Why the NESB banner still flies

The term NESB was introduced in 1985 to describe non-English-speaking-background migrants, and since then has been widely used as an indicator of social and economic disadvantage. It is, however, a gimcrack indicator of disadvantage and a number of official reports have recommended that it be dropped. Despite this, the NESB-equals-hardship equation persists because of lobbyists arguing both for group rights and for a broader role for social reformers. An analysis of the way in which the term NESB is used by the Race Discrimination Commissioner (RDC) bears this out. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s