Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Multicultural Australia
of difference’. 2 Kymlicka, for instance, explores the importance of collective rights
to self-determination. These rights can be held by individuals or groups, such as
minority nationals or Indigenous peoples. 3 Kymlicka argues that cultural group
rights are needed, on the one hand, to protect a cultural community from forced
segregation and, on the other, to provide enough flexibility to protect other
communities from forced integration (i.e. Indigenous peoples). 4
Countries have approached multiculturalism differently due to their unique
historical, legal and cultural circumstances. For instance, in Canada multiculturalism
was introduced to resolve tensions between French- and English-speaking
Canadians. There was a much stronger emphasis on the institutionalisation of
multiculturalism in Canada than in Australia, which was strengthened in 1982 with
theinclusionofprotectionsforCanada’smulticulturalheritageintheCharterof
Rights and Freedoms. This was followed by the Canadian Multiculturalism Act 1988
which aimed to address the under-representation of minority groups in parliament.
In contrast, Australia has never adopted a legal framework for multiculturalism.
Instead, it has focused on improving social and economic outcomes for migrants
from NESB. Before the introduction of multiculturalism in Australia, migrants
from NESB struggled with low levels of English literacy and were often the victims
of racism and discrimination due to the enduring impact of the White Australia
policy.
This chapter focuses on the development of multiculturalism in Australia, as
distinct from other countries around the world. The first section of the chapter
traces the development of multicultural Australia in three distinct phases: 1) integration
of non-British postwar European migrants; 2) social justice and equality;
and 3) citizenship and civics. The second section of the chapter examines public
attitudes towards multiculturalism over time, drawing on findings from the Australian
Election Studies, and reflects on the meaning of multicultural Australia in
the 21st century.
The development of multicultural Australia
After the Great Depression and the Second World War, Australia moved towards
an ethnically plural program, concomitant with a significant decline in arrivals
in Australia of migrants with British origins. By the 1940s, it was clear that
immigration from Britain was not going to be sufficient to achieve economic
growth in Australia. Therefore, Australia’s immigration resources were diverted
fromBritaintotherefugeeissuesinwesternandsouthernEurope.Toassistwith
2 Faulks 1998; Favell 1998; Isin 2008; Kymlicka 1995; Kymlicka and Banting 2006; Levey and
Modood 2009.
3 Kymlicka 1995; Kymlicka 1989.
4 Kymlicka 1995.
413