Australia’s multicultural project has delivered enormous social and economic benefits, but recent governments have allowed it to drift, weakening social cohesion and leadership when it needs renewed attention most.

Multiculturalism is always work in progress. It can never be taken for granted. Recent Australian governments have marginalised multi culturalism and social cohesion.

Almost two years ago the government received an independent review of the multicultural framework. That review proposed a nation building cabinet level department of Multicultural Affairs, Immigration and Citizenship. The report also recommended improved ways to protect peoples’ languages; a citizenship process that is less about learning cricket scores and more about appreciating diversity and the importance of mutual respect; diversifying our media sector so it more effectively reflects and involves our minority communities; and ensuring that the arts and sports sectors are spaces for intercultural collaboration and cooperation.

But two years later very little has been done.

According to the 2025 Scanlon Foundation research 83 per cent of Australians agree that migration has been good for Australia although many are concerned presently at the at the level of migration and its effects on the economy and housing.

From Howard to Albanese social cohesion has had setbacks. We have brought ‘foreign conflicts” to Australia by abetting US-led or US-supported wars in Muslim countries from Iraq to Palestine. By failing to call out genocide in Gaza, large sections of our population are frustrated and angry. And rightly so.

But despite these setbacks multiculturalism will weather the storm.

Australian multiculturalism attempts to manage the consequences of diversity. It acknowledges the right of all Australians to cultural identity; the right within limits (eg forced marriages) to express their cultural heritage in such areas as religion and language; to social justice, the right to equality of treatment and opportunity, regardless of race, language, religion and gender; and to economic efficiency, the need to maintain and develop the diverse skills and talents of all Australians.

Assimilation assumes and hopes that newcomers will abandon their cultural identity. This is contrary to their own and the national interest. Newcomers lose self-esteem if their own culture is not acknowledged or regarded as of little value. They will join their new country with confidence and make a greater contribution if their unique cultural identity is valued.

Australian multiculturalism also importantly insists that with the rights of newcomers, go certain obligations. There must be an over-riding and unifying commitment to Australia and its future. There must be acceptance of the basic principles and structures of Australian society – the Constitution, Rule of Law, Parliamentary democracy, freedom of speech and religion, English as the national language and tolerance and equality. A superstructure of diversity can only be securely built on a common and secure sub-structure. Diversity for its own sake is not sufficient. The test is what it contributes to the common good.

Leadership of new communities is also very important. During the large-scale Indo-China program in 1979/83 the strong and wise Melbourne leadership of the Vietnamese community contrasted with the inadequate Vietnamese leadership in Sydney. That leadership has been lacking in some other communities. Leadership by religious persons or clerics is not helpful.

Facts about Australian multiculturalism

If we include Australians with at least one parent born overseas there were over 50 per cent of Australians who could be broadly described as coming from overseas.

Over 22 per cent of Australians speak a foreign language at home. The most common non-English languages are Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Punjabi.

Based on data from the most recent census and related analysis, one third of registered marriages in Australia were intercultural or inter-ethnic.

The take up of citizenship varies considerably with new citizens from India, the Philippines, China, the UK and Vietnam leading the uptake. Citizenship is a key bonding for multicultural Australia but is debased when governments deny citizenship protection such as to Australian mothers and children marooned in Syria.

To support social cohesion, citizenship should be more actively promoted. We see at present the problems of dual loyalties of Australian and Israeli citizens. The Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs recently suggested that children attending faith-based schools should mix with children outside their faith. A third of our students attend faith-based schools. This is a problem, for example, with some Jewish schools that highlight loyalty to Israel as much as or even more important than loyalty to multicultural Australia. Over 600 ‘Australians’ are fighting with the IDF.

Myths about multiculturalism

It is often suggested that crime rates are high amongst new migrants. There is no evidence of this.

Some critics tell us that multicultural societies will collapse. New settlers do stick together for mutual support but over time they move out into the wider community.

Critics point to racial and ethnic problems in the United States and Europe. Even civilisation erasure! Our experience is different.

The US waves of migration in the late 19th Century and 20th Century were largely unplanned. We don’t have a common border with a large and populous country like Mexico. Australia’s migration has been much better planned.

Europe’s problems have also been magnified by two issues of their own making. The first have been mistaken guest-worker policies, where cheap labourers have been brought in who over the generations, not surprisingly, want to stay and bring their families. Australia has always rejected a policy of guest workers. Secondly, the United Kingdom and Europe felt morally and perhaps legally obligated to take in millions from its former colonies. When Papua New Guinea became independent in 1975, Australia refused similar rights for Papua and New Guinea residents who claimed long associations with Australia.

Achievements

Our early history was dogged by white insularity. We are now more tolerant of people of diverse origins. Over the generations, tolerance has come slowly but steadily. That is why we were so shocked by the Bondi shootings. We thought this happened in other countries but not in Australia.

Individuals from non-English speaking background (NESB), particularly second-generation immigrants, frequently demonstrate high levels of educational attainment and outperform peers from English speaking backgrounds. Second generation NESB immigrants are more likely to complete bachelor’s and master’s degrees compared with their English-speaking counterparts.

Newcomers have high educational aspirations for their children and the children are more motivated. In NSW, the Higher School Certificate results, which determine university entry, are dominated each year by NESB students. It used to be Greeks and Eastern Europeans. Now it is dominated by students from China, Indochina and Korea.

It is ironic that Australians supported White Australia to protect Australian workers from low wages and unskilled Asians. Concerns today are quite the reverse – that Asians and others might be too competitive!

Problems

Australia’s achievements have not come without problems. Opinion polls show that multiculturalism is clearly favoured, but this often seems contradicted by opposition to further migration.

As Australian Human Rights Commissioner President Hugh de Kretser points out that on social cohesion “our media drives polarisation and feeds a harsher political cycle. Social media algorithms monetise division and outrage." Truth is being eroded. The antisemitic terror attack at Bondi, the Australian Day attack on Aboriginal protests and the alleged foiled terror plot to attack mosques, police and the parliament in Western Australia highlight the acute risks.

He also proposed strengthening our understanding and protection of human rights including through an Australian Human Rights Act.

At the last election we saw hostile comments from the Coalition about Indian and Chinese Australians. The coalition paid a political price for these comments, but social cohesion was damaged.

Most of our major institutions are still very Anglo Celtic. The same is true the ABC and the High Court. And major companies continue to appoint directors like themselves, Anglo celts.

In recent years unemployment, inadequate housing, social inequality, low wages and part-time casual employment associated with major economic and social change has heightened concern about change in general. This concern or fear about change has focused on foreigners. In times of uncertainty and change, the focus on outsiders or newcomers is an unfortunate feature of the human condition. For social misfits like Pauline Hanson, it takes the form of wanting to cleanse the country of Muslims, Jews and coloured people. Can there be a good Muslim!

This hesitancy and sometimes hostility to newcomers, in time gives way to acceptance and pride in our common achievements. This has been our experience with waves of newcomers. Irish Catholics were initially depicted as possibly disloyal. We were prejudiced against Jewish newcomers. German migrants, particularly in the Barossa Valley, were harassed. We were initially sceptical about the Indo-Chinese. But over time, it changed. Even the early Afghans who built the transport links in Central Australia now have a train, the Ghan, named in their honour.

Over the last two decades the Coalition has conducted a scurrilous but politically successful campaign about boat arrivals. It started with Tampa. The media has ignored the very large number of asylum seekers that come by air, mainly on tourist visas and then seek refugee status in Australia. It was a racket and the person most responsible was Peter Dutton.

‘Asylum seekers’ arriving by air now constitute most of the onshore protection claims in Australia. Approximately 26,000 people are awaiting a decision on their refugee status. Over 48,000 people are still awaiting outcomes at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. There is now a major problem in clearing the backload of asylum seekers that have come by air. But Iranian soccer players get immediate attention to fit a political agenda.

John Howard led the dog whistling about Asian migration in response to Pauline Hanson a couple of decades ago. The Coalition now seems to be gearing up again for a similar campaign. Andrew Hastie is stoking the racist fires that we now feel “strangers in our own home”.

The Scanlon Social Cohesion study shows that there has been a spike in antisemitism. Some or most of that would be explained by the genocide in Gaza and the deliberate weaponisation of antisemitism to divert public attention from the genocide.

Before the Gaza genocide I had never witnessed antisemitism. I did not witness it at any of the Palestinian rallies I attended. Quite the opposite. Many speakers went out of their way to say that they were not criticising Jews. They were criticising Israel.

Racism and Islamophobia are more significant long-term problems than antisemitism. They must be addressed with cool heads and warm hearts

The Scanlon study commented: “Racist discrimination and prejudice are longstanding and continuing issues for Australian society…. Harnessing the symbolic support Australians have for diversity and multiculturalism to tackle some of the underlying sources of racial and ethnic bias and prejudice could be a fruitful area for public and community attention in this space.”

Multiculturalism is languishing within a large Home Affairs Department which is focused on border protection and security. This has meant that government resources for supporting multiculturalism and settlement of new arrivals is secondary or often ignored.

We have a Cabinet Minister for Multicultural Affairs – Dr Anne Aly – but where is she?

Immigration has dramatically changed Australia, mainly for the better. Few countries have done it as well.

Whilst Australians are hesitant about newcomers, what gives me confidence is our pragmatic acceptance. We are favourably impressed with the personal experience we have of the neighbour or shopkeeper who is Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese or Lebanese.

Is there something in the casualness and our easy-going acceptance, that overcomes ideological and philosophical opposition? We eschew the extremes and don’t get too excited by ideologies at either end of the spectrum. There isn’t much blood on the wattle. Bondi was the exception. We bump into each other, but we don’t cause a great deal of hurt.

In addition to time healing differences, we have also had leaders who have inspired the best in each of us. They ‘touched the better angels of our nature’. We lack that leadership today.

Multiculturalism is always work in progress. It needs continual attention.