Opportunities and constraints: The non‐governmental and public sectors and Southeast Asians in Melbourne

Abstract

Within the last two decades, Australia has settled more than 240,000 Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. Given the immense and diverse influx of Southeast Asians making Australia their new home, non‐governmental organisations (generalist and ethno‐specific) and public agencies and departments have interceded through the design and implementation of a heterogeneous group of packages, policies, and programmes. During the current era of free market domination, post‐Fordism, and socioeconomic polarisation, generalist organisations and ethno‐specific associations operate in a relatively ruthless social, political, economic, and cultural context. This article analyses the principal activities and primary difficulties of eighty randomly‐selected generalist, mutual aid, cultural, social, political, economic, and religious organisations that cater to disadvantaged Indochinese. A structure of opportunity frame of reference is used for the analysis. A central finding is that generalist organisations and ethno‐specific associations presently come up against callous social, political, economic, and cultural forces, and structural and institutional barriers that greatly hinder their ability to adequately and appropriately facilitate disadvantaged Southeast Asians’ access to social and economic options. The article makes several recommendations about how academics and experts could use their intellect, energies, and creativity to address the restricted opportunity challenge.