Social Work Essay: Impacts of Diversity in Australia - SWSP6033

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the multifaceted impacts of diversity in Australia, examining its political, social, and cultural dimensions. It delves into the challenges faced by families and individuals within this diverse context, exploring the interplay of various ideologies, beliefs, and backgrounds. The essay investigates how these differences influence social policy and social work practice, considering the positive and negative consequences of diversity. It also scrutinizes relevant theoretical and ethical frameworks that assist social workers in navigating these complexities, with a specific focus on the experiences of Aboriginal families. Furthermore, the essay discusses the Cognitive Diversity Hypothesis and its implications for social work practice, analyzing the impact of diversity on workplace settings and the importance of cultural sensitivity. The essay concludes with a summary of the key findings and a reflection on the implications for social work and policy development.

Running head: IMPACTS OF DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA 1
Impacts of Diversity in Australia
Name
Institution

IMPACTS OF DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA 2
IMPACTS OF DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA
Introduction
Besides the numerous challenges and issues that affect Australian families and
individuals, the concept of diversity stands as an issue that demands urgent attention. In
Australia, different families and individual categorize themselves in various ideological,
political, religious, cultural and groups. Each group is characterized based on its political,
social and cultural backgrounds. Within these groups are diverse Australian families and
individuals that try to co-exist and form unified societies. In this essay, the social,
political and cultural backgrounds of the Australian families, individuals and citizens in
general will be critically analyzed. The paper will investigate the different types of
political, social and cultural diversities as experienced in Australia. In this essay,
differences that emerge due to political ideologies, living standards, education levels,
religious beliefs, cultural rituals, traditional beliefs will be vitally evaluated. The essay
will also analyze how these political, social and cultural differences among the Australian
people impact the country’s policy setting. Both the negative and positive impacts of
diversity will be examined. The essay will also scrutinize the social workplace settings in
Australia amidst the country’s political, social and cultural diversity. The essay also
analyzes various theories and ethical frameworks that may help social workers in creating
better relationships and celebrate diversity within their workplaces. Literature sources
that surround the concept of diversity will be critically analyzed. Lastly, the impact of
diversity on Australia's Aboriginal families will be discussed. Recent policies regarding
Australia's Aboriginal groups will be probed. The essay will be summarized in a brief
conclusion.

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Diversity in Australia
Political Diversity
In Australia, citizens have different perceptions regarding the politics in the country.
During the Australian presidential elections, the country is subjected to a tensed environment.
The country’s political diversity is manifested by the different opinions during the elections polls
as well as the statistical evidence from the election results. According to Stevens (2018), political
diversity is overtly seen in Australian media and politics where politicians make speeches rooted
in political backgrounds. In our daily lives, we always watch the news as politicians from
different divides argue against their rivals.
Paulis (2015) examines political diversity in the lens of geopolitics, nation branding, and
participation. In geopolitics, political diversity is evident due to the different opinions and
perceptions held by Australian leaders and citizens regarding the country's relationships with
other countries. For instance, the Australian citizenry, political analysts and politicians differ in
their opinions when the question about the better trade partner between Asia and the West
(Bisley, 2014). According to the scholars, despite the past healthy relationships with the USA
and many European countries, China has proved to be a threat to the Western countries'
dominance in the country. Many Australians believe that European nations such as the United
Kingdom have had a parasitic relationship with Australia. However, Australians in the other
divide warn that Chinese trade deals will certainly lead to adverse effects on the country.
According to Hearn (2013), political campaigns in Australia since the 1900s have shown
differences held between Australian groups. For the past three decades, the Australian voting
patterns show how the citizens vote in groups basing on their collective perception that the

IMPACTS OF DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA 4
incoming government would serve by improving his individualized welfare (Mendes, 2017). The
patterns show that people of a particular tribe are likely to prefer a political leader to another
based on the belief that their preferred candidate would function by improving their well-being.
Social Diversity
Social diversity, according to Dagkas (2016), the socially constructed problems such as
gender, racism, ethnicity, educational backgrounds, and economic classes are amongst the most
problematic issues affecting countries in the modern world. Azzarito, Macdonald, Dagkas, and
Filistte (2017) assert that gender, education and social class disparities among Australians are
generally seen in the country. There are many instances where privilege is determined by a
person's ethnicity, skin color, educational background, social status or race of a person. For
instance, white privilege is a common issue in Australian political and social spheres.
According to Mansouri & Haloffof (2014), ethnicity and religious differences in
Australia are amongst the most notable social diversity types in the country. There are many
ethnic groups in Australia including Anglo-Australians, Canadian-Australians, Aboriginals,
Torres Strait Islanders among others. Each of these groups has different religious beliefs and
traditions. In their research in Sydney-based schools, Forrest, Lean & Dunn (2016) reveal that
racism is an apparent issue in Australian schools. The scholars attest that this due to the existence
of many races in the country.
Moreover, there are increasing immigrant and refugee groups in Australia. These latter
groups demand special treatment from the Australian government and citizenry. The Australian
government has incorporated the immigrant and refugee groups by improving the living

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conditions of Australian immigrants and refugees (Akbari & MacDonald, 2014). Immigrants and
refugees in Australia are therefore the newest social group in Australia.
Cultural Diversity
Australians boast living in an environment that facilitates the integration of diverse
histories and effective, different lifestyles and dissimilar cultures(Cenafe, 2018). Different
families from different ethnic groups in Australia have different cultural principles and
traditional beliefs. In their article, Balasubramanian, Brennan,Spencer & Short (2016), both the
researchers and the participants of the survey confirm that Australia is among the few countries
in the world where cultural diversity is well very discernible.Each group in Australia venerates
its cultural and traditional backgrounds. Although some of the cultures in Australia were shed off
after the British invasion in 1788, most Australians recognize their cultural backgrounds.
The Australian people have come to recognize the need for each of their cultures. For the
larger proportion of Australian citizens living in cities, accepting and embracing their culturally
diverse individuals have been fundamental in the country's promotion of peace. In his book,
James Banks (2015) explains the benefit of incorporating the topics of cultural diversity and
multiculturalism in our education systems. The Australian academic system, moreover, has been
set in a way where students learn to recognize, acknowledge and embrace other people's cultures.
Considering that most of the people in Australia are not the bonafide natives of the country, the
citizens recognize the need to appreciate each other's culture regardless of the underlying
differences. Most families in Australia come from coutries in Africa, America, Asia or Europe.

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Impacts of Diversity
Positive Impacts
The political diversity in Australia can be attributed to the country's growth as a
democracy. The fact that every Australian's political ideologies and perspectives are respected
promotes the development of democratic nations (Kjaer & Adamo, 2016). When a country has
members with different opinions and perceptions about how its people are supposed to be ruled,
the result is an improved system that represents an integrated method of ruling. The government
has set policies that observe political diversity. For instance, the government requires every
employer to respect the political view of any of the employees. Social policies have been
formulated, moreover, to ensure that every employee practices his or her civil rights during
elections. In social work practice, a public employee is expected to respect the concept of
political diversity. For example, a social worker is not expected to act in a way that could
threaten the public's well-being. For instance, if a social worker is conducting an Australian
government census, the social worker is expected to respect the citizen's political standpoints,
even though their beliefs may be different from the social worker. Moreover, political diversity
requires the members of staff to respect the political standings of their colleagues. In politically
diverse companies, the managers are obligated to design a workplace that incorporates the
wellbeing of almost every citizen in the country. Diverse political ideologies, therefore, are the
root of efficient working
Social diversity is fundamental in the making and running of societies. Social diversity,
in essence, is the fundamental driver to functioning societies. Gender diversity, for instance,
presents a binary male-female system where men and women are given different roles in

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societies. In our societies, the roles given to men and women observe gender diversity. The
Australian government has set policies, for instance, that prescribes how men and women in a
work environment should dress. The clothes worn by women differ from those worn by their
male contemporaries. It would be ridiculous for a male social worker to enter his office
crossdressed in a woman's dress. Moreover, some policies prescribe the qualifications of our
employees. Social workers are employed based on their educational or experience qualifications.
The level of education plays a major role in determining the salaries of prospective social
workers (Abel & Deitz, 2012). Moreover, the government introduced the 2009 Personal Income
Tax policy to eliminate the disparity between the low-earning and the high-earning social
workers (Austin, Gurran & Whitehead, 2014). Low-earning social workers would certainly gain
from the implemented.
The positive impacts are obvious. Tourists flock into Australia to come and enjoy the
culture of the country. There are many policies set by the Australian government which aims at
maintaining the cultural diversity among the Australian people. For instance, there are policies
which recognize the cultural aspects of the Indigenous Australians. However, the government of
Australia has illegalized some cultural practices such as female genital mutilation (Ogusinji,
2015). Every social worker is expected to respect the cultural background of his colleague,
despite the peculiarity of the culture.
Negative Impacts
Political diversity has, in oftentimes, resulted in hatred among the Australian populace. In
the country, it is even rare for politically diverse families to survive. In some cases, political
diversity has transpired into violence between family members and communities. According to

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Warren (2016), the difference in political ideologies may lead to chaos and violence among
citizens. Political diversity has been the primary reason behind the policy in many workplaces
that require workers not to disclose their political ideologies so as not to hurt employees from
other political divides. This eventually limits the freedom of a worker to express him/herself in
the workplace.
Social diversity driven by the difference in social status is a problematic issue in policy
setting. While the government requires to improve the wellbeing of the less-privileged members
of the society, the gap between the rich and the poor always seem to widen. For example, the
Personal Income Tax policy in 2009 is hypothesized to function to suppress the conditions of the
less privileged, rather than improving them (Moffat, et al., 2015). The tax cuts, have long term
negative effects on the poor. Social workers get themselves at the quandary of whether their
strategies are meant to improve the conditions of the targeted people or rather, worsening them in
the long run.
Cultural diversity has led to the practicing of risky rituals among Australian citizens. For
instance, culturally instigated female genital mutilation is a result of cultural diversity. Policies
that have been put in place to fight the practice, however, goes against the objective of
preserving the Australian culture. Australian families that observe their traditional rituals and
practices find these policies to be punitive. Social workers, therefore, seem to be promoting
cultural diversity but still fighting it.

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Theoretical Frameworks
Scholars have found a major interest in the concepts of diversity. Social workers are likely to
find these theories to be of much use during their practice. The following theories shed more
light on the diversity concept.
Cognitive Diversity Hypothesis
According to this theory, the different opinions and perspectives that stem up due to
political, social and cultural differences within the workforce can be harnessed to help the
workforce by improving problem-solving and innovation. According to this theory, managers
and leaders can utilize the differences in their workforces to improve their decision making.
Moreover, the differences by the workforce could result in improving creativity and innovation
for a company. Liao & Long (2016) associates better team performances with the concept of
improved diversity within the workforce. Although diversity within the workforce may lead to
incidences of conflict, managers can reverse the effects and utilize the concept of diversity to
improve team performances within their organizations (Martins, Schilpzand, Kirkman, Ivanaj &
Ivanaj, 2013). Social workers can utilize these theories to increase their team performances.
Similarity-Attraction Paradigm
This theory shows that in the workplace, workers' preferences to interact with individuals
like them may result in negative impacts on the organization. The theory suggests that for
improved outcomes, an individual in the workplace should perceive those from different groups
as homogeneous. Due to the negative outcomes that happen due to the similarity-attraction
effect, managers are recommended to elaborate the need for trust, healthy interpersonal
relationships as well as similar attitudes within diverse members of the workplace (Singh, et al.,

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2015). Social workers should also draw from the scholars' recommendations to create better
relationships. The differences in attitudes should be used to cultivate better working
environments.
Justification-Suppression Models
The justification-suppression model hypotheses that each individual, in one way or
another, have ever experienced prejudice. The theory is more focused on the actions were taken
by an individual, either to suppress the prejudice or to act upon the prejudices. DeVault & Miller
(2019) reveal the reactions of lesbians, gays and bisexual individuals in the workplace due to
prejudice from the other employees. The scholars record the differences by different individuals.
Prejudiced social workers should employ the justification-suppression model and suppress their
biases. For instance, for a social worker employed in an unfamiliar ethnicity where most of the
inhabitants talk a different language, the social worker is expected to appreciate and suppress the
prejudices that may result in the interactions with the community members.
Impact on Aboriginal Families
The indigenous people in Australia are known for practicing unique traditions and
maintaining their socio-cultural characteristics. In Australia, Indigenous people are divided into
two: the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders. Aboriginal Australians have retained their
unique language, knowledge and belief systems. Moreover, Aboriginal families consider
ancestral lands and waters to be of great importance. Traditional cultures and beliefs play chief
roles in the Aboriginal families’ economic, social and political systems. Aboriginals have a
strong sense of kinship and family.

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Recently, the Australian government has taken a bold step in recognizing the Aboriginals
as Australia's citizens. The Aboriginals have been awarded the right to vote and choose their
favorite political sides during elections. Political diversity recommends that each member of the
community should be allowed to present his/her political perceptions about phenomena. The
government has also started a social housing project that aims to improve the living standards of
Aboriginal families (Snyder, Wilson & Whitford, 2015). Lastly, the Australian government has
incorporated some of the cultural ideals and artifacts used by ancient Aboriginals in museums in
an attempt to preserve the people's culture. Aboriginal families benefit when their family
members earn income for explaining the way of the Aboriginals.
Conclusion
To sum up, diversity in Australia is a vital issue that deserves much future research. The
concept is responsible for causing both positive and negative impacts on social policying as well
as the work environment of a social worker. Diversity has been categorized into political, social
and cultural diversity. Each of these types of diversity has been seen to greatly impact the policy
setting and the practice of families and individuals. Theories that could help a social worker to
avoid the negative impacts of diversity are recommended to any aspiring social worker. Social
cognitive, similarity-attraction and justification-suppression theories are some of the most
efficient theories to enable a social worker to avoid the negative effects of diversity. All the
theories confirm that although we may have differences, the differences should function to
improve our performances within the workplace. Moreover, the theories stress that our
differences should not engender hatred.

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