Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Multicultural Australia
Following the 1947 Commonwealth Conference on Nationality and Citizenship,
the Commonwealth nations agreed on a system of nationality and citizenship. In
1949, Australian citizenship came into being after the enactment of the Nationality
and Citizenship Act 1948 (Cth). Citizenship was seen as a crucial component of
nation building. 12 However,Australiancitizenshipwasstillassociatedwithbeinga
British subject.
The conception of citizenship based on a sense of national belonging led to
different levels of discrimination against non-British migrants. For example, non-
British subjects could only obtain citizenship after five years, whereas British
subjects only had to wait one year to obtain citizenship. 13 Intermsofeligibilityfor
citizenship, there was also discrimination between Asian migrants and European
migrants. For instance, by 1958, Asian migrants were required to live in Australia
for 15 years or more before becoming eligible for naturalisation under the
Migration Act 1958 (Cth). By contrast, European migrants only had to wait five
years for naturalisation. 14
At the 1952 citizenship convention, the minister for immigration, Harold Holt,
referred to the importance of restrictions in Australia’s immigration policy. He
stated that restrictions were not based on racial superiority, but rather on differences
between cultures that make successful assimilation difficult. 15 Although Holt
was mainly referring to migrants from Asian backgrounds, this discrimination was
also directed towards southern European migrants, who were often provided little
or no support for their resettlement. For example, in 1952, the Department of
Immigration’s social workers reported severe distress among non-British migrants,
where shelters for the homeless were unable to cope and thousands were left
sleeping in parks. 16
During the 1960s, Australia entered a recession with large-scale unemployment
among the thousands of migrants recently arrived in the country. 17 Welfare
departments provided low-level services but were not properly equipped to cope
with the large numbers of people from NESB. For example, during this time,
professional interpreters were minimal within government services. 18 The
problems associated with settlement for all migrants from NESB and the need
for them to assimilate and conform to a culturally different environment created
a build-up of pressure on the government to change its migrant settlement and
welfare policy. By the end of the 1960s, it was evident that no single government
department could meet all the settlement needs of migrants. The government
12 Jordens 1995.
13 Zappala and Castles 2000.
14 Brawley 1995.
15 Jordens 1997, 149.
16 Jordens 1997, 13.
17 Jakubowicz 1989.
18 Jakubowicz 1989; Jupp 1966.
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