example, a Magistrate had been quoted in the media as saying, ‘We have to get these scum off the streets,’ while other Magistrates view drug using as a social and health problem rather than a criminal offence.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 297 Communication The body language of some people of ethnic background, and its interpretation by the judiciary, is considered a possible source of discrimination. The body language and expression in Asian society, for example, tend to have opposite meanings to those in Anglo society. It was considered an unfortunate cultural tendency for Asian background people to say ‘yes’ to statements made to them. This response often gives the impression that they are agreeing that they have done something, or are agreeing that they understand something, when in fact what they really mean is ‘yes,’ they heard the question:

They will tell you that they understand and may repeat back to you what you have said but they really do not understand and they end up breaching their orders…staff are always busy and the need to take time and ensure people understand everything is sometimes forgotten in the rush (Juvenile Justice key informant).

All court and criminal justice paperwork is written in English and it is therefore difficult for many NESB people to understand fully what is required of them, for example, what their community-based order requires:

It would be best if we could have the court orders written in the person’s own language as well as in English. Often the parents do not know what the orders mean (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Communication was considered vital, particularly in the Juvenile Justice area. There was thought to be an opinion held, especially by refugees, that authority is bad and to be feared. This gets in the way of effective communication because while the Juvenile Justice workers are trying to assist the young person, they nevertheless represent authority and this makes it difficult to work in a cooperative way with the children and their parents:

Parents of Vietnamese and Cambodian background feel uncomfortable here and add to that, workers who can’t speak the language…these things do discriminate against people of NESB (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Another consequence of poor communication is that without adequate explanation, some young people get the impression that the court sentence is very trivial. In comparison with their, or their parents’, sometimes horrific experiences as refugees, this view is understandable. It was considered less of an issue when there was ability, and time, to explain the seriousness of the dispositions and the future consequences of the same behaviour.

298 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Interpreters Interpreting services were considered to be the main culture-specific service offered by the justice sector. Some key informants thought there were not enough interpreters to meet the demand and that interpreters for some languages were very difficult to obtain. Others were happy with the interpreter service. However, even where interpreters were freely available they were not considered to be the complete answer to ensuring services were culturally sensitive. Also:

Vietnamese, especially those that speak no English, often do not like interpreters because traditionally all problems were kept very much in-house and it is difficult to share the family and personal problems with a third person—that is, the interpreter (Court key informant).

Several key informants mentioned the expense of using interpreters:

For every job we do involving Asians or Romanians we use interpreters. In one case we had to spend $30,000 on interpreters…Often we have the intelligence information but what we actually act on has to be balanced with what resources we have and, if a case is going to be expensive, it is difficult (Police key informant).

Why Young People of NESB Become Involved in Illicit Drugs The reasons why young people of NESB become involved in buying and selling illicit drugs were considered to be various and often much more complicated than at first sight.

Family Unrealistic expectations of their children, lack of appropriate parenting skills and lack of time to adequately supervise their children were problems mentioned by court and Juvenile Justice key informants. There was a perception that Vietnamese background parents expect their children to be totally obedient to them and that the adolescents’ knowledge of relationships and behaviours in the families of their Anglo peers, consequently resulted in conflict at home and sometimes resulted in the child leaving home:

…many Vietnamese parents expect their children to give them absolute and unquestioning obedience and often place a great deal of pressure on their children to succeed. There needs to be a shift in the parent’s attitudes so that children forced out of home can move back to the family and receive greater support and understanding from their parents (Court key informant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 299 Key informants had observed that some young people had become involved with illicit drugs because drugs were already in their families or because the family was in need of money:

I have had young people trafficking to get money to buy drugs for their parents. It is a very hush-hush thing so it is difficult to know whether the parents became addicted in the refugee camps or prior to this. The child may be making money to pay off their parents’ gambling debts (although this is probably the same for people of ESB as for people of NESB). In addition, many of these people are struggling to pay for food, clothing and accommodation and just don’t have the skill to present well at job interviews. Even if they have a job the salary for unskilled labour is very low. So, where there is an opportunity to earn $400 per day selling drugs the temptation is enormous (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Self-Medication One reason for illicit drug use, which was mentioned by a number of key informants, was that illicit drugs are being taken to treat physical pain, such as toothache or to treat depression or other psychological disorders. For many youth, particularly those who are no longer living at home with their parents and who have no Medicare card of their own, it is easier, and possibly cheaper, for them to use heroin. This compares with the trouble involved in visiting a doctor or dentist, obtaining a script and then buying drugs at a pharmacy. Additionally, there is a tendency in some cultures to deny the presence of mental health problems so, in the absence of diagnosis and treatment, the young person is left to cope alone:

In Vietnamese culture mental illness is rarely acknowledge so if the parents are told by the school or social worker or whatever that it is possible their child may have a mental illness they are not likely to take their child to get properly diagnosed. Maybe these young people when they get a bit older are self- medicating through using illicit drugs to try to control their serious mental health problems, such as depression and post traumatic stress (Juvenile Justice key informant).

The issues with NESB and ESB youth may be exactly the same but what is different is that ESB youth will get diagnosed with a problem and get help, whereas the NESB will not. One of the common themes I have observed for children of NESB (whether born here or overseas), is that they seem to be fine in school until they get to year nine and then they can’t cope. They do the first term of Year 10 and that is the end. Then they are out of school and there is nothing for them to do with their time. Young people who come from English speaking backgrounds who are performing badly at school tend to be diagnosed with behaviour problems and get some treatment…How many Vietnamese young people are there who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder? We have had none through Juvenile Justice… (Juvenile Justice key informant).

300 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Education Another area that was thought to be crucial to the ability of adolescents to have a positive self-image—and the prospect of participation in the workforce—was education. The lack of adequate schooling and low levels of literacy, particularly for many migrant and refugee children, was considered a serious problem. It was thought that without literacy skills it was impossible for youth to participate productively and legitimately in the life of the wider community, and that this realisation left such youth vulnerable to the temptations of using and selling illicit drugs.

Lack of Opportunity Another reason why young people used illicit drugs was considered to be related to the nature of modern society:

…one of the reasons young people, regardless of ethnic background, become involved in illicit drugs is that many of them feel in limbo and unable to participate in society as an adult. Modern society does not treat adolescents as adults, as would perhaps have been the case in the past, and there are very few opportunities for young people to join the adult world and obtain an independent identity. Given this limbo hiatus period in the lives of many young people it is probably not surprising that they seek an identity in other less legitimate ways. Drug dealing provides them with the finances to buy the trappings of adulthood. That is a powerful sort of attraction…Peer pressure is also a powerful influence in the lives of young people and this is an additional powerful influence (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Coercion Another even more disturbing reason for involvement in illicit drug selling was that young people were being forced by ‘standover’ men and moneylenders to pay for the debt of their parents by selling drugs:

…Some of these kids from the Vietnamese community are hooked into dealing on the basis of a complex, almost Mafia-style network. The loan sharks or the ‘stand over men’, have either lent the parents money to set up businesses or are claiming protection money from the parents. Part of the deal to keep safe is that the kids must shift drugs for these characters. The Juvenile Justice workers have said that the reason magistrates won’t hear this in the pleas at court is that there is a risk of death or serious injury for themselves or their parents if they speak about it. We have been told that this situation is an entrenched part of that community and it is very closed—you won’t find out about it. This is the principle that the Mafia operates on (Court key informant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 301 Recreation It was acknowledged that a considerable, but unknown, amount of illicit drug taking was recreational and not problematic from a criminal perspective.

There are people who use heroin recreationally, are not addicted and who maintain a normal lifestyle. To force these people into treatment when there are no harms and they do not want treatment is probably not a good idea (Academic key informant).

Backgrounds of Drug Offenders: Differences Between Anglo and Asian Drug Offenders Differences between Asian and Anglo background offenders related to their different social backgrounds and criminal histories. Court and Juvenile Justice key informants believed that, in their own experience, young offenders of Anglo backgrounds were much more likely to come from dysfunctional families and to have a history of sexual and/or physical abuse and a lack of opportunity generally. Young drug offenders of Asian background on the other hand, appeared often to come from relatively good homes and were attending school regularly. Thus the pattern of offending for Anglo youth was fairly linear, in that they had poor childhood experiences, became young offenders and continued as adult offenders. The pattern of offending for Asian youth, however, may be an aberration associated with adolescence. Thus there was a certain degree of optimism by court and Juvenile Justice key informants that young Asian drug offenders may well grow out of their offending patterns and continue on with their lives as productive adults:

I think Asian background offenders in Juvenile Justice are more properly characterised as being in the adolescent decline category, while Anglo offenders tend to be a product of their poor upbringing. A typical Anglo presentation will be poor childhood experience, poor adolescent functioning and poor adult functioning…Whereas with Asian background youth in residential facilities they will commonly have had a good functioning childhood, poor adolescent functioning and the hope is that they will have good adult functioning. This is not universal but it is the general picture (Juvenile Justice key informant).

With the Vietnamese young people many…are quite bright kids but are throwing it away altogether by committing drug offences. The big issue here I think is one of culture. Many of the Vietnamese background youth do not believe they belong to their parent’s generation and culture and they feel they do not belong to the Australian culture either. I think that is why ethnic background kids form groups and gangs…they can get that feeling of belonging from these associations (Court key informant).

302 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The most common background variable for all young offenders of Asian background was considered tension in their family situation:

Frequently they will be living with extended family and things have not worked out, or they will have only one parent left…Many parents also have to work very long hours and it is difficult for them to maintain any supervision or control over their children (Court key informant). and:

…Many children and their parents have suffered considerable trauma and are here as refugees. The parents are often not capable of parenting effectively because of all the trauma they have been through and the lack of role models (Juvenile Justice key informant).

For Asian people appearing in the Magistrates Court on drug charges, the average age was estimated at 18 to 21 years, compared with Anglo background offenders on drug charges who were considered to be usually aged in their mid-to-late 20s. Average age of drug offenders appearing at the Children’s Court, across all ethnic groups, was considered to be 14–17 years.

Operational police in police districts varied in their perceptions of the offending of Asian background people. Some thought that it was impossible to generalise and some made comments, consistent with the observations of court key informants, that Vietnamese offenders tended to sell drugs as their only offence, unlike drug offenders of Caucasian appearance who tended to more frequently commit property and violence offences as well. Of the 35 key informants, only two thought that Vietnamese drug offenders were generally more violent than other groups.

Observations on Frequency of Offending

Police Arrests Police statistics show a significant rise in the number of arrests of youth of Asian background over recent years. However, it was pointed out that high representation of some ethnic groups in police arrests, and their subsequent high representation in court and corrections statistics, does not necessarily indicate a higher level of actual offending. Rather it is more likely to be a reflection of police activity:

I am sure that police…are not focusing on particular ethnic groups. However, the large proportion of Asians in the statistics points to a fundamental operational reality about policing and that is that police focus on the highly visible offenders and tend to retrace the steps where they have had previous success (Academic key informant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 303 We have to play the numbers game because that is how we are assessed, so we tend to focus on the street level crimes because that is where we can get the most number of arrests (Police key informant).

Court Appearances In the Children’s Court, one key informant estimated that 50 per cent of the children appearing for drug offences were from South East Asian background, while another estimated 60 per cent-70 per cent of the children appearing for drug offences were from NESB generally. One key informant estimated that in the case of drug offences, about 75 per cent of the offenders appearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court were from South East Asian backgrounds. It was pointed out that this pattern may well be a result of the location of the Court’s catchment area, rather than an indication that there was a large NESB offender population and that in other courts the proportion of offenders of NESB may be very low.

Viewed in the context of overall drug offending, it was felt that youth of Asian background were probably not more likely than other groups to offend. However, their street-based culture and their different appearance tended to bring them to the attention of the public and the police more easily than other groups. Thus, Asian background youth tended to enter the criminal justice system more easily than other groups:

Their [Asian] appearance makes them stand out and there is huge media attention on them and I think that filters down. I think they have been demonised as the heroin users of Victoria and this is not right. Many of our Asian kids…would rather sell heroin than rob someone. [They] will talk about the morality of dealing drugs and that this is a better, less harmful way of getting money to pay for their own drug habit—because they are selling to willing buyers—than stealing or hurting other people. However, in the courts they are dealt with much more harshly for the drug dealing and so they then come to our attention because we handle the kids who are given more serious dispositions by the courts (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Incarceration Court and Juvenile Justice key informants observed that Asian background juveniles are getting higher sentences at an earlier point in their involvement with the justice system than are juveniles from other backgrounds. This was thought to be because the most common offence for Asian background juveniles was traffic drugs, and this offence now carries a higher penalty than many property or violence offences.

304 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Police, court, Juvenile Justice 18 and prison key informants believed there had been a substantial rise in the number of young Asian background offenders being sentenced to youth training centres. The rise was considered to be due to three main factors: their high visibility; the new Sentencing Act amendments introduced in 1997 which give harsher penalties for street level drug dealers; and the fact that Magistrates are loath to send young, non-violent men into the adult prison system. Thus if the offender is aged between 18 and 21 years they tended to be sent to Juvenile Justice facilities rather than to an adult prison:

Confidence in the prison system is not high among magistrates, particularly in the situation of custody where very young men of eighteen to twenty-one are placed with older men. In general [Asian background offenders] are not violent and they are very young. I am very reluctant to remand these people in custody because I have had experiences where these young men have been physically assaulted and in some cases raped by a group of other prisoners while on remand (Court key informant).

Drug Treatment Services Key informants were sceptical of the efficacy of the current drug treatment services, primarily because they appeared to be very Anglo-Saxon and middle-class in their orientation and there was no evidence of their success:

…the drug treatment industry it is starting to resemble a very middle class, psychosocial base and the service providers are applying their treatments from a particular frame of reference. There is no evidence to say they are achieving results or indeed that they are not achieving results. However, my feeling is that they probably do not have a high success rate. Many young people are at the crossroads and are surrounded by chaos in their lives. Their ethnicity gives a particular twist to their experiences (Prison key informant).

There was considerable concern by law enforcement key informants that young drug users and street dealers were not receiving a humane response or adequate services—particularly those of Asian background:

18 The Juvenile Justice Service provides community based supervision of convicted young offenders (under 18 years) sentenced to community based orders and provides custody on youth training centres for young offenders aged under 21 years.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 305 Young Vietnamese males are ‘falling through the cracks’ in Victoria and their situation is exacerbated by their being projected in the media and considered by the general population as evil. They need to be brought together and assisted to become part of the community—part of us—and not treated in any separate or specialist way because they have exactly the same needs as any other young person (Academic key informant).

There was also a concern that there were very few of the needed services available. This was considered a serious problem:

The concern we have is that there is no place to put the people who are affected by drugs. There is very little infrastructure or practical support for drug users despite the fact that we have committees and groups talking about the problem. The reality is that there are no services. When I go to the Department of Human Services or go to the council I get the same speak (sic). The services which do exist are spread too thin and are under enormous pressure to provide more than they realistically can provide… (Police key informant).

If you talk to the parents of children who have died it is very sad—they all say that they had a lack of support. The kids cannot get services, no matter what the government says to the contrary (Court key informant).

Complex Social Problems As discussed above, there are a number of social and health reasons which are considered to affect whether a young people will take up illicit drugs, and there are important issues to be addressed in treatment. In the case of Asian background youth, there was a perception by court and Juvenile Justice key informants that these youth have a number of complex problems and issues going on in their lives which need to be addressed to assist them to keep away from a lifestyle with illicit drugs:

These adolescents need advice, practical assistance, support and encouragement in order to establish themselves in a socially acceptable way. In group accommodation what is needed is a person who can provide advice on living skills and assist the kids to get through their rough patches and remind them of all the good things they have going for them. How to set and strive for their life goals. It is hard to get good accommodation workers because all they get in return for their work is free accommodation and for this they are having to tackle some pretty complicated issues on a constant basis (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Post-Detox Support A number of key informants mentioned that detox services were useless unless they were combined with post-detox services:

306 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement …the treatment addicts receive is only one-dimensional and focuses just on the addiction. It treats the addiction but it does not address all the social and other problems, which led to the taking of drugs in the first place. If you don’t address these problems what is the point in detox? The person has no other option but to face again all those problems they have and without proper assistance the chances of them taking drugs again is very high (Court key informant).

Detox is useless without follow-up to assist the person to find other ways of coping with their problems. If there is no alternative lifestyle on offer it will be inevitable that the person will drift back to their old friends and their old ways (Court key informant).

Family Support Other services considered urgently needed included: family support and parenting skill courses; better diagnosis and treatment services for learning, behaviour and psychiatric disorders; better employment and career opportunities; and post-detox support to assist the user and their family to sort out the problems which led them to use drugs in the first place:

The kids we see have a number of issues all happening at the same time, they have had horrific refugee experiences, they are going through the difficult adolescent years, they are caught between two cultures and so on. It is a huge and complex problem. I think more court-based services for families are needed. We do offer a court advice service but it is an Anglo advice service and even interpreters aren’t able to counteract the Anglo focus (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Education and Literacy Free schooling, regardless of age was considered essential, particularly to ensure adequate literacy skills:

Poor English has an impact on many things. Many of our refugees here were trapped in refugee camps in Hong Kong for years and there was little schooling…I think organising appropriate schools for refugees where they can get an education and learn English, despite their age, is urgently needed. However, I think the running is too late for the Vietnamese refugees. I would like to think that if we have another influx of refugees, perhaps from Russia or former Yugoslavia as is rumoured, we don’t make the same mistakes. As a government and as a community we should be more proactive with migrants and refugees (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 307 Prison-Based Services The type and quality of drug services in prisons were considered to vary enormously depending on the type of staff they have. Key informants believed that Methadone should be able to be prescribed in prison, that continuation of Methadone on release be organised by doctors, and that doctors should be consistent in the service that they provide and should treat prisoners in exactly the same way as they would a person in the community.

Prisoners were thought to be at risk of using drugs again, and particularly vulnerable to death by overdose in the days after release, because of a lack of bridging support to help them establish their lives:

Where the work needs to be done is on release. If you look at drug treatment services, that is the place it all falls down…[Newly released prisoners] need assistance [in the short-term]. If I have to think about all the things someone has to do on release I get overwhelmed, so how do they cope straight out of an institution? they have to get every aspect of their lives in order and make rational decisions at the same time…they often are left to organise their own Methadone treatment as well. It is too much to expect of them (Prison key informant).

Appropriate Services One key informant had asked prisoners about their experience of drug treatment services in the community. Their view was that drug treatment services need to be brought to the users, where they were easy to access, and that the services needed to be targeted at the users’ level. Prisoners did not believe that this was currently happening. Many key informants mentioned their concern that treatment services were not appropriate for people of NESB. For example:

It has become very clear to us that Indo-Chinese people have grave misgivings about the dominant treatment methods. Indo-Chinese background people prefer abstinence as a treatment and not swapping one drug with another, as happens in the case of Methadone…’ (Academic key informant).

One key informant believed that what was more important than being culturally appropriate was that the drug treatment service be adolescent-focused:

Drug treatment services are really adult services. They are not suitable for adolescents, never mind being culturally sensitive…Kids are not going to relate on an adult level and sit and talk about their problems. They need activities and stimulus, otherwise they are climbing the walls after a few days (Juvenile Justice key informant).

The urgency for more humane and effective responses to the drug problem were very apparent to workers in the field:

308 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement What I hate to see with our kids is that the drug problem has pushed their families to break-up point, the kids have health problems, they have criminal records and the likelihood of them ever getting a job is minute. The kids are under enormous pressure from sellers higher up the chain to remain in the drug business, and their lives are basically ruined. While this is happening, the people higher up are raking in vast amounts of money and living a wonderful life. It is a shame when you see the families who have gone through so much to come to what was supposed to be a wonderful country, only to then see their families breaking up and their children going wrong (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Other Crimes Linked to Illicit Drug Offending Academic key informants point out that police have a tendency to assert that dependent drug users commit most property crime, and that most drug users are property criminals. However, many of these claims are not based on any evidence. For example, in the recent past:

Police Commissioners used to quote 70 per cent of property crime as being committed by dependent drug users. However, this figure was based on a study which showed that 70 per cent of burglars in jail said they had a drug habit and somehow police turned this around to mean 70 per cent of property crime… (Academic key informant).

The academic key informants believed that it was much more likely that a small proportion of dependent drug users commit a great deal of crime. Another key informant pointed out that overseas research indicates heroin addiction does not, in fact, induce people to take up other crime, but rather, addicts involved in crime had a prior history of offending before taking up drugs. One key informant thought that in the last 12 months there had been an escalation of violent offences related to drugs:

My impression is that there was more violence in the drug scene in the late 1980s than there is now. However…there has also been a great increase in syringes used as weapon in armed robberies. I would say that the level of violence associated with drug dealing is escalating quite frighteningly. In the main, these more violent crimes are committed by Anglo-Australians (Court key informant).

Types of crimes that were considered to be associated with illicit drug offending varied according to the level at which the drug offending was occurring. For example at the import level, where the aim is not to draw attention to oneself, it would be rare for other crimes to be committed. At the higher levels of drug distribution and sales, associated offences were considered to be primarily money laundering and fraud:

The higher up the chain you are, the more likely you are to be distanced from the violence and sitting behind a desk somewhere in business (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 309 At the middle dealer level it was considered that there was more likelihood of violence including murder, aggravated burglaries, blackmail and extortion. Some illicit drug-associated crime has been found to be well organised:

In a recent raid, NSW police found that a Vietnamese person had a huge amount of stolen property stored shop-like, where people ‘in the know’ could go to sell stolen goods or to buy cheap goods. Most of the goods had been brought in by drug addicts to obtain money for their drugs (NSW police key informant).

However, at the lower end of drug offending the general consensus was that associated crimes were much more likely to be opportunistic property and violence crime. These offences included theft from motor cars, armed robbery and burglaries:

…drug offences are linked to property-based offences, mindless violence, impulse crimes, lack of thinking or [lack of] forward planning type crimes. I think drug offences are less likely to be associated with the type of crime which is planned or has some strategy about it (Prisons key informant).

Many of the victims of drug-related crime are themselves drug offenders:

Drug dealers prey on one another. At any point in time they will be either cashed-up or have drugs on them so they are therefore a good target to rob. Violence offences seem to go together with drugs and money (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Occasionally offences occurred in the context of gangs but this was considered to be unusual:

Sometimes we will be presented with young people who you think have acted out of racist motives, with one gang of a certain race attacking another group of another race. The young people will say the attack was based on racism but if you continue to probe it will often be the case that it is one group coming in and undercutting the established group and trying to take over their drug trafficking territory (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Two key informants in police and intelligence areas thought that higher level Asian background drug offenders were difficult to prosecute because such offenders tended to commit their crimes within the Asian community, making police investigations difficult and increasing the likelihood of the crime not being reported to police:

They are using their language skills and their cultural background to submerge their activities and therefore shield themselves from police detection (Criminal intelligence key informant).

310 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Many of the aggravated burglaries are committed by Asians on Asian victims and many victims are loath to report to police. Therefore they are a good target from a criminal’s point of view (Law enforcement key informant).

More Effective Approaches to Drug Control The importance of properly researching the area of drug-taking was mentioned by a number of key informants as being extremely important for the planning of efficient interventions. As well as the reasons given in the section above, discussing the value of examining illicit drug issues in the context of ethnicity, it was also considered to be important to demonstrate that drug-taking behaviour was in fact normal behaviour and to avoid the tendency to stereotype and demonise drug users:

Research may also have the positive effect of putting illicit drug-taking into the context of normal human behaviour, rather than viewing it as an aberration of human behaviour. We all live in a drug taking community…’ (Academic key informant).

Second, it was though that research was needed to obtain a truer picture of the patterns of drug taking. For example, one key informant had found from police patrol ‘running sheets’ that, contrary to common belief, the majority of drug users coming to the attention of police were in fact injecting themselves at home or in another person’s home, usually with other people in the house:

…a lot of the injecting, certainly in the…suburbs, appears to be happening in the home. Throwing money at the problem is not the answer unless the money is going in the right area (Police key informant).

The general call to ‘lock them up, lock them up’ solves nothing and if what is said is happening [Asian background children coerced to sell drugs for moneylenders and standover men] then that would be a most unjust result. That is the reason I think there needs to be a proper analysis done (Court key informant).

Shaping the Drug Market The view of all key informants was that the illicit drug market was never going to be eliminated. Others went further to say that much of the harm associated with drug use was largely due to its illegality. The only thing that was considered to be realistically achievable was to implement strategies designed to shape the drug market in such a way that it did least damage. To this end, a number of key informants thought there should be differentiation of drugs for the purposes of penalties, and more discrimination in what is considered to be drug abuse.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 311 It was thought that use of illicit drugs which produce minimal health consequences should not be considered in the same way as drugs which have more severe health and social costs, as presently happens:

Given that smoking heroin is less harmful than injecting it, it would make more sense to make it easier for users to smoke heroin and more difficult for them to inject it (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Almost all criminal justice key informants believed that illicit drug users and street level dealer/addicts should be treated as a health problem rather than as a criminal one. Police pointed out that they were being required to identify if someone has a health problem and that this was not what they were trained for. Also:

When you have an established cohort of drug users there is not much point continually arresting and locking them up. It is more productive to treat them (Academic key informant).

I think if the drug problem was tackled as a health issue and as a social issue we would have a chance of improving things…I don’t think they are bad kids but they are having struggles and the drugs are used as a crutch (Juvenile Justice key informant).

We really have to start looking at it as a health issue and to get away from demonising people who use drugs (Court key informant).

The majority of key informants believed that providing heroin to those users who were addicted to it, and providing safe places to use the drug, were sensible. Indeed, some key informants said they were at a loss to understand why there was such enormous reluctance to introduce safe houses and heroin on prescription:

Why is there the enormous reluctance to conduct safe houses or have heroin by prescription available for addicts? Politicians and the media need to stop scare mongering about illicit drugs. Law enforcement as a strategy against users and those low level dealers who are raising money for their own habits is a total waste of time and resources because it achieves nothing (Criminal intelligence key informant).

You still hit very hard anyone found bringing heroin into the country. However, for that group of injecting users which no other method can help I think it is the answer…Ultimately, this sort of option for people where nothing else has worked, is going to save lives…Heroin trials are about reducing the harm. Both politicians and the media were very irresponsible in allowing the link to be made with legalisation [during the debate over heroin trials in Canberra] and it has done a lot of damage (Criminal intelligence key informant).

312 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The only way to reduce the damage being done by heroin is to allow addicts to have heroin on prescription, to have safe injecting places and to provide addicts with the support they need to get their psychological, relationship and self- esteem issues sorted out…While heroin remains totally illegal the harms associated with it are going to be very difficult to reduce (Court key informant).

I think there needs to be legalisation of illicit drugs but with strict controls and regulations. It would at least give people a chance to establish themselves more easily into a legitimate lifestyle because they would not have to participate in the street drug scene and the lifestyle that goes with it to get the drugs they need (Juvenile Justice key informant).

If a young person could have their drug needs met in a safe, controlled environment they wouldn’t die, they wouldn’t have to commit crime. At the moment they are only focused on where and when they can score. This fills their day and the longer you are in a lifestyle the harder it is to get out of it. It is like car accidents; I think you need a lot of different things going on at the same time like community education, recognition that there are other issues going on, not demonising the issue. We lost a kid to an overdose on the weekend. Never mind dealing with the criminal side of things—we are sometimes just trying to keep the kids alive (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Coordination and Sharing Information Many key informants mentioned the need for greater coordination and integration of data from health, independent researchers and law enforcement, particularly in the compilation of current national illicit drug assessments:

Without improvements to standardise, coordinate and integrate drug data on a national scale and across the full range of related disciplines there will continue to be the situation where national policy makers are being presented with incomplete or conflicting advice (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Even within departments, there was a lack of electronically integrated databases. In Victoria, as is probably the case in other jurisdictions, police specialist squads and district crime units had their own stand alone data bases which were not linked with one another at any level.

Provision of strategic intelligence advice to senior policy-making bodies at the national level was not considered to be frequent or direct enough. In addition, it was thought important that there should be greater access to the National Drug Strategy Committee.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 313 Police and Community Involvement A problem identified by a number of key informants was the difficulty community members had in working with police on community-based solutions to local drug issues. Primarily this was due to the tendency of police to move frequently to different duties and to different work locations. The lack of continuity in community liaison resulted in a loss of knowledge by police of specific ethnic communities and frequent changes in focus and priorities as new police individuals became involved:

…It is difficult for police to develop knowledge, understanding, contacts and trust within ethnic communities and it must also be very hard for communities to build trust relationships with police and to help police in the process of identifying and prosecuting the criminals within their communities when individual police, focus and style of liaison are constantly changing (Criminal intelligence key informant).

New Legislation Needed The ability for police to compel heavily dependent people to attend drug treatment services, similar to the legislation which allows police to compel the mentally ill to be assessed, were considered to be needed. At present, ‘There is no way we [police] can force people to go along for treatment until they get a court report’ (Police key informant). Police considered themselves to be ill equipped to tackle the drug problem, particularly in relation to the lack of appropriate specific legislation, lack of 24-hour drug services for referral of people, and the lack of police resources available compared with the size of the problem. Utilisation of existing powers was also problematic. For example, electronic surveillance was often needed for the more serious drug offenders; however, justification for its use needed considerable evidence which was in many cases considered to be impossible to obtain without electronic surveillance.

A number of key informants pointed out that police have no power to take people found under the influence of heroin or other illicit drugs into protective custody. If there was this power it was considered that young people could be placed in a safer situation and also their details could be taken down and their parents notified:

Many times, as we see in the drunk and disorderly cases, the parents are rung by the police and it starts the alarm bells ringing. There should be the same provision for young people under the influence of drugs. Many children do not have any parental support; however, there are a proportion of parents for whom this type of action would prompt them to do something about their child’s problem (Court key informant).

Finally, measures, such as the better control of the hydroponic equipment supply trade was considered to be one strategy that could result in increased detection of commercial cannabis production.

314 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Cost-Effectiveness Police and criminal intelligence key informants believed they could be more productive with their finite resources if they were able to concentrate on the higher level dealers rather than being under pressure to focus predominantly on the more visible, low level street dealers and users, as was currently the case:

What would be good is a movement of law enforcement resources away from users and towards the higher level dealers and importers. All the strategies, such as treatment clinics and methadone and all the services for users…I think would help to free up law enforcement resources to concentrate on the higher levels and especially to put more resources in at the most effective end—the barrier (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Demand reduction and harm reduction were considered by all criminal justice key informants to be the keys to addressing the illicit drug problem. Many of the federal criminal intelligence agency key informants were concerned that the Federal Government appeared to be moving away from the harm minimisation approach.

While police were receptive to new ideas to address the drug they were still being required to persist with traditional policing tactics, such as saturation policing, despite it being clear from research that such tactics may be causing greater harm:

Police are becoming increasingly aware of the deleterious effects of [saturation policing]. Things like the operation’s impact on needle and syringe programs, where saturation policing actually had an enormous negative affect in terms of displacement and risky practice. Additionally, these drug operations take up a lot of time and resources for very little gain in relation to removing the problem or minimising the harm done by it. However, at the moment the organisation rewards district police for these types of operations (Academic key informant).

Harm Minimisation in Criminal Justice It was pointed out that a police crackdown on street drug dealing by drug users might well have the effect of turning users to other revenue raising activities, such as armed robbery and theft. Despite their better judgment, police were being required to persist with hard line, traditional policing tactics, such as saturation policing.

Similarly, in prisons, there was a simultaneous requirement to have a hard line approach to illicit drugs as well as a harm minimisation approach. An illustration of how these two policies conflict was given as follows: searching and testing for drugs has improved considerably in prisons to the extent where there are fewer syringes and less injecting equipment now present. However, demand for drugs has not decreased, which means prisoners are using at around the same rate but much more unsafely. The question is whether there should be a ‘drug safe’ approach or a ‘drug free’ approach in prisons and could they co-exist? It was considered that new methods to reduce the harm of drugs in prison should be tried, rather than aim for

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 315 elimination of drugs in prison because this latter goal was unachievable. For example, one method would be to rate sanctions on drug use according to the level of harm the drug causes. It was thought that harsher penalties for the more harmful drugs might encourage drug users to opt for those that are less harmful. At present in the Victorian prison system all illicit drugs are sanctioned in the same way. Thus, possession of marijuana by a prisoner has the same penalty as possession of cocaine. This was not considered unfair, given that marijuana pacifies behaviour while cocaine induces violent behaviour:

No one has had the guts to pull the pin on our current treatment of marijuana. South Australia prisons have a different system where they have a ranking of drugs according to seriousness so there is a scale of punishment given out to offenders, based on drug type. That is a promising thing because while marijuana tends to pacify behaviour other drugs like Rohypnol and cocaine induce violent behaviour and there have been some ugly scenes where people are getting injured as a result of the use of these drugs. It makes sense that the possession of drugs should be sanctioned differently according to the harm they are likely to cause (Prison key informant).

In any case, there was a perception that 18 to 24 year-olds—who are usually in prison for shorter terms—are not motivated by the present sanctions on drug use in adult prisons, and many were not motivated to seek treatment for their drug use.

The ‘War on Drugs’ The unanimous view of criminal justice key informants was that the ‘war on drugs’ was lost. A number of reasons for this were put forward including that:

ƒ It is impossible to control pleasure with legislation.

ƒ Police and intelligence agencies have to observe jurisdictional boundaries and make decisions based on how much operations will cost, while the importers and higher level drug distributors were extremely mobile, well financed and not bound by any rules or procedures.

ƒ Lack of coordination and information sharing within agencies and between agencies is a continuing difficulty.

At the street dealer and user level, police key informants said they could not keep abreast of the sheer volume of calls and information received. Lack of services to refer people to, particularly after hours when most of the drug activity occurred, also meant police were often tied up for extended periods with a drug user and unable to get back out on the road:

316 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement The war is lost…the Federal Police have thrown in the towel and they are not concentrating on drugs any more…Look at the docks area…there were all sorts of checks and they used to use dogs…now the customs staff have all gone…and they say it is the police’s responsibility and problem. We have lost the battle, we can’t do it (Police key informant).

Higher Level Illicit Drug Importers and Distributors There was agreement that drug importers and distributors are from a broad range of backgrounds. Police and intelligence key informants emphasised that they did not focus on ethnicity as such, but that it was an issue which arose by virtue of the nature of illicit drug importing and distribution, in that most of the drugs in Australia come from overseas. Also, because there must necessarily be a feeling of trust between people contemplating illegal behaviour, it was natural that family, social and business associates (who are commonly of the same ethnic background), may be safer choices for collaboration:

The main issue is trust—whether that is by virtue of a shared school, club, long- standing business association, ethnic background or whatever. In terms of the movement of drugs around the world ethnicity is important. In terms of importing drugs into Australia there is a business advantage if you share a similar background, such as ethnicity with the suppliers. This is the same down the chain although there are more opportunities for greater participation by a variety of groups the further down the chain you go (Criminal intelligence key informant).

In general it was believed by key informants that the large importers of heroin in Sydney and Melbourne were criminals of Chinese, Vietnamese, Romanian and Albanian backgrounds. Previously, it was believed to be dominated by people of Lebanese and Turkish backgrounds. The main groups involved in cannabis are still considered to be from Greek and Italian backgrounds and amphetamines were considered to be mainly produced by Anglo-Australians (although an amphetamine ‘cook’ from Bulgaria and two from Russia had been arrested recently).

Chinese background importers were thought to sell heroin in Australia wholesale and not be involved in its distribution:

Chinese will sell heroin wholesale to Vietnamese as well as to other nationalities. People of Chinese background tend to work through business related contacts based on a system of obligation and personal contacts (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Criminals of Vietnamese background, who are involved in the distribution of heroin on a larger scale, were considered usually socially marginalised people with very mobile lifestyles:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 317 The more marginalised these individuals are, the more involvement they appear to have in the drug trade. People of Vietnamese background are constantly moving drugs, and the proceeds of drugs, along the east coast of Australia by road between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (Criminal intelligence key informant).

While there does not necessarily need to be an individual or group of the same ethnic background in Australia for an importation to be successful, it has been found that for imports of cocaine for example there will tend to be a Latin American (Spanish speaking) connection somewhere in the importing loop. However there have been many examples where strategic alliances between different ethnic groups have been established in Australia, primarily at the point of transfer between import and major distribution:

One of the hallmarks of modern drug criminals is their ability to strike business alliances with other groups. There may be a group of criminals of the same ethnic background but they will be able to establish a business alliance with a group consisting of a totally different ethnic background (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Organised Crime Except in the case of two police key informants, there was agreement among police and criminal intelligence key informants that drug importation and distribution in Australia is not connected to any organised crime groups. It was acknowledged that some criminals will claim, such associations in order to intimidate others; however the connection, if any at all, was invariably found to be very loose:

The concept of drugs being associated with organised crime is very appealing especially because they are a very visible ‘other’ who is involved. Anyone can say they are part of an organised crime group and immediately they can have status and can engender fear by the threat of possible violence and in fact carry out the violence in the name of these groups (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Drug activities are more entrepreneurial and broad-based, with each group making profit on their own part of the importing process. There is no evidence of hierarchical crime organisations being involved in any Australian drug crimes (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Violence, too, was not considered to be associated with higher level drug dealing to any significant degree:

318 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement There does not appear to be much violence or competition in the [higher levels of the] drug market. If people…realise the competition is too great, they seem to find something else to do. I think that at the higher level there is no point in fighting over turf because everybody would lose. The gang on the street might control a territory but there is not the equivalent at the higher levels (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Media It was pointed out by several key informants that ethnicity is not a major factor in drug offending. Rather, drug offending was a problem that transcended all ethnic groups and was related to a number of complicated and interrelated socio- psychological and economic issues in the lives of the drug users:

Media coverage is not at all accurate. The focus on Vietnamese is a beat-up and they are convenient scapegoats. Of course there are Vietnamese involved in street level dealing but that is the bottom level. One of the most successful drug syndicates ever in Australia was the ‘Mr Asia’ drug syndicate and it comprised New Zealanders with one or two Australians. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were other ‘Mr Asia’ syndicates in existence. However, these types of syndicates do not feed people’s prejudices and they don’t sell newspapers (Criminal intelligence key informant).

Some key informants were aware of groups of Anglo and ethnic background youth heavily involved in alcohol and cannabis in other locations, such as on the Peninsula, but observed that these groups do not attract the attention of the media:

…you could just as easily focus on the Peninsula…and you would come across many young people of Greek, Italian and South Pacific backgrounds who abuse alcohol and commit crimes of violence. They have big problems there but they are not the focus of the media. It is easy to think there is a big problem with Asians and narcotics but in the total scheme of things it is only one of many problems which occur in pockets of the population (Juvenile Justice key informant).

Certain sectors of the media were considered to give disproportionate coverage to Vietnamese involvement in illicit drugs through selectivity, exaggeration and provision of illustrations that show Asians:

The Herald Sun in particular has clearly been running what could be considered to be a vendetta against the Vietnamese in Victoria and The Age has not been far behind. There have been some examples of quite unconscionable behaviour by the Herald Sun (Academic key informant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 319 Newspaper reports of drugs were also considered the way many people found out about where to go for drugs:

There are repercussions from media reports. We have people coming down from Sydney because of the publicity. You have to be very careful what you say because if it is reported they will come from everywhere (Police key informant).

Outcomes from the Community Consultation Phase

Methodology

The Process of Community Consultation The community consultation phase included an ethnic community leader’s information forum and fifteen community consultations and focus group discussions with eight different ethnic communities. The eight ethnic communities chosen to participate were from Italian, Greek, Turkish, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Timorese, Somali and Eritrean backgrounds. These communities were considered to cover a range of sizes and various settlement time periods in Australia. Time and resource constraints prevented any further communities being selected for involvement.

Except for the community leaders information forum, where a mix of different ethnic group leaders were present together, all other consultations and focus group discussions were held with people from the same ethnic community. All agencies known to be connected to the chosen ethnic communities were invited to participate. The agencies were sourced from the Multicultural Commission Directories 1996 and 1999. A number of further contacts were provided by Steering Committee members. Additional agencies were identified through the snowballing effect of agencies informing the researchers of relevant others. Each agency was initially contacted by telephone and the project explained to them. A letter of further explanation of the objectives of the research and an invitation to participate followed this up. Dates of the consultations were negotiated and then a letter of confirmation sent. A number of the consultations were held at the Richmond Community Health Centre, and others were held at venues nominated by the participants.

During June and July 1999, eleven community consultations were held with community leaders and workers from the Lebanese, Greek, Somali, Turkish, Italian, Vietnamese and Timorese communities. Four focus group discussions were held with workers and other professionals from the Greek, Eritrean, Italian and Vietnamese communities. A further three focus group discussions were held with young people from the Somali, Greek and Italian communities. An average of about eight people attended each consultation session. Where numbers for a session were three or less, (as in the case of the first Italian, Vietnamese and Lebanese community consultation) an additional meeting was arranged for that group. The researchers also attended a drug information session for Somali mothers, which had been arranged by the Darebin Community Health Centre.

320 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement All meetings were tape-recorded after permission had been obtained from the group. Notes were also taken. The consultations and focus group discussions followed a semi-structured interview format. Interpreters were used during consultations involving the Timorese and Eritrean communities.

Results Results have been placed under a number of different headings as follows:

How big is the drug problem in your community? All communities thought that drugs were a problem in their communities. Participants from the Eritrean, Timorese, Greek, Lebanese and Vietnamese communities considered that the problem was severe in their communities. Participants from the Italian and Turkish communities were divided about the severity of the problem. All communities considered that there was a high level of anxiety in their communities about drugs caused primarily from their lack of knowledge about the problem.

I would say that for the first generation of Italians illegal drugs are not a problem at all but I would say for the second and third generation it is definitely a major problem. For those of the first generation it appears to be the use of benzodiazepines and alcohol that becomes a problem. For generations that follow, heroin use is the principal illegal drug, as is […] cannabis (Italian community consultation).

The problem of drug use in the community is very visible…there is no point in denying the problem. It is obviously a great concern to the Vietnamese parents. They try to keep quiet about it. It is sensitive and complicated and people don’t want to say anything publicly in case their words are misinterpreted (Vietnamese community consultation).

How big is the drug problem in your community compared with mainstream? All communities thought it was hard to estimate how big the problem was in comparison with the general community. People from the Eritrean, Somali and Timorese communities thought the drug problem was less in their communities, but that the impact was probably greater because their community was so small:

…we have this problem that is beyond our control. We have as a community only been here for 15 years, there are about two or three thousand people, but considering our background—where even smoking was considered a sin—this issue is a concern. When we came here, we found the problem of the drug. It is a big trauma for us (Eritrean focus group member).

People from Greek, Turkish and Timorese communities thought the illicit drug problem was the same in their community as in other communities:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 321 As with most other communities, drugs are a problem within the Greek community. The problem itself is severe but not any more severe than the general community and just as severe as in other ethnic community groups (Greek focus group).

People from Lebanese and Vietnamese communities tended to think the illicit drug problem was the same or greater in their communities

It is hard to say how big the problem in the Vietnamese community is compared with other groups. The Vietnamese appear to use drugs more but they are the most visible (Vietnamese community consultation).

Views of people from the Italian community varied. Some considered the problem to be less, others considered it to be the same, and others believed that the illicit drug problem was greater in their community than in other communities:

Compared with other ethnic groups it is not as rampant in the Italian community compared with other groups (Italian focus group).

On the scale of issues of most concern to your community, where does the issue of illicit drugs fit? People from the Vietnamese and Timorese communities considered illicit drugs to be their major problem.

The drug issues are the biggest concern…Drugs are definitely the number one issue. They see drugs every day and it has now become part of their life. Every family has a kid and they are always worried about the drug issue (Vietnamese community consultation).

There is a real sense of panic in this community about drugs…in the Timorese community the issue of drugs is the number one issue. Late last year there were two Timorese who overdosed and died and it was then perceived to be a big crisis (Timorese community consultation).

People from the Greek community also thought illicit drugs were a major concern in their community, together with the issues of gambling, domestic violence, family breakdown and unemployment (for both the young and for people in their fifties, who may have been out of a job for a few years).

People from the Turkish community considered the drug problem to be serious but not their number one concern:

A drug problem is always combined with many other problems, such as school, family problems, unemployment and so on (Turkish community consultation).

322 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement People from the Lebanese community considered illicit drugs and unemployment to be the biggest issues for their community. Also of concern was the mostly undeserved, negative publicity the Lebanese community perceived that they received in the media whenever there was a problem:

In the crime rates Lebanese are ranked third most criminal people. I bet you if you looked at it you would find that many of these people are Egyptian, Sudanese, Palestinian and Syrian. But they are calling themselves ‘Lebanese’ when there is a problem. If there is something good being reported, it is always toward the Arabic community, not the Lebanese (Lebanese community consultant).

For people from the Somali and Eritrean communities, poverty, housing issues and unemployment were of most concern, as was the issue of schooling (particularly where the parents had little experience of schooling and could not support or monitor their children’s progress).

For people from the Italian community, illicit drugs were not a major concern. Of more concern was the ageing Italian population; unemployment (particularly for older people), and the issue of keeping their young people within the Italian culture.

Perceptions of the Most Common Illicit Drugs Being Used Heroin and cannabis were mentioned as being used within all ethnic communities.

Cannabis use was considered to be common in the Eritrean, Lebanese, Timorese, Turkish, Greek and Italian communities. People from the Vietnamese community considered that cannabis use was not so widespread in their community, and Heroin was considered to be the most used drug in the Vietnamese community, sometimes used in combination with other drugs like Rohypnol. Heroin was considered to be the drug most used by Lebanese, and the second most common drug in the Eritrean community. People from the Italian and Greek communities were divided in their opinions about how widespread heroin use was in their communities.

Cocaine was considered to be used in the Greek, Italian and Lebanese community and to a small extent in the Vietnamese community. Ecstasy was mentioned as being commonly used as a party drug for youth within the Lebanese, Greek and the Italian communities. Amphetamine use was considered by some Greeks to be second to cannabis as the most commonly used drug in the Greek community. Only the Greek community mentioned steroid use:

Young males are particularly prone to using steroids and it can be quite an accepted drug among the members of their peer group. For the young athletic male, often unemployed or on some type of sickness benefit, it is very easy to obtain steroids both injectable and oral [at these places like gymnasiums] (Focus group participant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 323 Although not an illicit drug in Australia, khat was mentioned as being commonly used by the Somali community:

Khat is common—like taking coffee. ‘I have it every Friday night.’ You buy it at a particular house. We don’t talk about it at all because we don’t want the supply stopped (Somali youth focus group).

How are the drugs taken? Cannabis was understood by all communities to be smoked. While other communities were of the opinion that heroin was mostly injected, people of Eritrean background considered smoking to be the common mode of ingestion in their community:

None of us have heard of injecting of drugs in our community. We cannot say it does not exist but we have no proof that it happens. I have been working with the young for five years but as of yet I have never come across anyone injecting. As for smoking heroin I have heard of this (Eritrean focus group member).

People from the Vietnamese community considered both smoking and injecting to be common. People from the Greek community had not heard of smoking heroin, only of injecting:

They are mostly taking the heroin by smoking. Smoking is very common and they have told me when you start injecting you are finished. They will say, ‘I can smoke but I do not want to inject they usually start off with smoking then move onto injecting’. (Vietnamese community consultation).

Who are most at risk of using illicit drugs? All communities mentioned that young men in their late teens and early twenties were the group most likely to use illicit drugs. Most common age for drug use was considered to be:

ƒ 16–25 years for the Somali community

ƒ 13–20 years for the Eritrean community

ƒ 14–15 year olds were commonly using cannabis in the Turkish community and older youth for other drugs

ƒ 15–45 years for the Lebanese community

ƒ 14–35 years for the Greek community

ƒ 20–25 years for the Italian and Timorese communities.

324 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement People from the Somali community believed very young Somali children living in the high-rise flats were being used by drug dealers as go-betweens:

We have problems where individuals from other cultures approach Somali children and offer them presents to get involved in illicit drugs. They bribe the children with, say, $10 and it is the money they are interested in, they probably don’t understand what they are doing. The drug sellers sit in their car and they ask the seven to ten year old children to take a package to someone and bring back the money to them and the children get a reward for doing that. At an older age—say 18 to 19 years—the young men feel powerful to be involved with the illicit drugs and they move around Melbourne (Somali community consultation).

Sometimes, Vietnamese children as young as 13 to 14 years were thought to be involved in selling drugs:

Some children think you sell the drugs and then you can buy anything…Young people like certain products like Nike and Adidas and things like that. The parents could not often afford to buy these things (Vietnamese community consultation).

There was considered to be no illicit drug problem among women of Turkish, Somali, Eritrean and Lebanese background. Some women were considered to be using illicit drugs in the Italian, Greek, Timorese and Lebanese communities. In relation to party drugs used in the Italian community, use was considered equal for women and men. People from the Vietnamese community considered that there was a growing trend for women to be using heroin:

There have been increasing numbers of females using over the years…a lot of females start using because their boyfriends are using…a lot of them deal to support their boyfriend’s habit (Vietnamese community consultation).

Reasons for Using Illicit Drugs

Peer Pressure All communities (except Eritrean) mentioned peer pressure as being a common and powerful reason many young people become involved in illicit drugs:

Children don’t take drugs to spite their parents; they do it to please their friends more than anything. It is a way to conform and to feel part of the group. They don’t tell their families and the families will always say the difficult behaviour is a phase the child is going through (Lebanese community consultant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 325 Old people can forget how dreadful peer pressure can be. If you lose your best friend it is like a death. Peer pressure is a problem. I think the kids using drugs do not have the strength to say no to the drugs because they think they will lose their friends (Italian community consultant).

‘Peer pressure is a big problem. This may come from the difficulties of not having full integration into Australian society. It is not so much the language issues but more related to the culture. There is the ‘heroism factor’ as well to be involved in selling drugs (Vietnamese community consultation).

There is temptation to be like [Afro-]Americans and drugs is part of the US culture (Somalia community consultation).

Management of Psychological Difficulties Trauma from the effects of war was mentioned by people from Somali, Lebanese and Vietnamese communities:

Many kids who arrived in Australia after the wars of the mid-1970s suffered severe trauma. No money was ever spent on Lebanese refugees. They want to forget the war and be Aussies but their parents are traumatised by the war and they are over-protective and strict and put too much pressure on their kids to succeed (Lebanese community consultation).

Many people have had very bad experiences of torture and losing loved ones, of being raped, of life-threatening situations…Many have never found out what happened to the rest of their family, and most have never resolved all the issues that happened in their past. All these things make parents vulnerable—they need assistance (Vietnamese community consultation).

Poverty Poverty was mentioned as a cause of illicit drug-taking by people from the Eritrean, Somali and Vietnamese communities:

Eritreans are very poor. Our children are our only asset and if we lose them then there is nothing. As the children have no income they are using drugs and selling drugs to get money (Eritrean focus group member).

Vietnamese community is still a poor community. Their incomes are still very low (Vietnamese community consultation).

Lack of Discipline Lack of discipline was considered by people of Greek, Timorese, Eritrean and Somali communities a strong reason for children getting involved in illicit drugs. Australian

326 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement society is perceived to be very free and the parents are frightened to discipline their children for fear of breaking the law:

The government or the system in Australia (such as the school or anywhere), they say to the child, ‘Is your mother insulting you, abusing you?’ Obviously you are giving power to the kids over their parents. The kids are saying, ‘I can do whatever I want. If something happens I have someone to go to.’ Here the government gives them money into their hand from 15 years up (Eritrean focus group member).

When people come to Australia one of the first things they are told is that it is illegal to hit their children or to try to control them harshly. Parents therefore fear disciplining their children, they don’t understand that you can discipline them within the law (Timorese community consultation).

There is lack of consistency with discipline in families and this can cause conflict (Greek community consultation).

Lack of Communication in Families Lack of communication in families was mentioned as a problem by people from the Vietnamese, Greek, Italian and Turkish communities:

Often the children don’t speak fluent Turkish and the parents don’t speak or understand English very well. So often there is difficulty in talking to each other and this puts pressure on families. There are also different attitudes to religion and politics between the older and younger generations (Turkish community consultation).

Parents do not know their children. When parents are asked, ‘Do you know your son?’ they say, ‘Not really.’ ‘What do you talk about at home?’ Nothing. There is a lack of communication within the families. A lot of families tend to avoid the conflicts and lie, as it is easier to do this (Greek community consultation).

Lack of Effective Parenting Skills and Supervision A number of communities mentioned parents working long hours and not supervising their children as reasons for children to become involved with illicit drugs:

…kids are often left to fend for themselves because their parents may work long hours. Basically there is no parental control, the kids don’t fit in completely with the Australian society, they have no job, and they have no power. The only way they fit in is to be violent and to be dealing and using drugs (Lebanese community consultation).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 327 The desire to save money, work very hard and pay off a house loan as soon as possible [to the detriment of the children]. The problem is not resolved after paying off the loan because the cycle starts off again with the purchase of another house and a further loan is taken out (Vietnamese community consultation). Some parents preferred not to confront the problem even when they were aware of it. They will not exactly accept it—they just turn a blind eye. My best friend’s mother found a little bag of cocaine in his glove box but she said nothing about it at all. Within the Italian community there is a denial of many issues (Italian focus group participant).

A large proportion of the Eritrean and Somali families are headed by a single mothers who are not aware of drug issues in Australia and are having difficulties in supervising and controlling their adolescent boys:

The majority of families are single mothers and many came from rural areas— they do not know of the dangers of the drug problem for young people here. These women do not have enough information about the issues of drugs. The kids who have grown up in Australia think they understand more than their mothers. This makes it very hard for the mothers to convince their children that what they are doing with drugs is wrong (Eritrean focus group).

People from the Vietnamese community considered that much of the parenting is emotionally remote, unlike what the child sees in other families around them:

There is…a huge gap when it comes to emotional support. There is no emotional involvement with their children. The families are working too hard…and basically they do not have the energy to provide that emotion for their children. I am looking after 16 parents and the pattern is they do not know about emotional involvement with their children. A lot of young people want more from their parents. I think they are using drugs as a way of finding more emotional fulfilment (Vietnamese community consultation).

People from the Greek and Italian communities believe that some youth had too much spare time and money provided to them by their parents:

Issues of financial difficulties are not a problem because most of us Greeks have got our parents to give us money. No Greek parent will let their child leave home without money in their pocket. It could be looked upon that because the money is there, this allows some people to access the drugs. You can always rely on the parents to come up with the money (Greek focus group participant).

328 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Generational/Cultural Conflict All communities felt that cultural conflict was an issue. People from the Greek community mentioned that there was often a problem with second and third generation children not coming to terms with their identity:

The young Greeks here have to find their identity. Are they wholly Australian; are they half-Greek or a quarter? Are they Greeks when they are with their parents? Or when outside, what are we? A lot of people do not come to terms with that. This can be a huge pressure for them…This can make people turn to recreational drugs. It’s a real conflict with themselves. They are caught in two cultures (Greek focus group member).

Intergenerational problems are a very big issue. It is getting less but it is still a problem. The time clock syndrome is also a problem…the parents left Italy in the 1950s and they wish to impose those cultural values upon their children; thus conflicts emerge (Italian focus group member).

Even young people who are not using drugs are having difficulties gaining a sense of identity. Are they Turkish or are they Australian? They don’t properly fit into either culture really and they often feel like they are living in limbo (Turkish community consultation).

People from the Somali and Eritrean communities came from refugee camps where they were used to living within well-established rules and where there was not a feeling that someone was better than someone else:

Coming to Australia with no preparation has caused problems. There is cultural confusion. The young people are trying to fit into two cultures. We are living in a society that has a belief in individuality while we came from a society that believed in community. We tell our children one thing and then they turn on the TV and they see something else, not supporting what we have said (Eritrean focus group member).

Unemployment People from the Somali, Eritrean, Timorese, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Turkish and Greek communities all thought unemployment was a very big problem in their communities. Unemployment was less of an issue for Italians:

After they finish school the kids are not doing anything. They lack skills, lack opportunity and have no employment prospects and have low motivation. Many have dreams but to make the dream a reality they resort to the drugs to earn them the quickest money. They sell drugs but then they start to use drugs themselves and that is when the problems start (Lebanese community consultation).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 329 Unemployment is a big problem, it is terrible. People have very little money (Somali community consultation). When people graduate from Uni and cannot get a job, older Vietnamese would say, You have an education and so you should be able to do everything with your future. You stay home now and you do nothing (Vietnamese community consultation).

The parents are no longer role models for them. If the parents were employed and the kids could see the fruit of where their parents are getting to, they will think there is something for the future. If the parents cannot get jobs, how can they? More than 90 per cent of our community are unemployed or underemployed. You may find them very well qualified but they will be involved in very poor jobs (Eritrean focus group member).

I am into manufacturing but they are closing all of the factories. Now there are lots of older and younger people out of work and what are these people supposed to do during the day? They will take anything to stop the sadness in their lives. The leaders of our country are at fault for allowing this to happen (Greek focus group member).

Place of Living Place of living was mentioned as a major problem by people from the Somali, Eritrean and Timorese communities:

The government is hosting the drug dealers in these high-rises by subsidising their housing and giving them handouts. All the unemployed people are in the one location. Somali people are trying to move as quickly as possible—from where they have been put by the government—to get away from the poor surroundings (Somali focus group).

Some of us here have found the problem threatening and scary. It is not the drug users who are scared to see us, it is us who are scared of them. We see them using drugs in the flats’ laundries and we are scared. It is also happening on the stairs of the flats and on the streets. After they use the drugs they vomit all over the place and leave the needles everywhere (Timorese community consultation).

330 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Education and Schooling Education problems were a major issue for new migrant communities:

The greatest cause of the problems we are having with our young people is because the education and schooling system has been inappropriate for the Vietnamese children. They are put in classes according to age not their ability so they are always behind and can’t catch up. They lose heart and they get very bored because they can’t understand (Vietnamese community consultation).

Problems with schools, problems with homework, difficulty fitting in with the school environment. A lot of them drop out of school. There is a language barrier between teachers and parents and this is where the problems start. The parents and teachers find it hard to work together to deal with any early problems with the child (Timorese community consultation).

If the child is at school parents can’t help their children at school and they lack English language so it easy for the child to hide problems from their parents. Many kids can outsmart their parents. If something is unfavourable to them at school, for example, they may mislead their parents about what the teacher is saying. There is an urgent need for interpreters in schools so that the parents get the real story about their children (Lebanese community consultation).

The mums and dads do not know what is going on at school. They can’t read the school report cards and the child will tell them he is getting on okay at school so they don’t know the real story (Somali focus group).

The kids say, My parents are very educated people but they still cannot find jobs so why should I stay at school? The young people have lost any hope and do not see any outcomes and thus cannot see the point of staying at school. This, of course, is leading them to drugs (Eritrean focus group).

Other Reasons A number of other issues were mentioned as contributing to drug use, including lack of goals, gambling, boredom, escapism, ignorance of the dangers, broken families, laws not strict enough, low career prospects and ‘manhood shows of bravado’. The pressure on children, caused by the unrealistic expectations of parents, was mentioned by a number of communities, particularly in relation to amount of time studying, professional occupation, success in life and total obedience to their parents. This was considered to affect a child’s confidence and self-esteem severely:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 331 Our parents from Vietnam know about careers as doctor, dentist, engineer and so on. If we do community development work, be a social worker, they will say we are running a charity. They really do not have an understanding of the career system. There are, however, a lot of youth who are starting to rebel against this approach. People are increasingly aware that completing a University course does not automatically guarantee a job and this has also proven to be disheartening (Vietnamese community consultation).

There is considerable expectation and a pressure to make a name for yourself. There is an expectation that you will work and be doing something with your life. There can be a lot of pressure within some families. The pressure is there within 99 per cent of the families. The Italians are very big on making sure that their neighbours see that they are doing well, be it in business or schooling or whatever. That stress on a person can be very intense. If you wanted to be a panel beater for example, that would be a disgrace to the family unless of course you owned the business (Italian focus group participant).

Where would you seek assistance or advice from for a drug problem? All communities said they had little or no knowledge of the existence of specialist drug services:

Most Greeks do not know where to go to seek out help but then again I think many in the general community also do not know where to get help. Greek people are not aware of the services or of social welfare available to them. Most do not even know what a social worker is. They have no idea as to how a psychologist could help [with] their problems (Greek community consultation).

Do they really know of the service providers out there? They are not publicised. A lot of the people do not think they have a problem. The media focus a lot of the drug problem within the Vietnamese community but no media advertises where can you get help (Vietnamese community consultation).

The age of the parents could determine if they would know where to access services. Older Italians who have had kids late in life are unlikely to know where to turn for help (Italian community consultation).

People from the Timorese community did not know where to go, however—when pressed—said they would go to the Community Health Centre near the high-rise flats. Even then, people of Timorese background would only go if they knew that the welfare worker was good. People from the Somali community were not sure where to go for help or advice but when pressed said they would ask the Housing Commission social worker for help. People from the Eritrean community said they might go to Eritrean leaders for help:

332 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Most of those in the Eritrean community would not know where to get help…I think the mainstream community knows where the services are and how to use them but not us (Eritrean focus group).

Some individuals within a number of communities had heard of drug treatment services, however expressed a lack of faith that the services were of any use:

People have heard of drug treatment services but there seems to be a feeling among the community that the drug treatment services do not work. There seems to be a view that once my son or daughter becomes addicted to drugs that is it. It becomes a vicious circle and they will never get out of it and I have lost my child. With this feeling there is not much faith that anyone can assist them. It is a real feeling of despair and that there is nothing that can be done (Italian community consultation).

They may try a service once to see what it is like and then not go again if it wasn’t useful. Because there is a lack of trust in [m]any services, people tend to try to manage by themselves. There are not enough committed Vietnamese workers in this field (Vietnamese community consultation).

How have people been responding to drug using in their community?

Sending the Drug User Back to the Country of Origin People from the Turkish, Lebanese, Vietnamese and Greek communities said it was common for parents to send a drug-using child back to their home country:

I have seen many cases of families who take their sons back to Greece and place them in the army and leave them there for 18 months so they can be detoxified completely. They have no confidence in the detox services here. They do not realise that the problem is worse in Greece. The Greek army is rife with drug use. They say, ‘We took him back to get better and now he is worse’ (Greek consultation participant).

Some families send their drug-addicted child back to Lebanon. Sometimes whole families will move back because they think they will be more supported at home (Lebanese community consultation).

I have heard of many parents sending their children back to Vietnam to detox in the last two to three years. I have [told] some of these people that it is very dangerous way because drugs are a big problem in Vietnam (Vietnamese consultation participant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 333 Some Somali families also considered this as an option:

One mother wants to send her child back to Somalia and go back herself. She doesn’t want any other type of help. Another mother sent her drug-addicted child back to his father in Somalia (Somali focus group participant).

Italian Community Seeking Help It was considered that in the Italian community a young drug user who wanted help would probably first tell a cousin or an aunt about the problem, who would then break the news to the parents. The problem would be handled within the family and outside services would only be approached for help in the event of a crisis. The services approached would usually be mainstream services:

…I visited a family who had a son who was going through a detox program and they would not let him out of the house. The father had even given up work so he could follow the son everywhere and…the father sleeps at the bottom of the bed with a chain attached to his arm which is then connected to a chain on the son’s foot…there may be hundreds of cases like this. I did eventually convince the father this was illegal and he had no idea it was an illegal action and he stopped this action (Italian community consultation).

Greek Community Seeking Help People from the Greek community considered that the young drug-using person would tell their family about the problem first and then the entire family would go to seek help from the Greek speaking family doctor or the priest. For anonymity, it was thought that some might go to a non-Greek speaking doctor:

Some doctors are good, others are not so good: one person I know went to the doctor and the advice was to go to a naturopath. The quality of advice depends on the individual doctor. I think doctors are used as a service first because people are going to the doctor anyway and see it as an easier, safer way to raise the issue of drugs. It is very important for doctors to be aware of drug issues (Greek consultation participant).

Most parents will not know where to get proper help. They may go to a GP or a family doctor and apart from this they would not know of other places (Greek consultation participant).

Turkish Community Seeking Help For help with drug issues, people of Turkish background would tend to go to a Turkish doctor or welfare worker for assistance.

334 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Lebanese Community Seeking Help People from a Lebanese background thought that a problem of illicit drugs would be kept hidden and people may not admit they have a problem. It was thought that they might go to a religious leader. Generally people of Lebanese background will not use government services because there is a perception that such services pull families apart. Lebanese people also tend to want to see proof that a service works and develop some trust in it, before they will access it. Language is not necessarily a problem.

Vietnamese Community Seeking Help People from the Vietnamese community thought that Vietnamese drug users who wanted to stop using drugs would usually first try to go ‘cold turkey’ on their own, because they are too ashamed to tell their parents. Parents would try outpatient detoxification for their child, then home-based detoxification, and then hospital.

What are the obstacles to accessing services and what can be done to improve them?

Difficulty in Admitting the Problem One of the main obstacles to accessing services, apart from not knowing they exist, is that often people are not able to admit they have a problem. All communities mentioned the intense stigma, shame, embarrassment, ‘loss of face’, social disgrace, and feelings of parental failure, as obstacles to admitting there is a problem:

The parents knew what was happening because their son was open about it. However, in the face of the world everything was rosy for that family. The problem did not go beyond the four walls of the family nucleus and no outside help was sought. He committed suicide eventually (Italian focus group participant).

There is a really very high level of denial in this community about the drug problem. This is not just with drugs, it is with anything. The image of what other people think is very important. If your child has a drug problem it could be viewed as a reflection on the family. The parents and the family may be blamed and people would say they have raised their child badly (Italian community consultation).

Among Greek people there is huge shame for seeking out assistance. It is important to encourage families to speak to outsiders. Some of them do know about the services but there is also a real sense of embarrassment so there is a real need to make sure they understand professional confidentiality. If you do not establish this at the beginning you have lost them (Greek community consultation).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 335 One of the cornerstones of Turkish culture for boys and men is that of honour…If you break that honour it is then very difficult to regain your place in the community. People are only accepted back if they have fixed themselves first…This issue is more important than just helping the person overcome their addiction. If the person is not accepted back into the community (which is a possibility even when they have managed to give up the drugs), then you get the suicides and overdoses and sense of alienation (Turkish consultant participant).

A campaign to get people to take responsibility for the problem is the first important step. At the moment parents don’t want to know if there is a problem. In fact they hope the child will not tell them if there is a problem. If they are aware their child has a problem they will always blame the child’s friends for the drug problem, or blame society. The community needs a lot of help to recognise they have a drug problem (Lebanese community consultant).

Families Are Excluded by Services Another major issue mentioned by almost all ethnic communities was their strong dissatisfaction that the families were not included in the treatment process:

We do know of Eritrean youth who have accessed the drug services but they were referred to them by the schools or they were in contact with the workers so the parents don’t know anything…the big issue is that no one is looking after the families affected by their kids using drugs. There is no support group for these people. Those parents are suffering in silence…they carry many problems with them. They start to feel sick and so on… (Eritrean focus group member).

The youth do not talk about language difficulties but when there is a family meeting that is when the problem arises. Families feel excluded from the whole process when involved with drug treatment. They often say, ‘What happened, what was discussed, what effect is this treatment going to have, what happens if he goes back onto drugs?’ All of these questions largely remain unanswered. There is a huge deficiency in this area (Greek community consultation).

If you just treat the kids without the family network being involved or helped, further problems will occur. Family members have informed us they feel left out of the process of detoxification. The kids go to see the workers and kids go there by themselves and then go home and tell the parents nothing. The youth may then go straight back onto the drugs and the parents are [thinking] ‘What are they doing to him, should I trust the worker?’ The parents are very concerned about what is happening (Timorese consultation participant).

336 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Communication Difficulties Language and communication difficulties was mentioned by all communities, particularly for parents with less proficiency in English who were struggling to understand what was going on:

The problem is a shortage of bilingual workers, and the lack of use of interpreters. [as a welfare worker] I have to constantly advocate to have an interpreter and half the time there is no interpreter available. Maybe there is no funding. That puts pressures on ethnic-specific services to fill the gaps and we can’t spread ourselves that wide (Greek focus group member).

Interpreter services were considered by many groups not to be the answer to the communication problem. Bilingual workers with skills in drug issues were considered the best option:

Interpreters can’t help. You need someone who has been specifically trained to help people with a drug problem (Lebanese community consultation).

The bilingual worker can work with the mainstream services. This is a way we can link (Eritrean focus group member).

I know there is a huge demand for this [bilingual workers] because I am one of the only ones and I have people from outside my region urgently wanting my help and I just can’t help them (Turkish community consultation).

Cultural Difficulties Cultural inappropriateness and insensitivity by drug services was a common theme:

In the detox units the Vietnamese youth will just stay one to two days and then leave. They leave because of the cultural factor and they feel alienated in that environment. Like in the Western Hospital; When I send my clients to that particular place they feel uncomfortable. They feel bored there in detox unit. They are missing their friends and being outside. The main thing I think is the cultural conflict (Vietnamese community consultation).

At none of the levels of service are there appropriate services for Vietnamese people (Vietnamese community consultation).

Mainstream services are no good because they don’t understand the culture or where the young person is coming from and they are unable to communicate to the child’s parents. Cultural barriers are a very big problem. We don’t know where to send people any more (Lebanese community consultant).

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 337 I think the service themselves would not understand the needs of the Greek family. If a child is found to have been using drugs the entire family can go into a depression mode and there is a feeling the family has failed. We need to create a helpline and reach out to these people and then to focus on the individual within the family (Greek consultation participant).

What Eritreans are saying is, ‘Treat us in a different way but not in a less way. Give us the same treatment like the mainstream but in a way we are going to accept it and the way we are going to understand it’. There are people and experts who work in the drug field but they do not have the simplest understanding about our traditions, or how to support our people. It is not just how to ask questions but also about how to get an answer (Eritrean focus group).

Perceptions of Lack of Confidentiality It was considered to be very important that people—especially from newer migrant groups or older people from any ethnic group—have a clear understanding of the professional and legal requirements of workers to maintain confidentiality:

Vietnamese parents feel that if they go to Vietnamese workers they may know the person or that their problems will not be kept confidential. On the other hand if they go to an Australian worker they may meet with racism or find that they can’t be understood. There is a perception that many workers in the field are prejudiced against Vietnamese drug users (Vietnamese community consultation).

…if we use an Eritrean counsellor there has to be confidence about confidentiality. The services are saying, ‘Eritreans do not want to use an interpreter because they will not feel comfortable with Eritrean workers’. It is not true. We have explained that to be an interpreter you must be confidential and that interpreters can be sued legally if they go around and tell some else. Now everyone wants to have an interpreter because they wish to participate in the process (Eritrean focus group member).

Has the government got the right approach? Many people mentioned that ‘the government’ should be more creative and flexible with their approaches to illicit drugs and should be trying multiple solutions because the complexity of the problem requires it:

Governments and politicians love to solve major problems because it gets them votes. They don’t want to fund programs that might prevent the drug problem from getting worse. We desperately need bilingual workers to tell people what services are available (Lebanese community consultant).

338 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Currently people are feeling very frustrated about the drug problem and think, ‘What can the government do anyway? Do they really care about the issues?’ Nothing is going to be solved and there is a sense of hopelessness about the situation (Timorese consultation participant).

While it was acknowledged that the government was collecting a lot of information, there was dissatisfaction that this information could not be turned to practical use because of the lack of ethnic drug-specific workers:

People working at the grass roots level hardly notice any of the initiatives that are going on…there needs to be affirmative action (Ethnic community leaders’ forum).

People from the Lebanese community considered that the attitude in their community was, ‘If the government does a thing then it must be okay’. However, there was also a perception that government services pull families apart:

You have to have people’s confidence that something is going to work before they will use a service. They need to see proof. The most persuasive thing for people is to hear testimonials (in Lebanese language) by ex-addicts. This has a very strong influence on the Lebanese. Services need to be seen in the Lebanese community and there need to be spokespeople who are out there saying this or that works (Lebanese community consultation).

How could drug services be improved? Follow-up support service after detoxification was mentioned by many of the communities as being essential:

Parents often say, They [the services] are setting up my child to fail they get them into detox and there is no follow-up. Outreach support person may be available three to four weeks later and this is too late (Vietnamese community consultation).

Longer-term treatment should be made available. There are too many short-term programs. There needs to be a consolidation of the programs, improved rehabilitation and follow-up and it needs to be long-term. Detox is for seven days. If you have been on heroin for ten years that is a joke. The support service after detox is not at all adequate (Greek focus group member).

People from the Vietnamese community mentioned that the services are very bureaucratic and full of red tape. People of Vietnamese background do not want extensive consultation—they want someone to tell them what to do when they are in a crisis:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 339 If you give them too many options it takes too long to decide and too long to make choices (Vietnamese community consultation).

The services need stress management for their workers so they can cope with the workload…and they also need some customer service (Vietnamese community consultation).

A common theme was that services need to understand the cultural needs of their clients:

I think the services need a protocol for the various ethnic communities. Each service can have a manual so that the workers at the service can have a better understanding of how to go about some tasks that involve particular communities. This information can be obtained through consultation with the communities (Eritrean focus group member).

Mainstream drug services do not take into account a person’s Turkish culture and political issues which may be important in tackling the drug use problem (Turkish community consultation).

Also mentioned was the lack of accountability from services about the quality of their services:

I would like the drug treatment services to be audited and if they are not working then they should not be funded. We are the judges of success, not the government—I am very frustrated (Ethnic community leaders’ forum).

A number of communities mentioned the fragmented nature of drug services and the poor coordination with other services, particularly ethnic based services:

We get referrals from drug treatment services and we try to refer people to drug services. There need to be better partnerships between agencies…the agencies out there need to be directing much more of their resources to ethnic communities. They only ever produce material in English language (Greek community consultation).

Services are very fragmented. Most people have multiple problems when they present to a service; but instead of being treated and helped by the one agency, they have to go to many agencies, each dealing with one of the issues (Turkish community consultation).

Even long-term workers [in an ethnic service organisation] don’t know where to send people with drug problems. We are so overworked we have not had time to find out all the information we need (Lebanese community consultation).

340 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Ethnic specific organisations get referrals from drug services…but they cannot do everything. They are not equipped to be drug counsellors (Greek community consultation). There should be proper consultation with ethnic communities before services are developed. This is essential. Many Turkish organisations have a religious or political slant and it is a very segmented community. The Health Department needs to employ professionals who are able to be above the factionalism and not part of it (Turkish community consultation).

Pamphlets were not considered to be of any use on their own, although people from the Somali community thought that pamphlets in Somali language would be useful for education purposes and could be made available through the mosques:

It was mentioned that you need more pamphlets in Italian and I said, ‘No you don’t’. This is the last thing you need. You need to have some kind of educational campaign to go hand in hand with the pamphlets. The pamphlets have been done to death in all kinds of issues. On their own they do not work (Italian community consultation).

We can see nothing is done for us, everything is just paper. If you just distribute pamphlets then this will not work (Eritrean focus group).

Have ethnic communities addressed the issue of illicit drugs in their community? Only the Vietnamese, Turkish, Lebanese and Greek communities had made any attempt to address the problem of illicit drugs in their community. However, these attempts were admitted to be sparse and sporadic, but cover community information forums, radio programs and self-help groups:

There is the parents support group—which is a Vietnamese initiative—but it meets during the day so is not convenient for everyone. We are setting up another support service for parents in the western suburbs (Vietnamese community consultation).

I have a regular medical program…I had a heroin user on the program and we spoke about a number of the issues and about detox. We had a huge number of calls of support afterwards. No one had had this type of open discussion before (Greek focus group member).

Perceptions of Harm Reduction About half the community representatives understood the concept of harm reduction and agreed with it. Most of these were ethnic welfare and health workers. After a full explanation of harm reduction was provided to those who had not heard of it, or did not understand the concept, most agreed with it. However, one Somali consultation group remained opposed to harm reduction:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 341 Harm reduction is no good. Drug use is drug use and it is not tolerated. Whether you use drugs safely or not does not matter, as this behaviour is not allowed in Somali culture (Somali community consultation).

My immediate reaction to the term is that it is not logical because you are opening the gates. I do however try to question myself and I cannot comprehend the problems of trying to get off the drugs. I am strong believer in giving the youth choice. As a community we have to offer a range of options (Italian community consultation).

When you explain about harm minimisation, people do understand that it is a good thing and they start to realise why Australia has the lowest incidence of HIV in the world. The wider Turkish community doesn’t understand this connection (Turkish community consultation).

Participants from all the communities consulted thought that their wider community did not understand the concept of harm reduction:

The community would have a problem understanding harm reduction. They may say, ‘Drugs should not happen in the first place’. It will be hard to alter their views. Once they have accepted harm reduction they will want to minimise the harms of the drugs as much as possible (Greek community consultation).

The Turkish community does not accept harm minimisation. As a worker I fully accept harm minimisation but as a Turkish community member I know many do not (Turkish consultant participant).

Within the Eritrean community I do not believe we have any knowledge about reducing the harms. Presently people do not accept this idea of harm minimisation as there is very little understanding what it is (Eritrean focus group member).

There are still many parents who believe in the authoritative way and wonder why they do not send every drug user into the desert like they would in Vietnam… (Vietnamese community consultation).

Most believed that their wider communities would understand and accept harm reduction but only if the benefits were clearly and comprehensively explained to them:

We need consultation about how the campaign should be designed for the Eritreans. With an overview of the concept of harm reduction, we do believe the Eritrean community may be better able to understand and accept what this is about. It is a matter of time (Eritrean focus group).

342 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement With proper multicultural education there is hope and a chance that Greeks will accept harm reduction. They should be educated about the topic through all the media that is available (Greek focus group).

Needle Syringe Program Most community participants already know of and support Needle Syringe Programs (NSPs), although many were not fully aware of the objectives behind them in relation to preventing bloodborne viruses. Some people mentioned the problems associated with NSPs, such as needles being thrown away carelessly or being used as weapons. Many also thought that NSPs should be only a small part of a bigger response to illicit drugs. One Somali group was opposed to NSPs and one Lebanese welfare worker considered needle exchange not appropriate for their community:

Drug users should be punished. Needles give drug dealers a business and a market for people to make millions of dollars…what they need is drug-reducing programs. In other countries [like] Africa such people might be killed as punishment and that is one way of reducing the harm (Somali community consultation).

…it is good to keep them free of diseases. For the general community, needle exchange is okay, but not for the Lebanese community because they are more vulnerable and it would give access to further use of drugs rather than reducing the problem (Lebanese community consultation).

Many community participants thought their wider community might be less accepting of needle syringe programs:

I think generally most Greeks would look upon such programs as promoting or helping drug users, as opposed to punishing them. I think the older Greeks generally are not forward thinking about these issues (Greek community consultation).

Needle exchanges are seen as the government providing the facilities for the drug users. At the moment this is not acceptable, people are still angry. What they want is treatment for cure, and prevention, not harm minimisation. They feel we have to stop the problem not reduce the harm (Vietnamese consultation participant).

We all think it is a good program. As for the wider Vietnamese community, they do not like [NSPs], as they want people to abstain. The people need more education about these issues of drugs in their community (Vietnamese community consultation).

With information and education, which took into account the perspectives and prejudices of the various ethnic groups, it was believed by most participants that their wider community would support harm reduction and NSPs:

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 343 Eventually these people do accept the situation because of the reality. It is highly likely that if people were educated about the subject there would be a change in their current views of the situation and of such programs (Italian community consultation).

When people in the community do not understand the purpose of the needle exchange, they think it is harmful. There is a real lack of understanding about these issues and about the existence of programs. Education about what programs exist—and why—is a real requirement for this community (Timorese community consultation).

Media Excepting young people, those people of non-English speaking background who are proficient in English, nevertheless still consider the ethnic newspapers to be a more important source of information than are mainstream English language newspapers.

Greek Media The Greek media usually reflect the mainstream media’s way of reporting drug issues. Reporting is very simplistic in Greek papers and very biased in singling out a certain ethnic group to blame drugs on. They present drug issues stories as though they were a problem for others. In the Greek newspapers there are rarely stories about the drug problem. A lot of Greek people listen to the Greek language radio.

Italian Media Drug stories and issues are not presented in the Italian media enough and certainly not as much as in the general media. The general media is very biased and there is blaming of certain ethnic groups. Italian language radio would be a positive approach for getting information out to people because at the moment it can be difficult to find out about drug issues and access information.

Turkish Media

Turkish language newspapers just reflect the mainstream papers and they don’t treat the drug problem in any depth (Turkish community consultant).

Lebanese Media In the Lebanese papers the drug issue is rarely reported. Very occasionally the Lebanese papers will translate a mainstream report on illicit drugs into their paper:

344 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement There is no debate or discussion about drugs in the Lebanese papers. Arabic papers would never address the issue of drugs in a way that suggested drugs was an issue for the Lebanese or Arabic speaking. The papers try to hide the problem and not mention drugs. None of the reporters are professional journalists (Lebanese community consultation).

Vietnamese Media Vietnamese papers often translate general news from the mainstream media, but when you compare them, the meaning is often different. Often the Vietnamese newspapers will try to provide some information or education into their articles on drugs:

The mainstream media are biased in their reporting. This has caused enormous distress and problems for Vietnamese people. People feel really stigmatised. People feel embarrassed and labelled as being responsible for all the drug problems in Australia. Vietnamese people are now very sensitive to what is said about the drug problem and they read things into reports even when there may be no intention to slur Vietnamese (Vietnamese consultation participant).

There is a Vietnamese talkback radio [program], which discusses drug issues, and the response is very good.

Somali Media There is a Somali newsletter but there are never any articles about drugs and no one ever talks about it. Reading information can be a problem because so many Somali people cannot read. Somali radio on a Friday is just news from the BBC.

Eritrean Media There is only a newsletter that is circulated within the Eritrean community. To date there have not been any articles on illicit drugs. Face-to-face, verbal explanation of any written material submitted for inclusion in the newsletter is essential, both from a cultural point of view (of how things should be done), and from the point of view of accurate interpretation and explanation of the subject in the Eritrean language in the newsletter.

Timorese Media There is a Timorese newsletter and this is only distributed to those who are members of the Timorese Association. There is a Portuguese newspaper, that some Timorese read, but there is nothing reported in that paper about drug issues. There is a Timorese radio station. However, this station never mentions drug issues.

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 345 Databases When asked about the value of including ethnicity identification in government and other databases there was widespread support. People thought it was important for program development and for ensuring funding went where it was needed. The older, more established ethnic groups considered their youth had drug issues but it was impossible to identify either the size of the second and third generation youth population or their level of involvement in illicit drugs because they were all included in the category ‘born in Australia’:

More research is required…it certainly is compounding the problem in the first generation who may say there is no drug problem in the Italian community there is a real need to identify the second and third generation of Italians who are the ones most affected by this problem (Italian community consultation).

When people ask me what nationality I am, I say I am Italian even though I was born here (Italian community consultation).

There is no evidence in the way of data that can be used to show that we have a problem in the Greek community. Our problem with our youth is invisible because second generations do not show up in the databases. We have no way of demonstrating that we have a big problem so we can’t get any funding. There should be identification of ethnicity in the major databases collecting information on drug use. I don’t think anyone would have a problem giving their ethnicity on forms for data collection (Greek focus group)

.

346 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement

Appendices

Appendices

Appendix 1: Persons Aged 15 to 24 Years, by Birthplace, by Proficiency in English, by Labour Force, 1996 Census, Victoria

Figure 20 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force, 1996 Census, Victoria—Greece

500

450

400

350

300

English not well or at all

250 English only, v-well, well

Number

200

150

100

50

0 Employed F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Greece

Figure 21 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force, 1996 Census, Victoria—Italy

450

400

350

300

250

English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well

Number 200

150

100

50

0 Employed F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Italy

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 349 Figure 22 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by

labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Laos

250

200

150

English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well Number

100

50

0 Employed F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Laos

Figure 23 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Iraq

400

350

300 250

English not well or at all

200 English only, v-well, well

Number

150

100

50

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Iraq

350 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 24 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Indonesia

3500

3000

2500

2000

English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well

Number 1500

1000

500

0 Employed F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Indonesia

Figure 25 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Lebanon

900

800

700

600

500

English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well

Number 400

300

200

100

0 Employed F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Lebanon

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 351 Figure 26 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Romania

350

300

250

200 English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well

Number 150

100

50

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Romania

Figure 27 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Somalia

250

200

150

English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well

Number

100

50

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Somalia

352 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 28 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Russian Federation

300

250

English not well or at all

200 English only, v-well, well

150

Number

100

50

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Russian Federation

Figure 29 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Afghanistan

350

300

250

200 English not well or at all

English only,v-well, well

150

Number

100

50

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Afghanistan

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 353 Figure 30 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Bosnia- Herzegovina

350

300

250

200

English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well

Number 150

100

50

0 Employed F/T & P/T Unemployed and looking Not in labour force Bosnia-Herzegovina

Figure 31 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—Cambodia

1200

1000

800

English not well or at all

600 English only, v-well, well

Number

400

200

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Cambodia

354 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 32 Persons aged 15 to 24 years, by birthplace, by proficiency in English, by labour force status, 1996 Census, Victoria—China (excluding Taiwan Province)

1400

1200

1000

800 English not well or at all

English only, v-well, well

Number 600

400

200

0 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force China (excl Taiwan Province)

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 355

Appendix 2: Non-Main English Speaking Countries, by Labour Force Status, in Select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, Aged 15 to 24 Years

Figure 33 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Afghanistan

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00 Greater Dandenong

Casey

50.00

M onash Rates (%)

40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Em ploym ent F/T & P/T Unem ploym ent & looking F/T &P/T Not in labour force Afghanistan

Figure 34 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Iraq

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00

Hume

50.00 Moreland

Darebin

Rates (%)

40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Em ployment F/T & P/T Unem ploym ent and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Ira q

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 357 Figure 35 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Somalia

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00 Banyule

Moonee Valley

50.00

Darebin

Rates (%) M aribyrnong

40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Em ploym ent F/T & P/T Unem ploym ent and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Som alia

Figure 36 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Italy

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00

% Darebin

Moreland

50.00

Whittlesea

Rates ( Brimbank

40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & PT Not in labour force Italy

358 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 37 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Laos

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00 Brimbank Whitehorse 50.00 Knox Yarra Rates (%) 40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Laos

Figure 38 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Bosnia-Herzegovina

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00

Brimbank

50.00 Greater Dandenong

M aribyrnong Rates (%)

40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment & looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Bosnia-Herzegovina

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 359 Figure 39 Main ethnic group by labour force, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Cambodia











%" "& ' 


() *++")  












      !"#"$


Figure 40 Main ethnic group by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—China (excluding Taiwan Province)

,









."' " 


& "  %" "& ' 


/ )+












     -     '    -   !"#"$-
      

360 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement Figure 41 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Greece










& " 




/ )+

  %" "& '

* +) 







    '  !"#"$  

Figure 42 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Russian Federation





,









% " 


"+ ()   













     '  !"#"$      

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 361 Figure 43 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Romania

Figure 44 Main ethnic group by birthplace, by labour force status, in select Local Government Areas, Melbourne, ages 15 to 24 years, 1996 Census, Victoria—Turkey

100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00

60.00 Hume 50.00 Moreland Greater Dandenong Rates (%) 40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00 Employment F/T & P/T Unemployment and looking F/T & P/T Not in labour force Turkey

362 Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement
 

Appendix 3 Specialist Alcohol and Drug Services— Victoria—Delivery The Department of Human Services is currently implementing the following service delivery framework in Victoria.

Figure 45 Victoria's Specialist Alcohol and Drug Services—The Framework for Service Delivery

Regional Statewide Services

Youth Substance Young People Abuse Service

Outreach Residential Withdrawal Ante & Post Natal Support Counselling Home-Based Consultancy & Withdrawal Family Residential Continuing Care Rehabilitation Outpatient Withdrawal Withdrawal Information & Support Rural Withdrawal Services Supported Accommodation Substitute Programs Training & Research (Methadone) Peer Support Corrections Counselling Treatment Services Aboriginal Services Consultancy & Continuing Care -Drug Diversion -Prison Programs Residential -Planning & Purchasing Rehabilitation for Community Offenders (COATS) Supported -Intensive Post-Release Program (STEP OUT) Accomodation -Education for First Offenders -Juvenile Justice Initiatives Peer Support

Aboriginal Services

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 363

Appendix 4: Stress Factors and Issues that Impact on Illicit Drug Use/Misuse among Three Different Ethnic Groups Ethnic groups selected on the basis of different arrival times to Australia.

(NB: Literature available on Somalis and drug use is minimal.).

Identified from available literature = ✚.

Identified by individual ethnic groups = M.

Identified by individual ethnic groups and identified from available literature = ✔.

Table 38 Stress Factors and Issues that Impact on Illicit Drug Use/Misuse among Three Different Ethnic Groups

Stress Factors Italian Vietnamese Somali Recently arrived (M M Refugee/trauma of war ✔ M Poor socio/eco status ✔ M Poor housing environment ✚ M Homelessness ✚ Intergenerational conflict ✚ ✔ M Acculturating difficulties ✔ M English difficulties ✔ M Education pressures/problems ✔ M High unemployment ✔ ✔ Peer pressure ✔ ✔ M Poor knowledge of drugs ✔ M M High per cent of one parent families M High per cent of community in vulnerable age group ✔ Shame/loss of face ✔ ✔ M Cultural barriers accessing treatment ✔ ✔ M Lack of knowledge of treatment services ✔ ✔ M Negative attention by media ✔ Perceived discrimination by criminal justice system ✔ Denial of drug problem ✚ High anxiety about drug problem ✔ ✔ M Lack of parental supervision ✔ M Sent to home country to deal with problem (if possible) ✔ M

Drugs in a Multicultural Community—An Assessment of Involvement 365

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