Muslims have contributed to the Australian landscape, culture and advancement for centuries. Since the Macassans traded with Indigenous Australians as early as the 16th century, the Afghani cameleers and present-day Australian Muslims have thrived in Australia.
As a community, we collectively display the wonderful mix of Australian humour, love for life and sticking up for what’s right. This has been brought about by a united mindset and, more notably, through our ability to combine it with our Islamic values of fairness, justice and caring for the weak and underprivileged.
However, the Australian Muslim community continues to face challenges, with a long history of discrimination and societal disillusionment regarding the future of Islam in Australia.
As reported by the 2022 Scanlon Institute Mapping Social Cohesion report, discrimination in Australia is mirrored by a concerning level of prejudice directed towards people from different backgrounds. In particular, people report negative perceptions and feelings towards Muslims.
Positively negative attitudes have become significantly less common towards Australia's Muslim community. The proportion of people with negative attitudes to Muslims decreased from 40 per cent in 2020 to 29 per cent in 2022.
Industry, Government and community must work together to fully embrace the integration of Muslims into Australian society, to build a future for Australia that lives up to its reputation as “a lucky country where people can have a fair go”.
Crescent Wealth is dedicated to achieving the purpose through our community-oriented programs. We are actively working to ensure we have a community of financially empowered, confident Australian Muslims that are positive contributors to their communities and the fabric of broader Australian society.
Our role at Crescent Wealth is not just about providing financial services for the Muslim community – it is to be an organisation that speaks authentically to Australian Muslims throughout Australia as an institution representing them and their values.
