Citizenship and Government - Projects

Exploring the experience of security in the Australian Vietnamese community: practical implications for policing

ARC Linkage grant, 2008–2011

Denise Meredyth, Helen McKernan and James Scambary

This study explores practical solutions to the persistent difficulties for Victoria Police in implementing community policing strategies with Vietnamese Australians. As in the US, UK and Canada, Australian police forces have recognised the need to improve relations with local ethnic minorities. Law enforcement agencies have responded with attempts to remove cultural bias and racism from their organizations and to recruit and promote members of visible minority groups. These strategies, particularly the recruitment of ethnic minorities, have had only minimal success. The project investigates the attitudes of Vietnamese Australians to police, crime, security and community policing. It aims to build a practical model to increase trust and information flow between Victoria Police and Vietnamese Australians. The interdisciplinary study draws on sociological, criminological and organisational perspectives. It is the first comprehensive study of community policing issues that actively involves the police, Vietnamese Australian organizations and Vietnamese Australian community members.

This is an Australian Research Council (ARC) project. The research is a collaborative study undertaken by the ISR in partnership with Victoria Police, Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association, RMIT University and University of New South Wales.

Chief Investigators for the project are Professor Denise Meredyth (Swinburne), Professor Trang Thomas (RMIT), Professor Michael Gilding (Swinburne), Professor Nita Cherry (Swinburne), Dr Leanne Weber (University of NSW).

For more information about the project, contact:
Denise Meredyth, Chief Investigator, tel 03 92145738, email
Helen McKernan, Research Fellow, tel 03 92148660, email