Multiculturalism in Australia: A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Effects

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of multiculturalism in Australia, defining the term and tracing its historical development, particularly after the dismantling of the White Australia Policy and the official introduction of the multiculturalism policy in 1972. It examines the advantages of multi...Read More

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Multiculturalism can be defined as a term which has different set of meanings in political
philosophy, sociology and in colloquial use. In everyday usage and sociology, multiculturalism
is considered to be the synonym of ethnic pluralism and both the terms are often used
interchangeability. The term can also be described as the mixed ethnic community are where
there is the existence of multiple cultural traditions. Multiculturalism in which distinctiveness of
multiple cultures is promoted is considered to be different from other settlement policies like
cultural assimilation, social integration and racial segregation (McLaren, 2018). This essay is
focused on multiculturalism in Australia and the advantages and disadvantages faced by such
countries.
The official policy of multiculturalism has been adopted by Australia after Canada. The
government of Australia retains multiculturalism in policy which has now become the defining
aspect of Australia today. After World War II, the White Australia Policy was dismantled due to
the number of changes made to immigration policy. However, the official introduction of the
policy related to multiculturalism was made in the year 1972. In 1996, John Howard was elected
for Liberal- National Coalition government which was considered to be a major watershed for
the multiculturalism in Australia. Howard acted as the critic of multiculturalism for a long period
of time and released his One Australia policy in the 1980s (Maginn & Hamnett, 2016).
Tolerance and engagement are the characteristics of the contact between the people belonging to
different cultures in Australia. However, such contact also resulted in rifts and conflicts several
times. The diverse migrant communities in Australia have also brought with them different kind
of cultural practices, lifestyle and food which have absorbed into the mainstream culture of
Australia. In other words, the multicultural composition of the people of Australia, its prohibition
on discrimination, its immigration policies and equality of all persons before law reflects the
multiculturalism in Australia. Along with it, there are a number of cultural policies with the help
of which diversity is promoted in Australia like the formation of Special Broadcasting Services
(Moran, 2016).
As the results of 2011 Census, approximately 26% of the population residing in Australia was
born overseas. The results further provided that at least one of the parents of 20% Australian
population was born overseas. 2.5% of the Australian population comprised of Aboriginal
Australians. It is due to the White Australia Policy due to which Australians have accepted all

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persons (Moran, 2017). In the year 1973, after some steps taken by Whitlam Labor government,
the implementation of further official national multicultural policies was made by Fraser’s
Conservative Coalition government in the year 1973. The different policies introduced brought a
wide change in the meaning of multiculturalism in Australia. Originally, the term was
understood by the mainstream population. Later on, the meaning was also linked with the rights
of the migrants to express their cultural identity within the mainstream Australia. Now,
multiculturalism is also known for the notion that the Australian people have multiple ethnic and
cultural backgrounds. Immigration o Australia have increased to a great extend over the past few
decades. The overseas immigrants have increased from 118,000 in the year 2003- 04 to 200,000
in the year 2015. Furthermore, the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia provides that
the government of Australia is concerned with three broad areas of the policy namely social
justice, cultural identity and economic efficiency (Lentin, 2017).
The Australian Multicultural policy presented by Rudd government focused on main points such
as acceptance, recognition and celebration of linguistic, cultural and faith diversity based on the
commitment to laws and democracy of Australia. Also, it recognized productive diversity,
fundamental human rights for, practicing, preserving, enhancing, sharing and celebrating their
cultural and faith heritage. It also focused on creative measures and policies that address
religious and racial discrimination. The investment in immigration, population and cultural
diversity was also renewed (Ng & Metz, 2015). Due to the support of multiculturalism, Australia
have a number of advantages. Such advantages are experienced by all the multi- cultural
countries. One of the most important advantage is the reduced racial discrimination. There is
open sharing of information by people regarding their culture which, in turn, assists the people
belonging to other cultures in having a deep understanding of the rationale behind different
practices and traditions irrespective of their offending nature and obscenity (Wilding & Nunn,
2017).
Another advantage of multiculturalism is the promotion of integrated efforts for the purpose of
helping in bringing respective improvements in culture. Such improvements are brought due to
the reason of existence of certain factors in culture that are offending particular human rights or
creating a discrimination between the people of same culture. The advantages of
multiculturalism in Australia also include the educational benefits to children (Rhoads &

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Valadez, 2016). Relevant changes have been made in the subjects taught to the students such as
history which describes the entire story of the development of culture to the students from very
young age. With the help of education regarding this subject, the students are able to
accommodate a broader and comprehensive understanding of the past events. Education provides
greater exposure to the students regarding this topic. Students are given education regarding
equality and therefore they are able to develop an attitude against racism. Opportunities are also
given to the students to learn a variety of languages such as Chinese, Japanese, French, etc. They
are educated regarding different traditions and cultures (Ghosh, 2018). When they learn different
languages, they are capable of communicating easily with the people and friends belonging to
different countries and cultures.
Agreements and treaties take place in an effective manner as Australians have knowledge
regarding ideologies of different countries. The gestures of different countries are different,
therefore, a single act can proof to be offensive for their culture. Australians are also benefitted
from multiculturalism as it provides the cultural link with other countries and allows them to
have access to their sports. Diversity in their sports is the results of the presence of cultural
diversity in Australia. Also, it allows them to have access and opportunities to play a variety of
sports with the players of different countries. Therefore, there is both competition and strong
bond of Australia with other countries (Gauthier, 2016). The exotic foods and flavors from
different countries also constitutes another benefit of multiculturalism. Australia is not only rich
in experiences but also have closer social and economic links with other nations as a
consequence of multicultural population. The food, fashion and culture of Australia is greatly
influenced by multiculturalism (Walsh, 2014). There are different lifestyles and varies ideas in
Australia due to multiculturalism. The life of people in Australia is more interesting and exciting
as there are different traditions which allows them to celebrate and enjoy different events and
festivals. The exposure to different traditions allows the Australians accept the differences and
become less discriminative. Learning diverse traditions and living with it presents the manner in
which others spend their lives (Carrington & Marshall, 2008).
On the other hand, multicultural countries like Australia also suffer from certain disadvantages.
The advantage lies in the fact that the racial discrimination is decreased due to multiculturalism.
However, it also leads to diminishing cultural identity of one country or culture due to the reason

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of high influence of outside intervention. The formation of society or tradition of one culture
may also be dependent on another culture. In the multicultural world, dominance means the
phasing out of defined cultures that are in existence from the past. Different cultures are greatly
influenced by the new thought processes and new ways of thinking which drives the culture
away from traditional thinking. In other words, the essence of the culture is lost due to
multiculturalism. The existence of links with other countries in Australia has the possibility of
resulting in ideology clashes. Different beliefs and traditions arising from different countries may
be disagreeing (Boese & Marotta, 2017).
Multicultural Australia is capable of hosting diverse cultures and mixing them together.
However, disagreements may arise between different cultures as they have diverse ideologies
relating to belief in God, beginning of the world, etc. Such beliefs also results in arguments in
schools, businesses and friends. Australia also suffers from difficulties caused due to bringing
diverse cultures together. The disadvantages also include the fact that the younger generation of
Australia belonging to immigrant families or ethnic groups is taking time in getting accustomed
with the environment. Therefore, there are chances that this may get reflected in the academic
performance of such students (Blair, 2015). Australia is also rich in having employees migrated
from different countries and cultures. Such employees are capable of contributing broader point
of view on the assignments. Problem solving becomes easier due to the presence of mix cultural
experiences and allows them to create a strong team. The office environment is also enriched due
to the diverse set of workers thereby improving the work culture. On the other hand, the effective
and efficient management of multicultural workforce is a difficult task. People belonging to the
minority group may also suffer from the prejudices of employees. Also, the encouragement of
cooperation among the workers and ensuring their collaboration as a team also becomes a
difficult job (Baker & Rowe, 2014).
Multiculturalism in Australia have allowed it to benefit from globalization. Multinational
organizations in Australia employ diverse population from different countries which, in turn,
assists them in capturing the global markets, earning profits easily and increasing customer base
across countries. Majority of the immigrants considers the multiethnic countries such as
Australia as their home. Majority of its population consists of highly skilled and educated
workforce. The employer and the employee both benefit from the skilled employees from other

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countries who have knowledge of English language. Such employees serves as the asset for the
multinational organizations. When individuals and minority groups survive in a multicultural
society, they often suffer from the fear of losing their original lifestyle or ethnic identities. The
influence of foreign belief systems and other cultures sometimes create a protectionist tendency
among the individuals. The differences in religious practices and beliefs, ethnic rituals and
lifestyles sometimes results in the occurrence of social conflicts that may cause rifts between
groups (Ali, 2016).
Therefore, it can be concluded that a lot of cultural backgrounds have been adopted by Australia
along with different values. Such cultures and values have made Australian society multicultural
and integrated. The term multiculturalism is considered to be same as ethic pluralism and is
described as the mixed ethnic community where multiple cultural traditions exists.
Multiculturalism have now become the defining aspect of Australia as it has adopted the official
policy of multiculturalism. The contact between the people belonging to different cultures can be
characterized by tolerance and engagement. The multicultural composition of the people of
Australia, its prohibition on discrimination, its immigration policies and equality of all persons
before law reflects the multiculturalism in Australia. However, there are a number of
disadvantages of multicultural countries. The advantages include the reduction of racial
discrimination, open understanding, promotion of integrated efforts, educational benefits, ease in
communication and business and the exotic foods and flavors from different countries. On the
other hand, multicultural countries like Australia also suffer from certain disadvantages. The
disadvantages include diminished cultural identity of one country, loss of essence of original
culture, original lifestyle and ethnic identities, and conflicts.

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