Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Juliet Pietsch
Key terms/names
assimilationism, ethnicity, integration, multiculturalism, non-English-speaking
backgrounds (NESB), Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA), public opinion, race
The rise and fall of multiculturalism and public support for multiculturalism in
Australia has historically been influenced by social issues, such as public concerns
about globalisation, national identity, immigration, social cohesion and population
growth. In contrast to other settler countries, multiculturalism was originally
developed to dismantle the White Australia policy and provide the legislative and
policy foundations for supporting migrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds
(NESB). In Australia, multiculturalism has focused primarily on the needs
of migrants and their right to express their cultural identities. Attempts to include
Indigenous Australians in multicultural policy have been met with caution due to
the concern of conflating issues regarding Indigenous Australians (especially with
regards to land rights, constitutional recognition and reconciliation) with distinctly
migrant experiences. 1
Multiculturalism is underpinned by a vast body of philosophical literature on
modern liberalism and cultural diversity that examines the concept of a ‘politics
Juliet Pietsch (2019). Multicultural Australia. In Peter J. Chen, Nicholas Barry, John R. Butcher, David
Clune, Ian Cook, Adele Garnier, Yvonne Haigh, Sara C. Motta and Marija Taflaga, eds. Australian
politics and policy: senior edition. Sydney: Sydney University Press. DOI: 10.30722/sup.9781743326671
1 Parliament of Australia 2011.
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