Multicultural Australia: The Way Forward
Introduction
The National Multicultural Advisory Council's terms of reference reflect continuing Australian government commitment to addressing the reality of Australia's cultural diversity within the framework of national unity.
There is recognition that Australia has a long standing and continuing commitment to a pluralist, diverse, democratic society based on freedom, equality of opportunity, tolerance and peace.
As discussed below, 'multiculturalism' has evolved as the dominant bipartisan policy approach to address Australia's cultural diversity since the early 1970s.
Since that time significant advances have been made in this area: for example, anti-discrimination laws have been enacted; government programs have become more sensitive to the needs of all clients; society has generally embraced diversity in the arts, our lifestyles and cuisine; and we have begun to use cultural diversity for our economic benefit.
We have also begun to appreciate how the existence of people from culturally diverse backgrounds in our society provides bridges to other countries and cultures in an increasingly global community.
While multiculturalism has been a success, this is not to say that the implementation of multicultural policy has been flawless, or that wider community understanding of what the policy means for our national and individual well-being could not be enhanced.
In this context, now is an appropriate time to reflect on current multicultural policy to identify and overcome any shortcomings and to harness the benefits we derive from our diversity as Australia moves forward to meet the challenges of the next century.
This is why the Government has invited the Council to prepare a report.
The issues before the Council are very important ones. The broad economic and social changes that have occurred in recent decades have affected every aspect of life: family structures, working arrangements, gender roles, the way we communicate, and the way we do business.
As we approach the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the Centenary of Federation we face some nation-defining choices.
This issues paper is designed to promote community discussion and help the Council to obtain views from the community, to assist it in preparing its report.
2. Development of multicultural policies
Australia has always been a society with culturally diverse elements.
Prior to permanent European settlement in 1788 there were many indigenous cultures and customs among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Although most people who came to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries were from the British Isles, there were others from a variety of backgrounds.
The gold rush of the 1850s attracted people from all over the world and many of them settled in this country.
Since World War II, some 5.6 million immigrants from over 150 countries have made Australia their home. Today, around 41 per cent of people living in Australia were born overseas or have a parent born overseas.
During this period successive Australian governments consciously opened up the migration program, progressively, to accept people of any origin.
Large scale migration from widely diversified backgrounds created new policy challenges for Governments and the community.
To the extent that government policies impacted on the lives of people of such backgrounds, throughout the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, such policies had not been inclusive in many respects and in some cases were discriminatory (e.g. the 'White Australia' immigration policy).
During the 1950s and 1960s there was a growing awareness that Government services needed to respond to the growing complexities of community needs, including the needs of large numbers of migrants.
In the main these were geared to meet the needs of a clientele that spoke English and understood the Australian way of life.
In addition, it was recognised that there was a need for governments to define more clearly ideas about the relationship between the receiving society and newcomers.
The prevailing policy of assimilation was increasingly seen as outdated, ineffective and undesirable.
By the 1970s 'multiculturalism' had evolved as the dominant policy approach to address Australia's cultural diversity.
There have been a number of reports in this area of public policy since then, with the most significant being the 1989 National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia.
National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia
In 1989, following wide community consultations and with bipartisan political support, the Commonwealth Government produced the National Agenda, which defined multiculturalism in the following way:
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 attempts to manage the consequences of this diversity in the interests of the individual and society as a whole. It plays no part in migrant selection.
The three dimensions of multicultural policy are:
- cultural identity: the right of all Australians, within carefully defined limits, to express and share their individual cultural heritage, including their language and religion;
- 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
- economic efficiency: the need to maintain, develop and utilise effectively the skills and talents of all Australians, regardless of background.
These dimensions of multiculturalism apply equally to all Australians, whether of 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 summarised as follows:
- multicultural policies are based upon the premise that all Australians should have an overriding and unifying commitment to Australia, to its interests and future first and foremost;
- 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
- 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.
Multicultural policy and programs in practice
The 1989 National Agenda established the basis of the current policy framework and has guided the development of programs that recent governments have put in place to give effect to its principles.
It explicitly recognised that contemporary Australian society is culturally and ethnically diverse, and that government should implement programs in response to this diversity in the interests of both the individual and society as a whole.
Specific initiatives contained in the National Agenda included:
- strategies to improve processes for recognising skills and overseas qualifications held by migrants;
- a community relations campaign to ensure that ethnic diversity goes hand in hand with social cohesion;
- strengthening the Access and Equity Strategy to overcome barriers of language, culture and prejudice experienced by migrants and indigenous people;
- legislation to establish the Special Broadcasting Service as an independent corporation; and
- improved access to English language education for migrants.
Multicultural policy has always had a major interest in ensuring that mainstream service delivery agencies are able to deal effectively with the needs of migrants as well as their wider client group.
The Access and Equity Strategy is the main multicultural program to achieve this objective.
The Strategy requires mainstream program providers to assist, for example, clients who cannot speak English to access interpreting services.
Multicultural policy has also taken a strong position in repudiating prejudice and bigotry.
It has consistently made the case for tolerance of difference and a 'fair-go', in the interest of all.
It asks Australians to have respect for others and for the law and institutions of Australia, as well as the shared democratic values, on which our nation is built.
As part of multicultural policy there have also been initiatives, under the heading of 'Productive Diversity', that are designed to explain and promote the economic benefits that can come from Australia's diversity. These programs aim to improve Australia's overall economic performance.
Migrant settlement programs, which pre-dated multiculturalism by many years, are intended to help recently arrived migrants and refugees to settle in Australia and to participate fully and productively in Australian society as soon as possible.
They complement services directed to the wider community and work in parallel with multicultural programs.
Most other services for migrants are delivered by mainstream programs. For instance, when migrants require medical help this is provided under health programs; income support for migrants is provided under social security or labour market programs.
Changing emphases
Multicultural policy has continued to evolve over the past decade.
Since the 1989 National Agenda there has been a gradual shift in the emphases of the three key areas of multicultural policy set out in the National Agenda.
These changes have moved the emphasis of multicultural policy from a somewhat migrant-oriented focus to a more inclusive whole-of-community focus.
The emphasis of the cultural identity programs has moved from helping migrant communities to maintain their cultural practices to encouraging all Australians to understand each other better and to share their heritage.
In recent times there has been a growing awareness, and practice, of the benefits of cultural sharing and understanding.
This can be seen, for instance, in many university and TAFE courses on cultural diversity, cross-cultural training courses and the development of diversity plans by business and government.
Programs under the social justice area of multicultural policy initially placed most emphasis on the rights of clients who face language and cultural barriers when seeking services.
More recently the emphasis has been on practically addressing the needs of clients that arise from cultural and linguistic factors.
This new perspective is reflected in changes to the Access and Equity Strategy. In 1996 the Strategy was re-focused as a Charter of Public Service in a Culturally Diverse Society.
The main focus of the Charter is the acceptance that a diverse client-base has diverse needs and that mainstream service providers ought to be aware of these needs, and act on this awareness. The aim is to respond to the needs of all clients in an open, non-discriminatory way.
The economic efficiency area of multicultural policy initially concentrated on the disadvantages that many migrants face in the workplace.
These disadvantages are to do with difficulties in the recognition of overseas skills and the language and cultural barriers that migrants can face when looking for a job.
Since the early 1990s the emphasis has moved to looking at the economic benefits that can arise directly from a diverse customer base and workforce.
The Australian economy is a microcosm of the international marketplace making Australia an excellent test market as well as an ideal location for regional headquarters covering the Asian region.
Programs have been developed to promote the use of our linguistic and cultural diversity for the economic benefit of Australia.
This has helped to reposition us economically, both in the world and in our region.
There are business people from all over the world in Australia and their skills and knowledge of their countries of origin can help us meet the challenges of the global marketplace.
Next: Multicultural Australia: The Way Forward - States, Territories & wider community
Previous: Multicultural Australia: The Way Forward - message from Council Chairman