Non-Muslim Australians' Knowledge of Islam: Identifying and Rectifying Knowledge Deficiencies

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O'Donnell, Kate
Davis, Rachel
Ewart, Jacqui
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2017
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It is more than a decade since social geographer Kevin Dunn first described non-Muslim Australians’ ignorance about Islam and its adherents and outlined a series of recommendations about how Australian governments could address this as a pressing social policy issue. Recently researchers have re-assessed non-Muslim Australians’ perceptions of their knowledge of Islam and Muslims identifying while it has improved since 2003, 70% acknowledge they know little to nothing about either. Using data from Australia’s 2016 National Social Survey, this study examines the correlation between non-Muslim Australians’ perceptions of their knowledge of Islam and Muslims and their actual knowledge. We find that perception of knowledge is a reasonable indicator of actual knowledge. Further, we find that tertiary education is the single significant demographic factor impacting actual knowledge. By examining geographical patterns of knowledge, we also find that ignorance of Islam and Muslims is consistent across Australia.

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Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs

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37

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1

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Political science

Sociology not elsewhere classified

Other human society

Religious studies

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