Exam preparation 2010
VCE Sociology
Unit 3 Outcome 2
Australian Cultural Communities
What to do
• Pay attention to requirements of each
question
• Define and/or explain key concepts
• Support discussion with evidence
• Use a logical essay structure
What to know
• Definitions and examples of Australian culture
• Definitions, policies and examples of:
– Multiculturalism
– Immigration
– Refugees
• Indigenous Australians
– Examples of inequality and disadvantage
– Past and present government policies
What to expect
• Topics on previous exams
– 2009: Invasion Day and multiculturalism
– 2008: The Apology and Indigenous “problems”
– 2007: Indigenous inequality and multiculturalism
– 2006: Australian values and multiculturalism
What to expect
• Types of questions on previous exams
– Literal meaning of representation (2 marks)
– Underlying meaning of representation (4 marks)
– Context of representation requiring external
information to support response (4 marks)
– Greater understanding of topic requiring external
knowledge of government policy (10 marks)
What to expect
• Representations
– Newspaper article, cartoon, advertisement, etc
– Contemporary issue
– Refer to the representations directly
– Use external information to elaborate/explain
What to study
• 2008 Face the Facts
– Chapter 1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
– Chapter 2: Migrants and Multiculturalism
– Chapter 3: Asylum Seekers and Refugees
• Produced by the Australian Human Rights Commission
– Draws on primary research information from a variety of
sources, including laws made by the Australian Parliament,
government policies, academic research and statistics gathered
by the Australian Bureau of Statistics including the 2006 Census
data
• www.hreoc.gov.au/racial_discrimination/face_facts/index.ht
ml
Culture
• Culture includes the learned practices and beliefs that
become associated with a group and leads to its
distinctive identity
• Australian national culture includes shared behaviours,
values, symbols and other abstract creations
– Norms/values: individualism, equality, democracy,
egalitarianism, mateship, fair go, etc
– Symbols: flag, beach, thong, g’day
– Institutions: government (overarching), ANZAC Day (social)
• Australian identity refers to how Australians see
themselves being perceived by others
National culture: Australia Day
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
National culture: Australia Day
• The representation shows 2009 Australian of the Year Professor Mick
Dodson being interviewed about “Invasion Day” while a non-Indigenous
Australian spends “Australia Day” at the beach complaining about the
nuisance Indigenous Australians make, ruining his day.
• Australia Day is on January 26 every year.
• January 26 1788 was the day the British Empire began its colonisation of
Australia. To the British this was a celebratory occasion.
• Having Australia’s national culture celebrated on January 26 emphasises
British cultural ties.
• For Indigenous Australians this was the day their country was “invaded” by
the British. E.g. Day of Mourning, Invasion Day, Survival Day, etc.
• Some Indigenous Australians are suggesting Australia Day should be
changed to a more inclusive date that does not have negative
connotations.
National culture: Australian flag
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
National culture: Australian flag
• The representation replaces the Union Jack (UK flag) with
images of Indigenous Australians.
– The Union Jack symbolises Australia's history as a collection of six
British colonies
– The representation suggests that Australia’s history should
acknowledge the original inhabitants before colonisation
• The Australian flag was designed through a competition
following Federation on 1 January 1901 and was judged
according to: loyalty to the Empire, Federation, history,
heraldry, distinctiveness, utility and cost of manufacture.
• As a gesture of reconciliation, in 1995 the Aboriginal Flag and
the Torres Strait Islander Flag were also appointed flags of
Australia.
Multiculturalism
• Multiculturalism describes a cultural heritage consisting
of a number of cultures in parallel
• It is often used to describe the diverse cultural make-up
of a society and the set of norms that uphold the right to
retain and enjoy one’s culture
• It is also the name of a government policy to recognise,
manage and maximise the benefits of diversity
– In the early 1970s, “White Australia” ended and Australia
began experimenting with an official commitment to
multiculturalism
– There is currently no federal government policy on
multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
Multiculturalism
• The representation implies the Victorian police
are deliberately ignoring the racial violence
towards Indian students
• Racial discrimination goes against the concept of
multiculturalism
• Multiculturalism has not adapted to meet the
needs of transient international students
– Some international students feel exploited by tertiary
institutions (e.g. considered “cash cows”)
– Treatment of some international students suggests
they are not valued members of Australian culture
Multiculturalism
• Benefits:
– Reduced racial discrimination
– Promotes integration through the blending of
cultures (e.g. heterogeneous culture)
– Enhanced self-esteem of minority groups through
acceptance of difference
• Limitations:
– No assimilation of minority group into dominant
group leading to loss of social cohesion (e.g. no
homogeneous monoculture)
Immigration
• Know your policies:
– Immigration Restriction Act 1901
– Assimilation (1947-1965)
– Integration (1965-1972)
– Multiculturalism (1973-2006)
– Australian Citizenship Act (2007-)
• Requires basic understanding of English and adequate
knowledge of Australia and Australian values before
applying for citizenship
Immigration
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
Immigration
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
Immigration
• Benefits:
– Economy: fills skills shortages, creates demand for goods and
services, invests in economy
– Employment: creates jobs through demand for goods and
services
– Population: reverses negative impact of declining fertility and
aging population
• Limitations:
– Environment: puts natural resources under strain (e.g. water)
– Infrastructure: existing infrastructure has not kept up with
population growth in cities so has caused contentious highdensity suburban dwellings in surrounding suburbs
– Culture: “ethnic” clashes, racism and xenophobia
Refugees
• Recent times:
– Beginning in 1991 the Howard Coalition
government introduced punitive measures to deal
with “unauthorised” asylum seekers to deter them
from seeking asylum in Australia
•
•
•
•
Mandatory detention until refugee visa granted
Detention debt for time spent in mandatory detention
Temporary Protection Visas reviewed every 3-years
Pacific Solution to change Australia’s migration zone
– The Rudd Labor government reversed these
measures
Refugees
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
Refugees
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
Refugees
• Benefits:
– Raising Australia’s status in the international
community as humanitarian
– Directly helping victims of persecution
– Promoting human rights
– Fulfilling global responsibilities
• Limitations:
– Reports of ethnic-based youth gangs
– Expensive process
– Possible welfare dependency
Indigenous Australian Inequality
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Health: Lower standards of health, lower life expectancy and higher infant
mortality rates.
Education: Lower standard of education (29% rural and 13% remote area Year 10
completion).
Employment: Lower standards of employment, half of all jobs are CDEP and adult
unemployment three times higher than non-ATSI.
Housing: Lower standards of housing and less home ownership. Homelessness is
three times higher than non-ATSI.
Justice: Over-represented in criminal justice system. 13 times higher
imprisonment rate than non-ATSI.
Welfare: Over-represented in care and protection systems nationally. Children
nearly four times more likely to be abused or neglected. 18.3% of women
experienced physical or threatened abuse in past 12 months (compared with 7%
non-ATSI).
Income: Average weekly income is $460 (compared to $740 for non-ATSI).
Government policies: ATSI
•
•
•
•
1788 Terra nullius
End of 1800’s: Protection policies
1937: Assimilation policies (and Stolen Generations)
1967: Referendum (census / federal laws)
– then equal pay, self-determination policy, self-management policy
• 1976: Land Rights Law
• 1992: Native Title (e.g. Mabo)
• 2007: Northern Territory Emergency Response (Intervention)
– 73 remote Northern Territory communities
• 2008: The Apology
Government policies: ATSI
• Close the gap campaign (cluster of initiatives)
– Reduce inequality
• Self-determination (National Congress of
Australia’s First Peoples to replace ATSIC)
– Follow UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples
– Advocacy and advisory role on national level
– Monitor and evaluate government performance
– Develop and influence policy and legal reform
– Conduct research
Government policies: ATSI
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
Government policies: ATSI
Cartoon by Nicholson from “The Australian” newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
Impact of globalisation
•
Indigenous Australians
– The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples required a redesign of the
Northern Territory Emergency Response to lift the suspension of the Racial
Discrimination Act
•
Multiculturalism
– The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination claimed the Victorian
government and police were failing to address the problem of racial discrimination of
Indian students
•
Immigration
– The Australian Human Rights Commission claim the English-language citizenship test
discriminates against applicants from developing countries and non-English speaking
backgrounds (based on International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination and Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights)
•
Refugees
– The UN told the government that suspending the processing of asylum seekers from Sri
Lanka and Afghanistan went against the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees