Managing Multiculturalism and Diversity Australia Discussion 2022

Running head: MANAGING MULTICULTURALISM AND DIVERSITY
MANAGING MULTICULTURALISM AND DIVERSITY
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Introduction
Irrespective of its recent past, intense and diverse immigration in addition to major ethnic
and sacred diversity, modern Australia is viewed as a highly effective and thriving multicultural
society. Even though Australian multiculturalism has encountered certain significant
transformations as it was recognized as government strategy in the 1970s, it has been normally
observed as prosperous act, which has been undoubtedly and evidently contributing to the
harmony of the Australian civilization (Edensor & Sumartojo, 2018). Studies reveal that since its
initial times, Australia was founded, as an egalitarian society comprised of restricted class
divisions along with values of 'fair go' as well as social impartiality. Majority of Australians were
of the belief that they possessed an authority to act in opposition to the dominants during
sufferings related to individual injustice and bias. However, according to Abbas et al. (2016), it
is the egalitarian course in the attributes of the Australian national personality and not previous
discrimination and nationalism, which contributed to constructive foundation for founding of
modern multiculturalism.
Discussion
Currently, Australia is certainly diversified as well as multicultural culture in the
evocative use of this word. As per the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011, over 5 million of
Australia’s populace was born in a foreign country and around 20% only had one overseas-born
parent. In the past one decade Australia, similar to its comparable nations like Europe as well as
North America has dominant civic pressures regarding the assumed danger to communal
harmony from elevating ethno-cultural diversity (Wilton, 2017). Specifically in Australia, a
significant amount of apprehension and distress ascended from the conflation of safety matters

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along with extensive issues related to the assimilation of migrant groups. Moreover, these severe
apprehensions intensified discussions regarding whether plans and strategies of multiculturalism
had been inhibiting integration as well as social unity and whether backing up discrimination. In
addition to this, many of the issues, which have focused on current public discussions regarding
multiculturalism and diversity in Australia, have instigated broader theoretical demands and
experiments raised by ideas and praxis of diversity, which have involved theorists for several
decades (Kamp et al., 2017). Majority of issues for example, association amongst particular
ethnic and cultural practices as well as human rights debates, place of conviction in the public
domain, in addition to the persistence of divergences experienced by marginalized groups
associate to broader issues. These issues are related to connotation, implication and relevance of
cultural patterns in addition to the edifice of narratives of nationality and attachment to homeland
(Hlavac et al., 2018).
Studies reveal that between late 1990s and 2001, apprehensions regarding 'foreigners' or
‘overseas nationals' and pressures to the national community combined with concerns of cultural
gang rapes and the influx of dominant Muslims, immigrants on boats off the coast of Australia
(Wilton, 2017). However, between 1999 and 2002, there has been witnessed a significant
upsurge in the rate of immigrants attempting to enter into the coast of Australia via sea link. On
the other hand, on contrary to previous influx of immigrants arriving during this period via sea
link who belonged largely to Asian region, major proportion of Muslims were from Afghanistan,
Iran and Iraq. Furthermore, increasing media and political rhetoric has brought to mind historical
apprehensions of invasion in order to depict the significant influx of people from sea route as
major threat to Australia’s sovereignty as well as security concluded in the renowned Tampa
crisis in 2001. Comprehensive studies of Dellios, 2019) mentioned issue significantly lied in the

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ease of entry of number of individuals coming from Middle Eastern nations to adjacent nations
of Indonesia and comparative affluence of shift to Indonesia besides then via Indonesia through
sea links and then into Australia.
On the other hand, considering reverberation of the security issues in multiculturalism
strategy, the Australian government mentioned that there could be identified threats to Australia
and the way Australian’s life conditions subsequent to attack of 9/11 transformed. Additionally,
in the view of Maginn and Hamnett (2016), Australian notion of diversity and multiculturalism
policies have typically positioned on the dominance of current agencies and standards along with
the primacy of English language. Moreover, the multiculturalism policy has focused less on the
cultural sustainability beyond migration generation in contradiction to Canadian policy of
multiculturalism. Conversely, in the milieu of modern uncertainty regarding ethno-cultural
multiplicity, the move from multiculturalism as well as emphasize on Australian principles and
standards which have aligned to criticism for not including and disregarding contributions and
opinions of several Australians particularly Indigenous Australians. Moreover, several
disparagements has vocalized in favour of diversity and multiculturalism involving eminent
individuals like the Human Rights as well as Equal Opportunity Commission's Acting Race
Discrimination Commissioner who recently condemned the lack of enthusiasm of the
government in order to support its obligation to the strategy of multiculturalism (Forrest, Lean &
Dunn, 2016).
Possamai et al. (2016) have focused on inherent contradiction in the fact that the
concept of diversity has been disregarded during significant influx of immigrants. However,
modifications made to the immigration strategy during administration of Howard government
witnessed the increase of perpetual skilled migration as well as significantly provisional

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relocation through business participants and overseas students. On the other hand, Kamp et al.
(2017) have argued that while the Howard government supervised the ground-breaking
transformation in settlement, it ignored communal conversation of the magnitude of modification
in immigration. It further overlooked in withdrawing from then collapse of the establishments of
multiculturalism. On the other hand, evidence has suggested that recent encounters tend to arise
from fluctuations to Australia’s refugee influx in addition to the consequent development of new
as well as developing communities. Reports revealed that several African Australians
specifically the ones who have transferred to Australia in the past 15 years have experienced
immediate and indirect discrimination and prejudice as part of their regular lives in spheres of
employment, accommodation, edification and their link to the justice arrangement. Furthermore,
these forms of prejudice and bias acted as obstacles to settlement as well as inclusion. Reports
reveal that subsequent to the period of exponential development in the rate of global students
migrating to Australia, there has been witnessed bias and violence against Indian international
students (Wilton, 2017).
Such bias has resulted to critical protests in Melbourne and further instigated assessments
of array of issues upsetting overseas students during discussions regarding the role of prejudice
in the critical attacks. However, Australian multiculturalism policy exhilarated Australia to
successfully advance and implement advanced inclusive multicultural policy which redirects its
progressively culturally as well as socially diverse society. The notion of cultural diversity
further suggested that Australia reinforced the race as well as cultural magnitudes of its Social
Inclusion Agenda.
Conclusion

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Hence, to conclude, diverse charisma of Australia is fundamental to the Australian
section and thus shaping its current issues and complexities. However, Australia’s political
leaders must gather the ease in representing 'multicultural Australia’ society as an imperative
fragment of the 'national identity' which they often appeal. Thus, Australian must take into
consideration Australia's ethnic and cultural diversity on greater number of occasions rather than
clearly diverse and multiethnic. As a result, multiculturalism in Australia has given rise to
significant amount of modernization, concepts, talents, energy and accomplishment and
increases the richness of the country in various ways in particular its 'identity’. For that reason,
the Australian Government must efficiently consider contrivances in order to endorse a wide-
ranging interpretation of multicultural and culturally diversified Australia.

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References
Abbas, T., Ali, J. A., Black, A., Dagistanli, S., Drury, A. M., Houston, C & Senay, B.
(2016). Muslim integration: pluralism and multiculturalism in New Zealand and
Australia. Lexington Books.
Dellios, A. (2019). Personal, Public Pasts: Negotiating Migrant Heritage—Heritage Practice and
Migration History in Australia. In Remembering Migration (pp. 219-236). Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham.
Edensor, T., & Sumartojo, S. (2018). Geographies of everyday nationhood: experiencing
multiculturalism in Melbourne. Nations and Nationalism, 24(3), 553-578.
Forrest, J., Lean, G., & Dunn, K. (2016). Challenging racism through schools: teacher attitudes
to cultural diversity and multicultural education in Sydney, Australia. Race Ethnicity and
Education, 19(3), 618-638.
Hlavac, J., Gentile, A., Orlando, M., Zucchi, E., & Pappas, A. (2018). Translation as a Sub-set of
Public and Social Policy and a Consequence of Multiculturalism: the Provision of
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of Language, 2018(251), 55-88.
Kamp, A., Alam, O., Blair, K., & Dunn, K. (2017). Australians' views on cultural diversity,
nation and migration, 2015-16. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: an Interdisciplinary
Journal, 9(3), 61.

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Maginn, P. J., & Hamnett, S. (2016). Multiculturalism and Metropolitan Australia: demographic
change and implications for strategic planning. Built environment, 42(1), 120-144.
Possamai, A., Dunn, K., Hopkins, P., Amin, F., Worthington, L., & Ali, J. (2016). Muslim
students’ religious and cultural experiences in the micro-publics of university campuses
in NSW, Australia. Australian Geographer, 47(3), 311-324.
Wilton, J. (2017). Identity, racism, and multiculturalism: Chinese-Australian responses.
In Migration and identity (pp. 85-100). Routledge.