Australian Multiculturalism for a New Century: Towards Inclusiveness
Appendix C - key official reports of the past 25 years
1. The 1968 report The Questing Years (Author: J Zubrzycki) highlighted the concept of cultural pluralism in contrast to the prevailing theoretical concepts of assimilation and integration. For the first time, a conceptual link was established between equity and cultural pluralism by identifying problem areas of the migrant settlement experience and by discussing alternative approaches to migrant settlement. The report reviewed a number of issues including the obstacles faced by migrant children in the education process, unskilled migrants in the workforce, non-recognition of overseas and trade qualifications, and residential segregation and housing.
2. The July 1973 report of the Inquiry into the Departure of Settlers from Australia by the Immigration Advisory Council’s Committee on Social Patterns (Chairman: J Zubrzycki) was tabled in Parliament. In recommending remedial action the Committee focussed on a range of settlement services to be provided by government and community groups.
3. The 1977 report Australia as a Multicultural Society by the Australian Ethnic Affairs Council (Chairman: J Zubrzycki) contained the first definition of multiculturalism, as resting on the three principles of social cohesion, equality of opportunity and cultural identity, and the policy guidelines derived from these principles.
4. The 1978 Review of Post-arrival Programs and Services to Migrants (Chairman: F Galbally) represented a watershed in the development of multicultural policy. It identified multiculturalism as a key concept in formulating Government policies in relation to programs and services for migrants and spelled out four guiding principles: equality of opportunity and equal access to programs and services for all; the right of all Australians to maintain their culture 'without prejudice or disadvantage’; the need for special services and programs for migrants to 'ensure equality of access and provision’; and the principle of 'full consultation with clients’ with encouragement of self-help for migrants to become self-reliant as quickly as possible.
The Report’s 57 recommendations addressed the twin issues of equity and cultural maintenance in settlement services, English language teaching to adults and children, translation services, migrant resource centres and grant-in-aid programs to community groups. It also foreshadowed the development of ethnic television and the establishment of an Institute of Multicultural Affairs.
5. In June 1979 the Australian Population Council (Chairman: W D Borrie) and the Australian Ethnic Affairs Council (Chairman: J Zubrzycki) jointly produced a report, Multiculturalism and its Implications for Immigration Policy. The report canvassed some of the concepts and practices involved in multiculturalism, traced some aspects of the evolution of Australia towards a plural society, and set out its views on the desired conditions for building a multicultural society in Australia and on its relationship to immigration policy - which the report expressed in terms of serving the national interest. The report recognised that multiculturalism is dynamic and expressed the conviction of both Councils that its development should take place within the framework of existing parliamentary institutions and with due regard to social and political rights and obligations.
6. In 1979, the Ethnic Television Review Panel in its Interim Report of Public Consultations on the Establishment of an Ethnic Television Service stated that ethnic television would be valuable to all Australians by promoting tolerance and appreciation of the diverse, multicultural nature of our society, and would also assist ethnic groups to maintain and develop their cultural identity.
7. The 1980 report of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs Review of Multicultural and Migrant Education (Chairman: F Galbally) commented on the fundamental role of education in the development of multiculturalism. The report stressed that education in Australia should embrace the teaching of English as a second language, the teaching of community languages and studies of ethnic and cultural diversity in Australia.
8. The 1982 report Multiculturalism for All Australians: Our Developing Nationhood of the Australian Council on Population and Ethnic Affairs (Chairman: J Zubrzycki) expressed the view that the days when multiculturalism was discussed exclusively in the context of 'ethnic affairs’, defined 'as something concerned with non-English-speaking minorities in Australia are over’.
It saw social cohesion as the key, with multiculturalism being the interaction between cultural minority groups and the wider Australian society. The report stressed the notion of inclusiveness and opposed a situation where minority groups 'flourish on the margin at the expense of the total Australian society’.
9. The 1982 Evaluation of Post-Arrival Programs and Services by the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs (Chairman: F Galbally) found an impressive record of implementation of the findings of the 1978 Review of Post-arrival Programs and Services to Migrants. The Evaluation concluded that the report had been of substantial benefit to: migrants, both newly arrived and longer resident; Australia’s ethnic groups; and the community as a whole. It found that Australia has 'perhaps the most comprehensive system of migrant and multicultural services in the world. In several key areas, Australian provisions are unique’.
10. The 1986 report Don’t Settle for Less of the Committee of Review of Migrant and Multicultural Programs and Services (Chairman: J Jupp) included four basic principles as the basis for the policies of the Federal Government:
- All members of the community should have equitable opportunity to participate in the economic, social, cultural and political life of the nation.
- Equitable access to, and an equitable share of, resources which Governments manage on behalf of the community.
- Equal opportunity to participate in/influence government policies, programs and services.
- Rights, within the law, to enjoy one’s own culture, practise one’s own religion, use one’s own language while respecting the right of others to their own culture, religion and language.
11. The 1986 report of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs, Future Directions for Multiculturalism, emphasised a range of recommendations to reform government agencies and services and make them more accessible to people of all cultures. The report identified significant social and economic inequalities disproportionately experienced by non-English-speaking background people. It supported the findings made in the Jupp Report and recommended that an extended 'access and equity’ strategy should be subject to public scrutiny and include people of non-English-speaking background, the disabled, women, and indigenous people.
12. The 1988 report by the Committee to Advise on Australia’s Immigration Policies Immigration: a Commitment to Australia (Chairman: S FitzGerald) argued that the official definition of multiculturalism did not correspond with the popular concept of it. The report concluded that 'confusion and mistrust of multiculturalism, focussing on the suspicion that it drove immigration policy, was very broadly articulated. Many people, from a variety of occupational and cultural backgrounds, perceived it as divisive. The majority of these people also expressed concerns about immigrants’ commitment to Australia and to Australian principles and institutions’. The report recommended a coherent philosophy of immigration as the Committee saw mistrust and failing consensus threatening community support for immigration.
13. In 1989, following wide community consultations and drawing on the advice of the Advisory Council for Multicultural Affairs (Chairman: Sir James Gobbo), the Government produced the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia which had, and continues to have, bipartisan political support. It defined the fundamental principles of multiculturalism based on three rights (expressed as dimensions) and three limits (based on obligations). In summary these are:
- The right to cultural identity (expressing and sharing one’s individual cultural heritage, including their language and religion); social justice (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).
- The obligation to have an overriding and unifying commitment to Australia, to its interests and future first and foremost; to accept the basic structures and principles of Australia; and to accept that 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.
14. The 1995 National Multicultural Advisory Council report, Multicultural Australia - the Next Steps - Towards and Beyond 2000 (Chairman: the Hon. Mick Young), confirmed that the fundamental tenets of the 1989 National Agenda were still relevant. The Council’s report aimed at furthering the development of an inclusive, tolerant and globally competitive Australian society by including the issues of Aboriginal reconciliation, national identity, global and regional forces, information technology, religious diversity, and sectoral challenges.
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