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Respectful Methods: Understanding Multicultural Migrant Communities in Australia
Respectful Methods is a collaborative research project exploring how culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities experience visibility, cultural recognition and a sense of belonging in Australia. Through workshops and cross-sector dialogue, the project brought together community organisations, educators, media practitioners and policy stakeholders to explore culturally respectful approaches to engagement with migrant communities.
Project Background
Respectful Methods emerged from a shared concern among CaLD researchers working across design, media and social research about how multicultural migrant communities are often discussed in policy and public discourse without sufficient attention to lived experience.
Australia is widely framed as a multicultural society, yet many culturally and linguistically diverse communities continue to navigate complex questions of recognition, representation and belonging. Research conversations about diversity often remain abstract or policy-focused, with limited opportunities for direct dialogue with the communities affected.
This project was designed to create a space where those experiences could be explored through open conversation between researchers, community stakeholders, and practitioners working in different sectors.
Workshops and Community Dialogue
Two facilitated workshops were organised as the core research activity of the project. Participants came from a wide range of sectors including community organisations, education, media, mental health services and local government. Rather than positioning participants as research subjects, the workshops were structured as collaborative dialogue spaces. Participants shared experiences and perspectives on issues including:
• Visibility and representation of multicultural communities
• Cultural recognition in professional and civic environments
• Well-being and belonging across different institutional contexts
• Challenges of navigating cross-cultural identity in everyday life
The discussions revealed how subtle forms of invisibility and cultural misrecognition can accumulate over time, shaping both personal experiences of belonging and professional opportunities. The workshops generated strong engagement among participants and led to requests from other organisations interested in hosting similar conversations.
Personal Reflection
The workshops also prompted reflection on my own experiences navigating multiple cultural environments.
Growing up Malaysian-Chinese, I rarely questioned where I belonged. It was only after living and working in Vietnam and later Australia that I became more aware of the complexities of cultural positioning and identity.
Over the past decade, I have occasionally experienced a quiet sense of being slightly out of place – neither fully integrated nor entirely outside. These feelings are often difficult to articulate, but they reflect the subtle tensions many migrants navigate when moving across cultural contexts.
The workshop environment created a rare space where these experiences could be discussed openly. For the first time, I felt a sense of collective recognition among others navigating similar cross-cultural realities.
Concept Paper
Insights from the workshops informed the development of a concept paper outlining early reflections from the project and identifying directions for further research on culturally respectful engagement with multicultural migrant communities in Australia.
Project Team
Professor Catherine Gomes (School of Media and Communication, RMIT University)
Associate Professor Li Ping Thong (School of Design, RMIT University)
Associate Professor Jing Qi (School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University)
Dr Wilfred Wang (University of Melbourne)
Chenlu Chen (RMIT University)
Funding / Support
RMIT Enabling Impact Platforms