Multiculturalism in Australia

Multiculturalism in Australia

‘Assimilation’ was the official term used to describe government policy for migrants settling in Australia in the immediate postwar period. The basic idea was that, as soon as practicable, migrants should become part of the Australian way of life and be treated in the same way as other Australians. That would entail getting a job, finding a house, settling into the local community and eventually becoming Australian citizens. They mostly come from United Kingdom, New Zealand, India, China (excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), South Africa, Philippines, Malaysia, Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand. These kind of differences make Australia get into a multiculturalism society.
They come to Australian with their own cultural identity. Cultural identity is the sense of belonging and attachment to a particular way of living associated with the historical experience of a particular group of people. Multiculturalism exists where one society embraces groups of people with different cultural identities. Not only the diverse of language, but also social-economic background, religion, and habitual.
The multicultural nature of Australian society has implications for education that go far beyond the concept of child migrant education, which was concerned with education for a multicultural society apply to all children, not just children of non-English speaking background, and have ramifications throughout the curriculum.
The other positive contribution of multiculturalism is that Australia’s identity was unique, and had been forged by successive waves of immigrants from many nations. In bringing their cultural traditions and heritage to Australia, many immigrants had enriched Australian society by opening it up to new influences and a wider understanding and appreciation of different backgrounds. The result was the development of a nation with a uniquely Australian lifestyle.
Furthermore, multiculturalism is considered a short gap to connect different countries; people can taste Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian food without visiting these countries. Then, making new friends from different countries also gives people a chance to communicate with people from various cultures. We can exchange information and study each other’s culture in conversations and interactions, such as knowing more about their customs, religions and fashions.
By this time multiculturalism had been effectively gutted as a national policy. In cultural terms, it had been reduced to acknowledging diversity by its architects and political leaders. Such diversity was not that of enduring separate cultures, but of an enriched and more pluralistic national culture that was predominantly English speaking and derived from earlier British and Irish migrants. In policy terms, multiculturalism had become an invocation of Australian liberal democratic values and political institutions.