Australia

Australia has signed and ratified several international human rights protocols. However, it has declined to sign or ratify other important protocols, such as the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

Australia has anti-discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination based on various factors, including race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity. Regardless, Indigenous Australians still face discrimination and inequalities in areas such as education, health, housing, jobs, land and the environment. There is no bill of rights or equal protection clause in the Australian Constitution to safeguard these rights.

With changes to its visas, Australia has made citizenship more difficult to obtain. Permanent residents must reside in the country for four years and have good moral character. Refugees and humanitarian migrants have the highest uptake of Australian citizenship at 78 percent. This is followed by 67 percent of skilled workers receiving citizenship and only 53 percent of family visa holders. Others have raised concerns about the citizenship test’s restrictiveness and the English language requirements. Dual citizens cannot stand for election or sit as MPs.

The Australian government has implemented policies to support pluralism, but there are lags in policy implementation for Indigenous communities. The government has been slow at times to act on diversity, sexual discrimination and harassment policies, and parliamentary inquiries have not been adequately responded to. Delays in citizenship processing have also occurred.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collects and analyzes data on various issues but official statistics on inequalities faced by culturally diverse segments of the population are hard to obtain. The ABS collects data on variables such as place of birth and language spoken at home, but gaps remain in measuring cultural diversity.

Australia has a strong democratic culture with legal institutions facilitating claims-making. However, this democratic culture is not translating positively, with many Australians being ambivalent about democracy and only 38 percent believing it works well. Moreover, temporary migrants face visa-related issues and civil society organizations have shrunk. Particularly, advocacy and lobby groups for people of colour and for those experiencing discrimination have limited resources.

Australia has three prominent political parties: the Liberal, Labor and Greens. The Labor party is the most supportive of social and cultural pluralism. Additionally, while all parties address Indigenous concerns, the Greens demonstrate an attempt to keep justice for the Stolen Generations in sight. At the time of report production, the Liberal Party was in power and has since shifted to the Australian Labor Party.

Diversity in Australia’s media could be improved across language, gender, ethnicity and age. Public broadcasters SBS and ABC have increased minority ethnic representation, but commercial media outlets have room to improve in portraying diversity. This lack of diversity can reinforce negative stereotypes, which policy-makers and media organizations could address.

Some Australian news media organizations defend diversity at the local and community levels. At the individual level, a dozen prominent media actors routinely promote and defend Australia as an inclusive and pluralistic society. Still, Australia has many diversity critics whose voices are prominent across the media.

Australia is home to over 300,000 non-governmental and non-profit organizations. There are also organizations that promote the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and represent migrants and refugees. Civil society actors provide important linkages between stakeholder communities and government. Additionally, university-based research centres and advocacy institutes contribute to public discourse and policy-making in areas such as citizenship, migration and social inclusion.

Australia’s workforce is diverse but gender and ethnic representation in leadership is inequitable. For example, women represent only 21% of executive teams and 30% of boards of directors while ethnic minorities face bias in selection and promotion. To work towards greater equity in the private sector, many large companies have policies to increase diversity, which Australians support overwhelmingly.

The political representation of permanent and temporary migrants, women and cultural minorities is limited in Australia. Left-leaning political parties are typically more inclusive towards migrants. Greater representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and minority communities is still needed. Debates also revolve around the minimum voting age and prisoner disenfranchisement, as well as the status of compulsory voting laws.

Australia’s economic inequalities range across race, gender and nationality. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have historically been denied equitable access to the economy. They have also been dispossessed of their land and property which contributes to their economic inequality. Women also face a gender pay gap and are underrepresented in full-time employment and leadership roles. Non-English speaking migrants have lower incomes and face barriers to employment opportunities.

Australia has a state education system, universal healthcare and social welfare programs, but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, refugees and people with disabilities, among others, face barriers to accessing education and healthcare. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have poor health outcomes. A promising Multicultural Servicing Strategy aims to deliver support to this diverse population.

Historical laws of assimilation and segregation suppressed and eliminated Indigenous cultural practices in Australia. However, lifting these laws in the 1970s led to a cultural renaissance and improved the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Still, cultural inequalities and negative attitudes towards diversity and minority groups persist, as do concerns around gender inequality, particularly for women with disabilities and Indigenous women.

The Australian justice system succumbs to highly bureaucratic obstacles and systemic biases toward minority groups, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Political influence in judicial appointments is a concern, and there is no bill of rights. Despite landmark cases recognizing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander title, the justice system exhibits bias, leading to over-representation of marginalized peoples in prison and continuing bias against women.

Australia’s history and ongoing relationship with racial violence includes conflicts with Indigenous peoples, Chinese miners and Indian students, with ongoing sporadic incidents targeting other marginalized groups. The media’s sensationalism of ethnic youth gangs is criticized. Moreover, the rise of white nationalist groups and neo-Nazism is a concerning development, exemplified by amass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand by an Australian white nationalist in 2019.

A study found that visible minority groups are less likely to interact with people from different racial or ethnic groups in public spaces in Australia, while majority groups tend to segregate themselves. However, the Global Centre for Pluralism’s Pluralism Perception Survey suggests a high level of intergroup trust among Australians from diverse backgrounds, with more than 75 percent of respondents saying they would be comfortable with a supervisor from a different gender, race, ethnicity or religion. The survey identified a positive correlation between trust in different groups and female-identifying respondents.

The Centre’s Pluralism Perception Survey found that Australians have stronger interpersonal and intergroup relations compared to their relations with political parties and state institutions. The survey showed low levels of trust in trade unions (9 percent), federal parliament (9 percent) and political parties (3 percent). An individual’s level of trust also varied depending on education, age and finances, with financial income correlated with greater trust in democracy.

The majority of Australians are accepting of diversity and multiculturalism, with surveys showing high levels of public acceptance. Many minority groups feel at home in Australia, particularly in larger cities. However, Australians’ support for diversity and multiculturalism is conditional, with a desire for minorities to adopt Australian customs instead of maintaining their own customs. Rural and regional Australians, people with lower education levels and supporters of certain political parties tend to be less supportive of increased diversity and immigration.

Australia is a highly stable and cohesive society, with indicators such as the UN Human Development Index and OECD Better Life Index ranking it among the top countries for quality of life. Despite this, recognition of and accommodation for Indigenous Australians are lacking, and many minority communities do not feel a sense of shared ownership in Australian society.