Actual Australian culture is far more intricate and diverse than generally perceived by the rest of the world.
Scholars such as Kalantzis and Cope put forward the idea that Australians experience three orders of culture in order to deal with this diversity:
First Level – What makes us human
In Australia we follow abide by the same basic human rights and laws that are followed by the rest of the Western World. Australian’s rely heavily on family values and community to prepare young Australians for growing up and surviving in Australian Society.
Second level – The institutional arrangements made to meet these needs and conduct affairs.
Australia is a ‘monocultural’ society in that it has one dominant framework that dictates everyday life and work, the social, economic, political and legal institutions through which our activities are ordered – that is of an English speaking, capitalist, social democratic, secular nation state, with the values and attitudes of ‘the West’. Those who choose to live in Australia have no choice but to abide by this system.
Third Level – the particular expressions and celebrations of differences in people’s cultural origins.
While Australia is one of the most multicultural societies in the world, they do have certain ‘ethinic’ beliefs, dress, food, ceremonies, rituals, and celebrations. However, the influences from other ethnic minorities in Australia has lead to many of these cultural traditions to be derived from other parts of the world.
Learn more about Australia’s particular three orders of culture on the Cultural Beliefs Page.
Diversity:
While the official language of Australia is English, Australia continues to benefit from its multicultural make-up – one of the most diverse in the world – enjoying a wealth of ideas, cuisines and lifestyles. The last census reported that 23% of the population is foreign-born, and over 40% of Australians are of mixed cultural origins. Every four minutes and eight seconds Australia gains another international immigrant. Many foreign-born Australians came from Italy and Greece after WWII, but recent immigrants have mostly come from New Zealand and the UK, as well as China, Vietnam, Africa and India, among many other places. Some 2.2% of the population identifies itself as of Aboriginal origin, and most live in the Northern Territory. Australia’s other Indigenous people, Torres Strait Islanders, are primarily a Melanesian people, living in north Queensland and on the islands of the Torres Strait between Cape York and Papua New Guinea.
The Indigenous aspect of Australia’s culture, however, cannot be fully understood without a proper appreciation of it’s history.
Learn more about Australian history here.
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