ABSTRACT
Islam in Australia reflects international developments; it is highly multicultural, youthful and fast growing. As in the case of Muslim populations across the Western world, young Australian Muslims face stigmatisation, securitisation and the worse facets of social exclusion, including higher rates of unemployment and poverty (Peucker, Roose and Akbarzadeh, 2014). However, in the face of these numerous challenges, Australian-born and/or raised Muslims are increasingly playing a significant role in resisting the stigmatisation of Islam in the political and media spheres, and the institutional and political control of an older generation of Muslims. Australian-born Muslim men and women are actively shaping the development of a uniquely ‘Australian Islam’ that fuses respect for traditional sources with contemporary youth cultures and legal and economic principles.
