About one quarter of all Australians today were born overseas. That’s pretty amazing. Switzerland is the only other country with such a high proportion of their population born overseas. Australia has become a multicultural society. In this podcast, I would like to tell you a little about how we became a multicultural society and what it means to us.
The first Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Today they make up about 3% of our population. Their ancestors came to Australia around 50,000 years ago. I guess, in a sense, they were the first migrants to Australia. It is said that we are a nation of migrants and that is absolutely true. In 2013/14, there were around 212,000 new migrants who came to live in Australia. So our population continues to grow from migration.
Australian residents who were born overseas come from almost every country in the world. However the top 10 countries, in order, are the United Kingdom (5.2%), New Zealand (2.6%), China (1.9%), India (1.7%), the Philippines (1%), Vietnam (1%), Italy (0.9%), South Africa (0.8%), Malaysia (0.7%) and Germany (0.5%). I have friends or have worked with people from all of these countries, plus a whole lot more. Of course, many of these people have children of their own who were born in Australia. I love it when I see people speaking with a typical Australian accent, yet it is obvious that they have Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese or Italian parents. What’s also great is that most of them can also speak the language of their parents. This is a real demonstration that we are a multicultural nation. What I also love is that the traditions of their parents’ culture continues to be important to them. This is encouraged in Australia and we value it. It’s actually part of government policy that people have the right to express and share their cultural heritage, including their language and their religion. Of course it is also part of government policy that migrants have a responsibility to support our values and make a commitment to Australia, its democracy, to equality for all and the rule of law.
When I was in my teens I had a close friend who was born in Australia and whose parents had migrated from Greece. I can remember going to a family party at his place one time and it was there that I found out about how Greek people celebrate at a party. I saw them dancing in a big circle to Greek music and everybody was having a fantastic time. It was so different to what happened in my family’s parties. I joined in and I loved it. I guess that was my first exposure to multiculturalism and it showed me that other cultures have some great traditions which can make Australia a richer place.
Another example is the different sports which have come to Australia with our migrants. I did Taekwondo for 10 years which comes from Korea. This sport has a strong cultural element and I was able to learn some basic Korean language and also learn some Korean history and customs. I found it taught me something new about how to live my life and I really appreciated that.
I should add that Australia’s multiculturalism is not always without its problems. Sometimes some people find it hard to accept the customs of other cultures and it is true to say that there is still some discrimination in Australia. We were not always a multicultural society so looking at our history of migration can help explain where we have come from and just how far we have come.
Excluding the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, there have been 3 major waves of immigration to Australia. First there was early European settlement which started in 1788. This was initially prisoners from the jails of England, who were sent to Australia as their punishment. During this first wave of migration, free settlers from Britain also started to arrive from around 1815, although not in large numbers.
The second wave of migration came with the discovery of gold in 1851 in Australia. This caused a large number of people to come to Australia, mostly British and Irish although also other Europeans and some Chinese. The Chinese were badly discriminated against and it was from this time that immigration of people from Asia became restricted on racial grounds. When Australia became a nation in 1901, this restriction was made into a law which became known as the White Australia Policy. The people in Australia at that time wanted to exclude non-white people and in particular encourage migrants from Britain. Thankfully, this policy was removed in stages from 1949 to 1973. In fact, a non-discrimination law was passed in 1975 which made it illegal in Australia to discriminate on the basis of nationality, race, culture, religion, or language. I am personally not proud of our history of the White Australia Policy, but Australia is now a truly multicultural nation and that is something of which I am very proud.
The third wave of immigration came from 1949 on, after the Second World War. At that time, Australia’s government made the decision to start a major immigration program, as Australia’s population was relatively small and the country needed more people if Australia was to grow and prosper. The catchphrase was ‘Populate or Perish’. The government started an assistance program.
Over 1,000,000 British people and hundreds of thousands from European countries came to Australia. The British people had to pay only 10 pounds and so they were called the 10 pound poms. With the removal of the White Australia Policy in the years following the war, we started to receive migrants from all over the world.
The number of migrants each year has varied from year to year. In 1993, around 70,000 migrants came to Australia and this has increased to 212,000 in 2013/14. In addition to the migration program, Australia has a Humanitarian Program for refugees. In 2013/14, this program had a target of 13,750.
Today, the migration program for Australia has 2 major streams. They are called skilled migration and family migration. Skilled migration means that if you have the required skills which Australia needs, and you meet other criteria, you can apply to migrate to Australia. Family migration is about existing permanent residents of Australia bringing their family members to Australia to live with them. Migration to Australia is a complicated subject, so anyone interested in that should always go to the Australian government website.
Posing with the Australian flag.
Podcast 60 Quiz - Did you understand the podcast?
True or False? – Australia and Switzerland have many residents who were born overseas.
True or False? – Australia’s aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were born overseas.
True of False? – Rob thinks it’s great that children of migrants find the traditions of their parent’s culture important.
True or False? – In Australia, the government does not want migrants to share their culture.
True of False? – Rob found that the family of his Greek friend celebrated differently at a party.
True or False? – Everybody in Australia thinks multiculturalism is great.
True or False? – Rob thinks that the White Australia Policy, which ended after the Second World War, was a bad thing.
True or False? – In Australia, it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of nationality, race, culture, religion or language.
True or False? – Migration to Australia has made Australia grow and prosper.
True or False? – If you are unskilled and you have no family in Australia, it is easy to migrate to Australia.
Another great post Rob. Like yourself, I delight in our multiculturalism and the diversity of our peoples. Thank goodness those awful white Australia policy days are behind us. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Ray. Yes, they were embarrassing days for sure. I think our Ulysses motorcycle club has a great range of nationalities. We are a multicultural club I think. You meet the nicest people on a motorcycle. Thanks for your comment.