The Multicultural Policy under the Australian Government - Essay Example

? Cultural diversity in Australia Introduction This paper analyses the multicultural policy under the Australian government and explores its meaning under the frames of globalization and ever changing Australian political culture. This policy is established due to consequences that arise from ethnically and culturally diverse populations for the past three decades. The Australian multicultural policy is not only apprehensive with national personality and nationality under the lens of equality but it is also concerned with government actions over the years. Multicultural policy is of great importance to Australia in term of core values and duties, which arise from the political gains from migrants, and elimination of the social planks of injustice, which is a policy for previous government. This has resulted mainly due to a lot of pressure under exerted by the human rights activist under the Howard Government in the past decade. The multicultural policy also results due to general repercussion against liberal social movements surrounding groups such as the native people, feminist, ecologists and trade unionist over the decades. Due to such advocacy, the Australian environment has witnessed a shift of governance and policy conceptualization from quasi-pluralist model of ethnic governance to civic nationalist steered by the leadership of Howard government. Australia Multicultural Population Australia has a unique population in that 25% of them were born oversees and 43% of the national population are either born oversees or have one parent born oversees making it a country of multicultural population (Skywirk, 2013). In addition, this has been witnessed since 1945 due to the planned immigration programs, which have resulted into 6million people coming to Australia from over 150 countries in the globe (Skwirk, 2013). People wishing to migrate to Australia will not be denied entry based on race, ethnicity, religion or gender since selection of immigrants has been non-discriminatory over the years (Dunn & Forrest, 2006). This diversity in Majority of the Australia Immigrants are from the U.K, which represent over a million immigrants since 1970s to date. The immigration program of Australia and the multicultural policy is accommodative since it also tolerates the religious diversity by allowing populations from diverse religious backgrounds. In addition, the religious diverse groups are represented by the people from turkey, Lebanon and India who are equally welcomed in Australia. By 1980s, the Australian population was so diverse that it contained people from Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Cambodia and china, both in significant numbers making it a country of all races (Australia Government, 2013). The official language in Australia is English but there are over 200 languages from different communities including the 48 languages from the indigenous people hence about 16% speak other languages other than English. The Asian countries form the largest chunk of Australian immigrants representing 7% of the Australian overall population (Skwirk, 2013). Most of these are Chinese and Vietnamese representing the fifth and the fourth largest population in Australia respectively. By 1901, the Immigration Restriction Act restricted most of the early immigrant groups leading to fewer populations of immigrants during that period and this was before the realization that immigration is crucial for the social and the economic future of Australia. Australian multicultural policy principles (Australian Government, 2013) Principle 1: Due to the diversity of the Australian population in terms of both ethnicity/race and religion, it makes it a multicultural nation with more vibrant and creative ideologies, which helps in nation building. An enduring theme of Australian multicultural policy is that everyone belongs and enjoys all the benefits that come with the rich diversity. Moreover, the Austrians celebrate the diversity and recognize that the expression of diversity is embedded within their national legal framework to advocate for equal treatment for all. Principle 2 This implies that Australians from all backgrounds will be given opportunity to participate and contribute to Australia and its social, economic and cultural life at all times to represent justice for all. Australians from all backgrounds regardless of race or religion will be given access to government services without fear or favour in respect to cultural diversity. It also implies that the government will strengthen its access and equality policies to ensure that the services offered by the government are responsive to the cultural, ethnic, racial and religious population at all times. This is aligned with the government inclusion agenda, which demands that Australians from all background feel valued, respected and dignified in participating in matters related to nation building. Principle 3 The Australian government recognizes that immigration brings much needed skills and labour with is beneficial for the economic prosperity of the country and its members in the end. The Austrians believe that immigration and cultural diversity have created economic renewal and prosperity which is beneficial to all irrespective of their religions and race that’s why they will continue to support initiative that uphold and respect population diversity. Therefore, due to diverse cultural relations, the trade relations between Australia and other countries have been greatly strengthened and business horizons broadened to all the horizons of the world. The diversity of the culture and the multinational workforce give Australia a distinct competitive advantage due to diverse creativity coming from different backgrounds hence leading to the growth of the economy (Dunn & Forest, 2006). Principle 4 Racism and discrimination affects people’s health and wellbeing and denies people fair access to opportunities and services denying people opportunities to explore their talents lowering the economic productivity of a country. Due to this, the Australian government opposes all forms of racism, intolerance, discrimination and prejudice in their attempts to promote peace and economic prosperity at all times. The Australian government has enacted anti-discrimination laws and it is committed that such laws are obeyed to their fullest to counter any form of discrimination. Special skills of Multicultural Manager at workplace A multinational manager requires a strong understanding and tolerance of ethnic diversity in Australian workplace. Therefore, the manager should understand that diversity is strength so that he does not discriminate against anybody due to his race or religion as such should ne advantage to him. The manager should also have good communication skills and if possible, he should be in a position to communicate in an extra language from the official English language to enhance his understanding of the multicultural Australia. Managing a multicultural workplace is different from managing a single culture workplace due to varied experiences and expectations hence a manager needs to have additional skills to manage properly. Among the skills needed are cultural empathy, learning on the job, communication competency, and good personal management skills to avoid misunderstanding which may reduce productivity in workplace. The manager should also be very sensitive on diverse cultural matters so that he is able to solve any conflict that may arise due to cultural conflicts at all times in the workplace. When recruiting personnel to perform a particular task, the manager also needs to be culturally sensitive to avoid criticism from diverse cultures due to bias in employment opportunities which may greatly undermine his integrity. The three dimensions of Multiculturalism in Australia These dimensions were developed after wide consultations with bipartisan political support to promote cultural and ethnic diversity of contemporary Australia. The three dimensions are cultural identity, social justice and economic efficiency, which were designed to manage the negative consequences of diversity from personal parochial interest. In terms of social justice, it proclaims the rights of all Australians to equality treatment and opportunity, and the renewal of barriers of race, ethnicity, culture, religion, language and gender across the borders of Australia (Australian Government, 2013). Strengths of multiculturalism in Australia The post war immigration program was an exercise in nation building and is very successful due to peace, which has prevailed in Australia in the recent past. In the present day, the Austrians live in a cohesive, inclusive society in which culture, language and religion of millions of the population does not matter in the process of nation building. These achievements have been made with remarkable little conflict and have been applauded as one of the greatest achievements of Australian nation in the global scene. The Australian government is egalitarian thus did not adopt divisive and myopic the guest worker model and the immigrants are Australians from the day they set their foot there. The bipartisan support and continuum cooperation from successive governments established a strong foundation for the multicultural society in the whole globe. The government is very cooperative in creating policy framework, a body of literature, a bank of research and expertise that facilitated the gains made so far in terms of cultural diversity. The globalization of societies and economies coupled with mass movements of people in the information technology era has enabled the Australians to transform the older concepts of nationhood into newer and better concepts. Multiculturalism can benefit a country by addressing key challenges of earlier cultural and community cohesion approaches by incorporating diverse culture from around the globe. Strengthening community relations remains largely in multiculturalism by allowing and incorporating the diverse culture from other races across the globe (Farrar, Robinson & Sener, 2006). Peoples way of life is influenced by different cultures which are varied in terms of music, food, art, sport just to mention a few, this diverse way of life is beneficial in tourism as tourist are able to experience pleasing diverse situations. Multiculturalism also lads to increased creativity resulting from different cultures and this is evident in Australia where immigrants are also seen winning in different sports, games and other creative arts. Economically, multiculturalism is also beneficial due to direct foreign investment and the development of various hotels and restaurant which serve particular groups, generating revenue for the country and creating jobs. New immigrants are also likely to bring in work experience and international business connections and this is beneficial for the economy (Farrar, Robinson and Sener, 2012). Weaknesses of multiculturalism in Australia The fact that federal government policy is denying new settlers land access initially for six months has now been extended to two years and this risks the creation of second class citizens if the policy is not revised. This act undermines the principle of multiculturalism and both the social and economic stability of this multicultural country (Fairchild, Pillai and Noble, 2006). In Australia, arguments against multiculturalism are always based on race, jobs and fear of invasion by people from other places who come to live in Australia. On racial grounds, the native Australians believe in the superiority of the British and this leads to the view that other races are inferior and should thus not be afforded an opportunity to stay in Australia. This sparked the idea of letting non-British into Australia that the British traditions and culture would greatly be compromised resulting to pollution of the purity of the British race in the larger Australia especially through intermarriages. Australians are always threatened by the large populations of the Asian countries and from the fact that they are relatively under populated which makes them vulnerable to immigration by people from those Asian countries. Most Australians believe that they should not be competing with job opportunities with immigrants as this may render them jobless. The effects of global crisis which saw most people loose their jobs is still fresh in most people due to the fact that job opportunities are sometimes limited leading to insecurity. The presence of multiple cultures with diverse languages may lead to reduced unity leading to eroded social cohesion as a result of multiculturalism and this does not please most Austrians. To others, they find it strange that other culture which they have always consider inferior to British culture is allowed to thrive in their land, leading to fear of culture erosion. The increased population by the softened immigration rules is believed by others to result into many economic problems resulting from straining the existing natural resources. They also argue that increased population may lead to problems in urban settings especially on infrastructure and this may lead to reduced government performance as expected by the native Austrians. This is facilitated by the belief that immigrants tend to settle in urban areas hence increasing the population density which results into low quality of life, a fact that most Austrians are not comfortable with (Skwirk, 2013). Conclusion Australia is providing new homes and a chance to a better life of millions of people due to their good policies in dealing with their diverse cultural background. The sense of opportunity and community witnessed in Australia is far much beyond what can be offered in other countries in the globe. Thus, due to these policies, the Australian government has benefited both economically and socially since they know how to balance the rights and obligations of all human beings in their land. In as much as there are challenges, the benefits have outweighed the challenges as a result, it will be of great importance if they continue with their multicultural policies. References Australian Government, (2011). Australia Multicultural Policy. Fact Immigration Sheet 6. Retrieved from http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/issues97/macpape3.htm Australian Government, (2013). Multicultural Australia: The Way Forward. Department of Immigration and Citizenship. Retrieved from http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/issues97/macpape3.htm Bowen, C and Lundy, K. (2013). The People of Australia: Australia’s Multicultural Policy. Retrieved from http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/pdf_doc/people-of-australia-multicultural-policy-booklet.pdf Dunn, K and Forrest, J. (2006). ‘Core’Culture Hegemony and Multiculturalism: Perceptions of the Privileged Position of Australians with British Backgrounds. Ethnicities, vol. 6, 2: pp. 203-230. Farrar, M. Robinson, S and Sener, O. (2012). Workshop Proceedings. Debating Multiculturalism, London. Dialogue Society. Fairchild, R. S. Pillai, V.K and Noble, C. (2006). The impact of a social work study abroad program in Australia on multicultural learning. International Social Work; vol. 49, 3: pp. 390-401. Keddie, A. (2012). Australian multicultural policy: Social cohesion through a political conception of autonomy. Journal of Sociology, doi: 10.1177/1440783312462166 Skwirk, (2013). Multicultural Population. Retrieved from http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-16%20_u-123_t-335_c 1158/multicultural%20population/nsw/%20geography/ Skwirk, (2013). Opposition to multiculturalism and immigration. Retrieved fromhttp://www.skwirk.com.au/p-c_s-14_u-112_t-301_c-1015/opposition-to-multiculturalism-and-immigration/nsw/opposition-to-multiculturalism-and-immigration/changing-rights-and-freedoms-migrants/multiculturalism Read More