Australian Multiculturalism. Th e Roots of its Success .......... 109

Authors

Sev Ozdowski
University of Western Sydney (Australia)

Synopsis

Despite its racist past, high and diverse immigration and enormous cultural and reli-gious diversity, contemporary Australia is a highly successful and well functioning multi-cultural society. The paper will analyse the reasons behind this success.The paper starts with an examination of Australia’s history from early settlement, with special focus on Australia’s social justice ethos and egalitarianism, its initial reliance on mother England for migrants, economy, governance, culture, its self-imposed regional iso-lation and tight immigration controls. The focus will then shift to the unique Australian culture that has emerged today, com-bining the elements of past and present. The paper will explore policies, institutions and laws that facilitated the development of modern Australia and its national character. Spe-cific features of Australian multiculturalism are listed and discussed, including the open nature of Australian society, the significance of immigration controls and the evolution of the “fair go” concept.Finally, the paper will examine the key and sometimes unique factors that have made the success of Australian multiculturalism possible. Some of these factors may not be pre-sent in other societies, thus making advancement of social harmony difficult. Particular attention will be paid to Australian policy and legislative settings, as well as to the Austral-ian education system, all of which focus on inclusion and equity, celebrating the values that bring all Australians together.

Author Biography

Sev Ozdowski, University of Western Sydney (Australia)

Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM is Director, Equity and Diversity at the University of Western Sydney and Adjunct Professor in the Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies at Sydney University. Sev is also President of the Australian Council for Human Rights Education. Dr Ozdowski worked for the Australian government (1980-96) where he played a major role in the advancement of multicultural and human rights policies and institutions. He also headed the Office of Multicultural and International Affairs in South Australia (1996- 2000). As the Human Rights Commissioner (2000-05) he conducted the ground-breaking National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention ‘A last resort?’ and the National Inquiry into Mental Health Services ‘Not for Service’. Dr Ozdowski has an LLM and MA in Sociology degrees from Poland and a PhD from the University of New England. As a Harkness Fellow, Sev spent 1984-86 on research at Harvard, Georgetown and the University of California. Sev’s life-long commitment to multiculturalism and human rights was recognised among others by an Order of Australia Medal, Officers Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and an honorary doctorate from RMIT University in Melbourne.

Forthcoming

23 July 2013

Series

How to Cite

Ozdowski, S. (2013) “Australian Multiculturalism. Th e Roots of its Success . 109”, in Mazur, K. and Musiewicz, P. (eds.) Promoting Changes in Times of Transition and Crisis: Reflections on Human Rights Education. Poland: Księgarnia Akademicka Publishing (Societas), pp. 109–135. doi:10.12797/9788376383651.10.