National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia
Multicultural policies for a multicultural society
The diversity of the Australian population has many positive and exciting aspects, but it also poses many challenges. To a remarkable extent Australia has been a land of opportunity for immigrants.
Even among those born in non-English-speaking countries there is clear evidence of socioeconomic mobility during their time in Australia. Many of the Australian-born children of blue-collar immigrants have moved into professional, technical and managerial jobs.
Some immigrant groups (e.g. those born in the Netherlands, Hungary and India) have levels of income superior to their Australian-born counterparts; some have significantly lower levels of unemployment (e.g. those born in Italy); and others (e.g. those born in Greece and China) have been far more successful in achieving the 'Australian dream' of owning a home than the Australian-born or British immigrants.
| 1986 | ||
| Religion | '000 | per cent |
| Christian | ||
| Catholic (a) | 4 064.4 | 26.1 |
| Anglican | 3 723.4 | 23.9 |
| Uniting (b) | 1 182.3 | 7.7 |
| Methodist - include Wesleyan | (c) | (c) |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 560.0 | 3.6 |
| Orthodox | 427.4 | 2.7 |
| Lutheran | 208.3 | 1.3 |
| Baptist | 196.8 | 1.3 |
| Pentecostal | 107.0 | 0.8 |
| Churches of Christ | 88.5 | 0.6 |
| Salvation Army | 77.8 | 0.5 |
| Jehovah's Witness | 66.5 | 0.4 |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 48.0 | 0.3 |
| Latter Day Saints/Mormons | 35.5 | 0.2 |
| Brethren | 23.2 | 0.1 |
| Congregational | 16.6 | 0.1 |
| Oriental Christian | 10.4 | 0.1 |
| Other Protestant nei | 199.4 | 1.3 |
| Christian nei | 346.4 | 2.2 |
| TOTAL | 11 381.9 | 73.0 |
| Non-Christian | ||
| Muslim | 109.5 | 0.7 |
| Buddhist | 80.4 | 0.5 |
| Jewish | 69.1 | 0.4 |
| Hindu | 21.5 | 0.1 |
| Other non-Christian nei | 35.7 | 0.2 |
| TOTAL | 316.2 | 2.0 |
| Other | ||
| Non-theistic | 4.9 | - |
| Inadequately described | 58.0 | 0.4 |
| No religion (do described) | 1 977.5 | 12.7 |
| Not stated | 1 863.6 | 11.9 |
| TOTAL | 15 602.2 | 100.0 |
(a) Roman Catholic and Catholic (non-Roman)
(b) The Uniting Church was formed in 1977 from the Methodist, Congregational and part of the Presbyterian churches
(c) People who responded Methodist in 1986 were coded to Uniting Source: Australia in Profile - Census 86, Australian Bureau of Statistics, (Catalogue No. 2502.0 1988
But these indications of the success of our immigration program must not blind us to the problems and injustices that remain.
A large number of Australians - some 370,000 in 1986 - are unable to speak English well or at all. A disproportionate number of non-English speaking background (NESB) immigrants remain confined to low skilled, low-paid employment.
Language and cultural barriers prevent many NESB immigrants gaining equal access to the education, training, employment and social welfare services available to others; newly arrived settlers continue to suffer extremely high levels of unemployment; skills and qualifications brought to Australia from overseas are not fully utilized; and the reservoir of language ability possessed by immigrants remains largely unrecognized and untapped.
Many NESB women face additional problems of poverty, isolation and cultural tensions and conflict about the appropriate place of women in society.
Recent expressions of hostility against Aboriginal, Asian, Muslim and Jewish Australians suggest that prejudice and racism continue to threaten many Australians, and possibly lead to discrimination in access to employment and housing.
Despite substantial advances in recent years, the greatest problems continue to be experienced by Aboriginal Australians as a consequence of generations of dispossession and dispersal.
Aboriginal people have a unique status in Australia and in any multicultural context. They also remain the single, most disadvantaged group in the community.
The fact is that the challenges of a multicultural society do not simply resolve themselves. Government action - in the form of multicultural policies - is needed in certain areas to promote social harmony, to ensure a fair go and to harness our human resources in the most productive way for Australia's future.
This is the basic reason why a National Agenda is needed. In the past Australia failed to anticipate and plan for the changes and challenges presented by a rapidly diversifying population.
The attitudinal environment was unprepared and the institutional structures unresponsive. This resulted in inequities and inefficiencies - individuals were denied their rights and potential resources were wasted.
The National Agenda therefore is an attempt to redress historic failings and, just as importantly, to facilitate the processes of continuing adjustment in the future.
Australia's population will continue to change and we need to create an attitudinal and institutional environment that can accommodate those changes - so that the rights of the individual are recognized and the interests of the community advanced.
In this sense multiculturalism affects and serves the interests of all Australians.
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