Policy Online (26.2.16) carries a link to a Scanlon Foundation report that assesses the reasons why multiculturalism has succeeded in Australia. This comes after the state Parliament passed the Multicultural Recognition Bill, formally recognising Queensland as a multicultural society.
‘Multiculturalism in Australia is unquestionably a success story.
‘This sentiment has been echoed by many including Race Discrimination Commissioner, Tim Soutphommasane, who in 2013 said that there was strong agreement with the notion that we should be emphatically proud of our achievements as a multicultural society. Rupert Murdoch has made observations of Australia as being ‘a great model for the world – a prosperous, multicultural society of people living together in peace and freedom’.
‘Today, Australia’s diverse culture is one of our most defining characteristics. In fact, we now have the largest overseas-born population of all large OECD nations, with nearly half of our population either born overseas, or with one or both parents born overseas.
‘Since 2007, the Scanlon Foundation’s Mapping Social Cohesion Research series has recorded and analysed public attitudes to issues relating to the impact that our broad immigration program has made on Australian society, and our social cohesion.’