DIMA Annual Report 1996-97

Sub-program 7.1: Multicultural Affairs

Objective

To contribute to maintaining and further enhancing Australia's unique and enriching cultural diversity, within a framework of national unity.

Description

1996-97 was the first full year of the integration of multicultural affairs within the Department.

The integration has opened up new opportunities for furthering the multicultural agenda.

This is evident, for example, in the scope for linking community affairs and multicultural affairs, and in the coordination of the productive diversity agenda and the Business Migration Program.

In this context, the Multicultural Affairs sub-program takes an active and strategic interest in activities within the Department and across a wide range of Commonwealth policies and programs, reflecting the continuing importance of having cultural diversity considered as a mainstream issue for all departments and agencies.

The sub-program, therefore, maintains networks with relevant Commonwealth agencies.

The sub-program is administered mainly through Multicultural Affairs Branch and, in part, through Settlement and Citizenship Branch, with direct assistance from State and Territory offices when regional support or implementation is required.

Financial and staffing resources summary

	1996-97 Budget and AEs $'000s	1996-97 Actual $'000s	1995-96 Actual $'000s
Budgetary (cash) basis
Components of appropriations
Annual appropriations
Running costs	7 702	2 854	3 814
Other program costs	874	803	1 733
Total appropriations	8 576	3 657	5 547
Less adjustments	-	-	-
Total outlays	8 576	3 657	5 547
Total revenue	-	-	-
Staffing
Staff years (actual)	37	36	50

Performance information

Outcomes are measured by the extent to which:

access and equity principles are embedded in the delivery of government services, principally through the adoption of the Charter of Public Service in a Culturally Diverse Society;
the National Multicultural Advisory Council is supported;
productive diversity strategies are successful;
planning for the Government's anti-racism education campaign is effective; and
effective advice on policy and implementation issues is delivered.

Performance outcomes

(i) Access and equity principles

The Australian Public Service provides services for a wide cross-section of Australian society.

The diversity of the Government's client base gives rise to a range of client needs, some due to cultural and linguistic factors, particularly among Australia's migrant population.

In recognition of this, and of the diversity of client needs generally, the access and equity strategy has been refocused in terms of a client service charter titled the Charter of Public Service in a Culturally Diverse Society.

The rationale behind this change of focus is to embed access and equity principles, structurally, into the processes for the delivery of government services.

The charter redefines access and equity around seven key principles: access; equity; communication; responsiveness; effectiveness; efficiency; and accountability.

The main purpose of the charter is to ensure that, nationally, government service providers both understand and meet the legitimate needs of their clients, regardless of how or why these needs arise.

The year was highlighted by consultations on the charter and associated practical strategies for the charter's implementation.

The charter and strategies have been cleared by Commonwealth Ministers and detailed in a report to Commonwealth, State, Territory and local government leaders. As at 30 June, this report awaits final endorsement.

(ii) Advisory council

In the context of the 1996-97 Commonwealth Budget, the Government announced the establishment of a new look National Multicultural Advisory Council (NMAC). The Council's membership and terms of reference were announced in June 1997. The Council comprises:

Mr Neville Roach — Managing Director of Fujitsu Australia, NMAC chairman. He chaired the previous National Multicultural Advisory Council and has served on a number of advisory bodies.
Mr Randolph Alwis — a practising accountant and business consultant and Chairman of the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia.
Mr Iftikhar Aziz Chaudhry — a chartered accountant and former Chairman of the Migrant Resource Centre in Southern Tasmania as well as former President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils.
Bishop David Cremin — Chairman of the Catholic Immigration Committee, which oversees the work of the Catholic Immigration Office of the Archdiocese of Sydney, and Vicar for Immigration.
Ms Ann Duffield — Assistant Secretary of the Multicultural Affairs Unit in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in Victoria and member of the Commonwealth Access and Equity Working Group.
Mr Angelo Hatsatouris, OAM — solicitor in private practice and chairs the Greek Welfare Centre in Sydney, which operates under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
Emeritus Professor Laksiri Jayasuriya, AM — Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the University of Western Australia's Department of Social Work and Social Administration and has been involved in a range of community activities in the field of social policy, welfare and ethnic affairs.
Dr Chandran Kukathas — Senior Lecturer in Politics at University College, the Australian Defence Force Academy, and Research Committee Member of the Institute of Public Affairs.
Ms Peggy Lau-Flux — a corporate banker and former Deputy Chairman of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission.
Dr Colin Rubenstein — Senior Lecturer in Politics at Monash University and National Policy Chairman of the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.
Ms Evelyn Scott — has been involved in Aboriginal Affairs for 30 years and has been a community consultant to the Aboriginal Employment Development Task Force and a member of the Commonwealth Women's Advisory Council.
Dr My-Van Tran, OAM — Associate Professor in Asian Studies at the University of South Australia and Counsellor for the Federation of the Vietnamese Communities in Australia. She was a member of the previous National Multicultural Advisory Council.
Ms Agnes M. Whiten — member of the University of Queensland Senate and Convenor of the Women's Issues Network of the Ethnic Communities' Council of Queensland. She was a member of the previous National Multicultural Advisory Council.
Dr Peter Wong, AM — family physician and Chairman of the Australian Chinese Charity Foundation and Chinese Migrant Welfare Association.
Professor Jerzy Zubrzycki, AO, CBE — member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Vatican City, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences on Australia. Professor Zubrzycki has published widely in the area of ethnic relations and served as an adviser on ethnic affairs to previous Australian Governments (1968-86).

The Council's first task is to report on a policy and implementation framework for the next decade, aimed at ensuring that cultural diversity is a unifying force for Australia.

The Council's report will spell out the guiding principles and unifying values that underpin the policy.

It will identify elements of a policy framework and implementation strategy which will contribute to broad community support for, and understanding of, these principles and values and enhancing national unity through acceptance by Australians of both the diversity and the common structures of Australia.

The Council will also consider and provide advice to the Minister on the policy implications of Australia's linguistic and cultural diversity in significant forthcoming events, including the Centenary of Federation and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

In carrying out its work, the Council is required to take account of the Joint Parliamentary Statement on Racial Tolerance (of 30 October 1996) and the implications of wider Government directions, priorities and policies. The Council is expected to report to the Minister during 1997-98.

Pending development of the NMAC report, multicultural policy continues to take as its foundation the 1989 NationalAgenda for a Multicultural Australia, which articulates three policy dimensions: social justice; cultural identity; and economic efficiency.

It also states that all Australians have an obligation to: have an overriding and unifying commitment to Australia; accept the basic structures and principles of Australian society; and acknowledge a reciprocal responsibility to respect the right of others to express their views and values.

(iii) Productive diversity

An evaluation of productive diversity was finalised and approved by the Departmental Audit and Evaluation Committee. A productive diversity action plan, building on the evaluation findings, was approved by the Minister in April 1997. The strategy focuses on two separate themes:

capitalising on the linguistic and cultural skills, knowledge of business networks and experience in business practices often available in people born and educated overseas; and
removing impediments to effective contribution by migrants in the work force, in particular those from culturally diverse backgrounds. This theme is also addressed in the context of the Charter of Public Service in a Culturally DiverseSociety.

These themes involve a range of initiatives which cut across three sectors: the Australian Public Service; the private sector; and State/Territory Governments.

In June 1997, discussions with industry and educational bodies began with a view to developing Master of Business Administration and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) course curricula and a number of practical publications about workplace and marketplace diversity.

In October 1996, an action plan was launched on how the tourism industry could best capitalise on the language and cultural skills of Australians from diverse backgrounds.

The action plan was developed by industry and government agencies following a report commissioned by the Inbound Tourism Organisation of Australia. The launch was supported by a number of workshops.

In March 1997, a National Networking Forum was held to enhance networks between bilateral chambers of commerce and business groups, State chambers of commerce and government agencies. The forum was a departmental initiative but was co-sponsored by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Austrade, AusIndustry and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

(iv) Anti-racism campaign

The Department consulted with a wide range of institutions, interest groups and community representatives about the anti-racism campaign.

The consultations revealed overwhelming public support for the campaign, but also highlighted that the campaign needed to be positive and sensitive to achieve long-lasting impact.

A draft campaign strategy was developed based on reviews of literature and previous anti-racism activities, and will be further developed with the help of market research.

(v) Effective advice

Cross-portfolio coordination

The Department assessed the potential impact of various government policy initiatives on people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

For instance, the Australian Workplace Agreements and the Certified Agreements under the Government's new industrial relations legislation were assessed in consultation with the Employment Advocate and the Department of Industrial Relations.

Similarly, there were consultations with the Attorney-General's Department on the impact of changes to legal aid funding on people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

The Department also addressed other priority access and equity issues including ethnic aged care and services for ethnic youth.

The Department's Disability Action Plan, developed to respond to the needs of the Department's clients and staff with disabilities, will soon be finalised.

A separate initiative for clients with disabilities was the establishment of a special accommodation facility by the West Australian Office for disabled humanitarian program entrants.

Women's issues

A national conference of regional Women's Issues Coordinators was organised to provide an opportunity to share information and ideas, particularly on priority areas such as domestic violence, health and employment.

These coordinators maintain close relationships with representatives of local ethnic communities and the conference helped them improve networks and enhance meaningful community input into government policy development and decision-making.

A video and booklet, Marrying and Migrating ... you have to work at it, was produced in direct response to concerns raised about the incidence of violence and abuse of women sponsored to Australia as fiancés and spouses.

They are available to community organisations, free of charge, in English and four community languages.

Some 7 000 copies of the video and booklet have been distributed within Australia and to Australian Embassies and High Commissions around the world.

The Department also provided policy development advice on other migrant women's issues, including preparatory material for a National Domestic Violence Summit, proposed for late 1997.

Bilingual Consultants' Network

The Bilingual Consultants' Network provides qualitative research services to assist organisations with the development and delivery of effective products, services and programs to clients whose first language is not English.

It specialises in focus group discussions conducted in languages other than English. During the year, an evaluation of the network was undertaken with a view to placing its services and management on a basis that best suits current circumstances.

The findings of the evaluation will be considered during 1997-98.

Select register

An important access and equity tool is the Select register, which is used to assist departments and agencies to identify appropriate people from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds for appointment to advisory boards and committees.

The quality of the database has been improved and Select will be further promoted in 1997-98.

Community organisations

Funds were provided to the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia Inc. (FECCA) and the Association of Non-English Speaking Background Women of Australia (ANESBWA).

For the grant, FECCA produced — among other things — submissions on and assessment of the 1996-97 and 1997-98 Budgets, and on the Workplace Relations legislation.

ANESBWA provided a submission on the proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Both organisations submitted papers on the 1997-98 Migration and Humanitarian Programs and provided communication links with ethnic communities on issues affecting them.

Briefing

In 1996-97 more than 850 briefs, speech notes and other documents were produced for use by the Minister and his representatives at community events (587 for 1995-96). Of the 850 briefs, 36 were prepared for the Prime Minister's Office or the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Despite the increase in demand, deadlines were met in 97 per cent of cases (98 per cent in 1995-96 and 96 per cent in 1994-95).

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