Exam preparation 2010 VCE Sociology Unit 3 Outcome 2 Australian Cultural Communities

Exam preparation 2010

VCE SociologyUnit 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.html

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


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


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


Immigration


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 high-density 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


Refugees


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


• 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





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

Documents

Exam preparation 2010 VCE Sociology Unit 3 Outcome 2 Australian Cultural Communities