Public Policy And Multiculturalism In Australia example essay topic

Identifying and evaluating an argument d) What do we know about the public policy and multiculturalism in Australia? The duration of this essay focuses upon the arguments two theorists from the dossier reading, K. Betts (1988) and S. Castles (1989) and two writers from additional readings on the topic of multiculturalism, J. Stratton (1998) and A. Markus (2001). K. Betts outlines an attitudinal survey taken in Australia in the 1940's on multiculturalism and immigration, and compares the results of these to another attitudinal survey taken in 1971. (She also outlines the limitations of the 1940's survey due to structure of questions.) Through the comparison and contrast of the survey results, Betts argues that the attitudes of university educated and non-British migrant sections towards immigration explain the development of multiculturalism, and that the policy of assimilation gave way to the rhetoric of self-determination and multiculturalism by the survey in 1971. -Betts, K. (1988) In Australia in the late 1960's, there emerged a willingness to accept a more complex structuring of society and a broader tolerance of diversity, in contrast with the one-dimensional value system, which characterised cold war, as Betts states was indicated through an attitudinal survey in the '40's. The 'white Australia' policy, one of the founding principals of the commonwealth, was abandoned.

Federal legislation to outlaw racial discrimination was passed in 1975 and the first substantial land rights measure in the following year. -Stratton. J (1998) Throughout this period of change, bipartisan agreement on fundamentals characterised the approach to aboriginal and immigration policy. This approach survived, despite times of considerable tension until 1996, when it was decisively repudiated by the newly elected Howard government.

-Markus, A. (2001) Castles on the other hand, states that when trying to examine social inequalities in Australia, ethnicity explained very little, as it was a difficult term to define, and a fairly recent construction. Castles argues that policies based on ethnic differences alone, that attempt to eradicate inequalities in Australian society will not achieve much. To understand why some members of society, no matter what their ethnic background, have fewer opportunities than others, we need to consider their socio-economic status in both Australia and their country of origin. i.e. "If those of high status in their country remain in a low status group in Australia, the problem may be something other than ethnicity-inability to speak English, non recognition of qualifications, poor educational achievement, the role of women in Australian society and so forth". -Castles, S. (1989).