What makes australian identity

Colonisation has had devastating impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The trauma of this remains difficult for many in the community to process — especially as some traditional knowledge and entire language groups were lost.

The marginalisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has persisted through institutional racism, assimilation and discrimination. By common statistical measures, the general population remains chronically disadvantaged — socially and economically. Yet in the face of adversity, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain connected with their culture. Many have a deep affinity with their Indigenous identity and practice their culture in varying forms.

The degree to which a person integrates traditional Aboriginal behaviours, belief systems or social codes into their lives differs between individuals. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people possess the most ancient continuous culture on Earth. Across regions, languages and dialects, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people share a common philosophy based on spirituality, ecology and consensual-communal organisation.

This involves a custodial relationship to the land that many believe confirms their Indigenous identity. The Aboriginal culture and worldview is complex and multifaceted. We encourage readers to visit the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Course for more information on Australian Indigenous cultural diversity. For guidelines on how to sensitively refer to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait minority, see Other Considerations.

Multiculturalism in Australia. Whereas previously most immigrants came from Europe, many people are now arriving from Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Most Australians accept multiculturalism and believe it to be the future of the country. However, a reactionary attitude has lingered as some people remain uncomfortable with divergences from a Western standard. This can be witnessed in the the debates that surround current immigration policies and politics. However, outside of national politics, Australians generally treat and accept people of all backgrounds equally and may simply relate more to those whom they share similarities with.

Australians have largely embraced the cultural diversity immigrants bring, and the country constantly draws upon these influences to build its own developing national character.

SBS found that most Australians would agree that they "are all immigrants to the land anyway". This is exemplified in the way the majority of Australians continued to identify their heritage elsewhere in the world; in the census, only Increasingly, a bi-cultural identity is being seen as an asset to be treasured and proud of in Australian society.

The younger generation in particular, is becoming increasingly culturally aware with many seeing overseas experiences as a rite of passage towards maturity. Moreover, world travel is now a popular aspiration in the minds of most seeking more international exposure. Broadly, the Australian public is developing an appetite for new experiences and actively seeking different things. Many of the statistics regarding the attitudes of the Australian public were drawn from the Cultural Competence Program.

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You can download this cultural profile in an easy-to-read PDF format that can be printed out and accessed at any time. The figure of the total population of each country is drawn from the global estimates listed in the CIA World Factbook , unless otherwise stated.

All other statistical information on the demographics of the migrant population in Australia is based on the Australian Housing and Population Census. Australian Culture. Core Concepts. Australian Values and Multiculturalism. It's a phrase that simultaneously calls for unity, while also promoting exclusion and assimilation. Australia is a vibrant, multicultural country. Since , almost seven million people have migrated to Australia.

Australia has a unique history that has shaped the diversity of its peoples, their cultures and lifestyles today.

In our hearts and minds I think most people feel and believe this is wrong. The debates and discussions, and indeed the decisions we ultimately make around issues such as refugees and Australia Day and Indigenous recognition inevitably help to shape our national identity, as does our immigrant history, and even our landscape and seascape, and geographic position in the world. But it is not a static concept.

Melissa Castan, who is Deputy Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University, says one of the problems Australia continues to face is its difficulty in articulating the place of Indigenous Australians within its identity and that this can be traced back to how our legal, social and political structures were founded.

Read: Celebrating and saving Indigenous Australian stories through film. The contributions of convicts to Australia's progressive political traditions have been largely and unfairly forgotten. A series of animated films is future-proofing Indigenous culture, language and knowledge for generations to come. Once seen as shapers of national identity, these days they're thought of as little more than disadvantaged.