The Catholic Leader - July 2

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The Catholic Leader, July 2, 2017
News
Refugee nurse thriving
with Aussie opportunity
FOR Brisbane nurse Rachael Magot there are
always small, daily reminders of being a refugee.
“You can work hard, but you never forget; it
will always be with you,” Ms Magot said during
Refugee Week from June 18 to 24.
“Until I came to Australia, I thought life in the
refugee camp was the best that life could be.
“It was all I had known for most of my life
– from when I was eight years old until I left at
twenty-one.”
Ms Magot (pictured), now 33, married and
with two children, is a nurse at the Mater Hospi-
tal, South Brisbane.
Her parents live under conditions of drought
and famine in their native South Sudan, and she
has siblings who remain in refugee camps in
Uganda.
Ms Magot said her family hardships and
experience as a refugee helped in her daily
nursing, particularly in providing compassionate
care to patients who have similar backgrounds as
refugees.
Born in Sudan, she fled with her family when
she was eight years old.
War had broken out and it was too dangerous
to stay in present-day South Sudan.
“We had to leave our home and hide in the
bush. Often we had no food,” she said.
Her family fled to a refugee camp in Kenya,
which became their home for 13 years.
“Most of the time, I was happy in the refugee
camp,” Ms Magot said.
“Although there were occasional attacks from
the local Kenyan host community, we were rela-
tively safe, we had two meals a day and I was
able to go to school.”
Ms Magot received a scholarship to attend St
Joseph’s Girls, a Catholic high school in Kenya.
She excelled and her brother, who had reset-
tled in Australia, sponsored her to come to join
him as a refugee and further her studies.
It was at high school that Ms Magot also met a
young man, also a Sudanese refugee, who would
become her husband and join her in Australia.
“It wasn’t until I arrived in Australia that I
realised how much hardship there was in the
refugee camp,” she said.
“I found Australians to be friendly and most
people were welcoming. I think most Australians
are open to multiculturalism.”
Ms Magot overcame the initial challenges of
moving to a foreign land and culture.
“I was away from my support network. I had
my brother, but in the refugee camp I was sur-
rounded by a large, extended family – 18 of us in
total,” she said. “The biggest challenge was the
language barrier – not just understanding English
but also the different accents. Also, no one could
understand me.”
Ms Magot’s priority after arriving in Australia
was to complete a Certificate III in English, and
two years later she started a Bachelor of Nursing,
a profession she had hoped to one day enter.
“When I was in high school, I volunteered
with a local HIV/AIDS unit for patients who
didn’t have family to support them,” she said.
“I liked the social part of the job, and the feel-
ing that I was helping someone.”
Ms Magot has lived in Australia for 10 years,
been a citizen for eight years and a nurse for five
years.
“I enjoy nursing and I’m thankful for this and
other opportunities I’ve had as a refugee in Aus-
tralia,” she said. – Mark Bowling
Census data shows reduction in religious affiliation
Decline in faith across nation
By Mark Bowling
BRISBANE Archbishop Mark
Coleridge believes the latest cen-
sus data, which shows a drop in
religious affiliation, suggests “the
young are more interested in unor-
ganised spirituality than organised
religion, and that they aren’t as
interested in denominations as their
forebears were”.
Catholicism remains by far the most dominant
religion in Australia with more than 5.2 million
followers, however the 2016 census data shows a
decline in religious affiliation, particularly among
the young.
In 2016, 22.6 per cent of Australia’s 23.4 mil-
lion population listed Catholicism under religious
affiliation, compared to 25.3 per cent in 2011.
However the 2016 census shows that the
number of people who listed “no religion” had
risen to 29.6 per cent, almost double the figure
in the 2001 census.
About 13 per cent of Australians listed
Anglican as their religious affiliation (second
behind the Catholic Church), compared to 17.1
per cent in 2011.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that people,
young or old, are less religious than they were;
but it does mean that they’re religious in very
different ways than in the past,” Archbishop
Coleridge said.
“And the Church needs to look carefully at
that, lest the communication gap between be-
lievers and non-believers grow even wider.”
The census shows an emergence of other
major religions in the past decade.
Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism have all signifi-
cantly increased, while Buddhism has declined.
What do Australian families look like in
2016?
The census shows that 44.7 per cent of fami-
lies were couples with children, while 37.8 per
cent were couples without children.
Another 15.8 per cent were one-parent
families, and 1.7 per cent were listed as “other
family types”.
This data has barely changed since 2011.
The composition of Australian families is
almost identical to five years ago.
The costs of housing in Australia has increased
significantly.
In 2016, the median household weekly rent was
$335, compared to $285 in 2011.
However the median household mortgage
repayment has decreased over the past five years,
from $1800 a month in 2011 to $1755 a month in
2016. In 2016, 72.7 per cent of Australians spoke
English at home, compared to 76.8 per cent five
years ago.
Mandarin, the second most spoken language,
has jumped from 1.6 per cent in 2011 to 2.5 per
cent.
Arabic has increased slightly (by 0.1 per cent)
to become the third most common language in
Australia, while Cantonese is fourth. Census
data shows one in four Australians are now born
overseas.
The United Kingdom is the largest single
source of residents born overseas, followed by
India and New Zealand.
The data also confirms that during the past 25
years the vast majority of migrants arriving in
Australia – eight in 10 – settle in capital cities.
Three out of every 100 people identify as
indigenous.
Faith: “In
2016, 22.6
per cent of
Australia’s
23.4 million
popula-
tion listed
Catholi-
cism under
religious
affiliation,
compared
to 25.3
per cent in
2011.”
Federal ministers and the Australian Bureau of
Statistics have insisted the data can be trusted.
That is despite website outages which lasted
almost two days during census collection last
year, styming the attempts of many Australians to
complete the census online.
It was the first time the ABS had attempted to
shift the massive survey online.
Notwithstanding the debacle, the response rates
remained relatively high.
An estimated 96 per cent of occupied house-
holds completed census 2016, only slightly below
the 96.5 per cent response rate of the 2011 survey.
“Thanks to the very high participation rate
of Australians in last year’s census, and the
(bureau’s) efforts to assure the data through its
rigorous quality checks, the census will provide a
comprehensive and accurate account of modern
Australia,” Federal Small Business Minister
Michael McCormack said.