National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia
What is multiculturalism?
In a descriptive sense multicultural is simply a term which describes the cultural and ethnic diversity of contemporary Australia. We are, and will remain, a multicultural society.
As a public policy multiculturalism encompasses government measures designed to respond to that diversity. It plays no part in migrant selection. It is a policy for managing the consequences of cultural diversity in the interests of the individual and society as a whole.
The Commonwealth Government has identified three dimensions of multicultural policy:
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cultural identity: the right of all Australians, within carefully defined limited, to express and share their individual cultural heritage, including their language and religion;
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social justice: the right of all Australians to equality of treatment and opportunity, and the removal of barriers of race, ethnicity, culture, religion, language, gender or place of birth; and
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economic efficiency: the need to maintain, develop and utilize effectively the skills and talents of all Australians, regardless of background.
These dimensions of multiculturalism are expressed in the eight goals articulated in the National Agenda (see chapter one). They apply equally to all Australians, whether Aboriginal, Anglo-Celtic or non-English speaking background; and whether they were born in Australia or overseas.
There are also limits to Australian multiculturalism. These may be summarized as follows:
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multicultural policies are based upon the premises that all Australians should have an overriding and unifying commitment to Australia, to its interests and future first and foremost;
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multicultural policies require all Australians to accept the basic structures and principles of Australian society - the Constitution and the rule of law, tolerance and equality, Parliamentary democracy, freedom of speech and religion, English as the national language and equality of the sexes; and
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multicultural policies impose obligations as well as conferring rights: the right to express one's own culture and beliefs involves a reciprocal responsibility to accept the right of others to express their views and values.
As a necessary response to the reality of Australia's cultural diversity, multicultural policies aim to realize a better Australia characterized by an enhanced degree of social justice and economic efficiency.
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