Multiculturalism and Immigrants in Australia Assignment PDF

Running head: MULTICULTURALISM AND IMMIGRANTS IN AUSTRALIA
MULTICULTURALISM AND IMMIGRANTS IN AUSTRALIA
Name of the students
Name of the University
Author note

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Emigration is the process of leaving own country to live in another. There is a difference
between migration and immigration as immigrants come to another country to live permanently.
There are several positive as well as negative consequences of immigration, within which
multiculturalism is one (Collins 2013). Multiculturalism is the effect of amalgamation of people
from different countries staying in one making it a melting pot for all the cultures these people
belong too. Australia is one of the multicultural populated countries having more than half of its
population from another country (Modood 2013). In this assignment the effect of
multiculturalism and immigration on the Australian culture and Australian identity will be
discussed.
According to the data of Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018), there are more than 25%
of Australians who are born overseas and more than 45% people live in Australia who are from
another country or have one parent, father or mother from overseas, adding to the multicultural
society. the data also revealed that since 1945 more than 6 million people has been immigrated in
Australia as the policy of immigration does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender,
ethnicity and religion (Hage 2012). However, before understanding the effect of multiculturalism
and immigrants, the concept of Australian identity should be clear. the current Australian identity
is completely different from two centuries ago as different cultures such as Irish, Italian, British,
Chinese, Indian and so on has influenced the Australian culture and modified the concept of
Australian identity nowadays (Yağmur and Van de Vijver 2012). There are several views
regarding multiculturalism and Australian identity as some researchers think due to
multiculturalism, Australian identity is being destroyed as the real Australian cultural views are
being replaced by different International cultures. Hence, affecting the core Australian values
(Modood 2013). However, another group of researchers believe that due to multiculturalism the

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core of Australian values and beliefs are being strengthened. Contemporary Australian society
has now become a patchwork of ethnic, cultural and lingual diversity and due to this, the concept
of being Australian has been limited to public debates and political agendas. different
researchers said that Australians are having difficulty in gripping with other cultures and hence
they are having risk of losing their values, institutions and processes which are the three prime
pillars of any national identity (Collins 2013). However, the immigrants think differently as their
view regarding Australians are positive and full of respect. These immigrants want to shift in
Australia because of its glory, its freedom and diversity it offers to all its residents. As per Hage
(2012), the Australian glory, values, believes and processes are being preserved and distributed
among citizens who are born overseas. Hence, spreading the Australian nationality throughout
the world.
While discussing the role of immigrants in shaping the Australian society, the report of
VOA News (2012) should be shared accor5idng to which communities coming from Asia,
Middle East, Europe and several other nations and continents has shaped the Australian society
and identity positively. These have contributed in the Australian cuisine, culture, occasions and
living. Development of new economic centers has created a state of positivity within the nation
that has attracted the overseas population to move to Australia and shape its identity (Yağmur
and Van de Vijver 2012). Globalization not only erases the boundary but also makes technology,
culture language, practices and be4liefs to travel from one place to another that can both
positively or negatively affect the society. However, in recent times the Australian immigration
and diversity has increase3d the anxiety of the common citizen and it has a complex impact on
the globalization of Australian society (Hollifield, Martin and Orrenius 2014). They have
become concerned about different aspects of globalization, such as foreign possession of the

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country’s economic resources and challenges to Australian autonomy due to involvement of
millions of immigrants. Several attacks on Indian students in past few years by Australian
students have determined this mental state of Australian citizens. A survey was conducted to
understand the view of Australians about the involvement of Australian immigrants and it was
found that more than 75% Australian believed that the government should limit this immigration
and import of foreign products as the capital of the country is being divided to immigrants more
than the actual native Australians are (Modood 2013).
While concluding the assignment, it should be mentioned that there are both positives and
negative aspects if this cultural mix and diversification of the Australian society as it is directly
affecting of the views, beliefs and process of the native Australian thinking. The assignment
involved several re3searcgh articles to pout both the facts and determined the effectiveness of
both the arguments.

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References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2018. "Census". Abs.Gov.Au. http://www.abs.gov.au/census.
Collins, Jock. "Multiculturalism and immigrant integration in Australia." Canadian Ethnic
Studies 45, no. 3 (2013): 133-149.
Hage, Ghassan. White nation: Fantasies of white supremacy in a multicultural society.
Routledge, 2012.
Hollifield, James, Philip L. Martin, and Pia Orrenius, eds. Controlling immigration: A global
perspective. Stanford University Press, 2014.
Modood, Tariq. Multiculturalism. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2013.
VOA News. 2012. "Immigration Reshapes Modern Australia". VOA.
https://www.voanews.com/a/immigrants-change-australias-cutural-identity/1246298.html.
Yağmur, Kutlay, and Fons JR Van de Vijver. "Acculturation and language orientations of
Turkish immigrants in Australia, France, Germany, and the Netherlands." Journal of Cross-
Cultural Psychology 43, no. 7 (2012): 1110-1130.