The Effectiveness Of Australia 's Multicultural Policy

Present day Australia is met with the issue of outlining a sense of a nationwide community, after the breakdown of the British race patriot idea in the mid-1960s with the introduction of multiculturalism. The Euro-centric perception of Australia was annulled and it was incapable in playing a significant part in Australian policies and priorities. It triggered a calamity of national identity and meaning. The credence that Australian’s were apart of Britain, united by history, tradition and blood needed to be revised. A people who had recognized themselves so strongly with the British race now had to accede their race awareness and apprehend the notion of being a now multicultural society. The dawn of multiculturalism also provoked a quandary for balancing a respect of the British heritage with the abating relevance of the British connection and to construct a new language of community from the residues of the old British ways.

Culture is always changing. Beliefs, behaviours and presentation, religion and language all form part of what is an individual’s or community’s culture. (Bowes, Grace, & Hodge, 2012, p.75 & 77). Due to its intrinsic nature, when people migrate to Australia, they bring their culture with them. As migrants come from all over the world, and not the one place, their

Since World War 2 and the Vietnam War, Australia has become a multicultural country. Before the Vietnam War, though, the Australian government tried their best to keep Australia ‘white’. After the fear of communism from Vietnam, the government thought it would be in the country’s best interest to try and build up the population in Australia, but only allowing ‘white’ Europeans and British people to come. What is included in this report, is to discover how and why the migrants from non-European countries manage to change the face of modern Australia.

Following Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s comments on the ‘danger’ of ‘uneducated and illiterate’ refugees and immigrants being accepted into Australia, debate resurfaced regarding the issue of asylum seekers and immigrants in general, and whether refugees deserved to be resettled in Australia. In an opinion piece for The Age newspaper, Kon Karapanagiotidis argues that Peter Dutton’s claims are false and that on the contrary, refugees and immigrants have much to contribute to Australian society. His arguments are fashioned in a heavily emotive tone, and overall the piece is compelling and compassionate while also heatedly opposing Dutton’s views.

In a recent article authored by Alice Pung, a first generation Australian of Southeast Asian parents, titled ‘Living with Racism in Australia (Pung 2016), Alice details key points within her (and her families) life revolving around their migration from Cambodia to Australia. Within this she touches on, albeit briefly however still illustrating her point quite clearly, immigration, race/racism, assimilation, ethnic minorities, ethnic conflict and social cohesion.

Multiculturalism is profoundly australian

The Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment, Strengthening the Requirements for Australian Citizenship and Other Measures Bill 2017, introduced by Mr Peter Dutton, minister for Immigration and Border Protection proposed to reform the requirements of citizenship. The bill incorporates a number of integrity measures to ensure migrants are capable of upholding Australian values and subsequently, prepared to be full, active members in Australian society. To maintain social cohesion and facilitate social progression, the bill suggests stricter application requirements, fundamental to determine whether an individual acquires Australian values measured through new imposed testing. Currently, Australia is a combination of diverse cultures, religions and consequently, it is considerably difficult to define the values of Australian citizens as a whole. Therefore, the underlying motives of the Australian Citizenship Bill 2017 are highly controversial.

Unfortunately, many migrants that come to Australia find themselves in this situation, struggling to feel included and comfortable with their changing identities. However, these differences make it harder to belong to one group; they can also strengthen bonds with one another. The most immediate and obvious indicator of difference with migrant is that of

It is thought by many that part of the Australian identity is being a very tolerant country that accepts and includes all cultures and people from all walks of life; however, after coming across the poems No More Boomerang by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Be Good, Little Migrants by Uyen Loewald, the experiences felt by two Australians prove that this idea is... questionable.

The ideal goal and desire which Australia values within its diverse hybrid society is that Australia is a “lucky country”, priding itself of “mateship” and “equal opportunity” which establishes Australia’s nation identity. However with conflict and discrimination against groups such as Muslim Women and

Reports from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2003a, 2003b, as cited in Ashman & Elkins, 2009, p. 7) show 25% of the Australian population is currently made up of migrants from around 200 countries. This fact demonstrates Australia, on the whole, has a tolerant and inclusive society. A society can be identified as a collection of people who live together in a relatively ordered community (Ashman & Elkins, 2009, p. 7). It could be said, Australia has one of the most inclusive societies on the planet; however, this was not always the case.

The concept of being a ‘nation of immigrants’ is at the center of Australian identity.

This paper is divided into two parts. In the first part the concepts or race, ethnicity, prejudice and racism are defined and how they are connected is discussed. Part 2 of the paper looks at the ‘White Australia’ policy and why it was introduced. The impact of such a racist immigration history on contemporary Australia is also discussed in terms of attitudes and behaviours of the population.

Australia has always been a multicultural country, the first immigrants that came to Australia were the British in 1788. During this phase of European settlement various policies were created to address cultural diversity. One of the most infamous policies was that of assimilation that forced Australian Aboriginal people and migrants to give up their own culture and heritage and assimilate to colonial Australian culture. Eventually this policy was revised to Multiculturalism. That as a policy in Australia refers to handling the ramifications of diversity, bearing in mind that all Australians have the right to a cultural identity, all citizens must be able to express their cultural inheritance. Whether Multiculturalism is advantageous for Australia or not is a very controversial topic. There is a side that argues that multiculturalism could threaten the lifestyle of many Australians. On the other hand, research demonstrates that from an Australian perspective it has been mostly advantageous. This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of multiculturalism in Australia, with regard to economical, historical and social perspectives.

So what does “multiculturalism” mean? In simple terms multiculturalism is the coexistence, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures in a singular geographic or democratic jurisdiction. Multiculturalism has been a huge part of this study as Australia as a nation is diversified into a various cultural aspects. The concept of multiculturalism has become a widely accepted and embraced fact around the world as more and more countries have adopted to the global policies of acceptance which not only helps the nation economically but also contributes towards the growth of various cultural boundaries and also helps develop knowledge about wide spread variety of customs and culture groups around the world. Ultimately the essence of multiculturalism in any society is to eradicate the feeling of an outsider and accept ethnic and racial groups as their our and build the concept of unity in