Australia/IndiaCultural awareness discussion

Soft skillsEmpathy, Rapport,

Assurance, Acknowledgement

•Australian culture is modest and authentic. Australians frown upon the discussion of personal, academic, or professional achievements and doing so can create distrust. You must always remember to be personable and mindful that all involved are equals.

• Shaking hands upon meeting and upon leaving is standard. Stick to the facts and figures, and avoid a lot of emotional influence techniques, emotions and feelings are not important in Australian business etiquette.

•Australians take business seriously, even if it seems relaxed. Punctuality is critical in making a memorable impression. Australians do not need to have long standing personal relationships with people in order to do business, and value individual privacy. They are very matter-of-fact in their communication and business dealings. Maintaining good eye contact is extremely important.

•Australians use of colourful language may be surprising in a formal meeting.

•There is a tendency to use humour colourful language in a business meeting. Australians are direct and if they do not like something that you say, they will let you know without hesitation.

•Australians are not big on small talk and prefer to get right down to business; always be concise.

•As with information, negotiations should be brief and concise.

• Australians do not expect to bargain and negotiations are minimal, so the original proposal should leave little room for negotiation.

•Final decisions are concentrated with the top levels of the company, though consultation with subordinates is vital. However, this may prolong the decision making process.

In the case of an invitation to socialize with your new business contacts, a few things you should know:

•Australians prefer you to use your own greeting ‘�hello’� as opposed to trying on their greeting of ‘G’�day’�, it is more authentic to be yourself.

•Eye contact is very important during a conversation (as well as in your meeting).•If invited to a BBQ, it is customary to bring a bottle of wine or good beer for the host.•Arrive ON TIME for social and meal events, no more than 15 minutes late if it is unavoidable.•If invited to a home for a meal, offer to help with either preparing the meal or help cleaning up afterwards.

•Sightseeing and sports are good topics of social conversation, hence the suggestion to find hotels near such attractions, and to take advantage of the cheap hotels deals on tours that can give you more to talk about with your business contacts.

•Opinioned discussions are enjoyable and respected.

•Evening Tea � is the evening meal and ‘ �supper’ � is a light meal or snack.

•When taking a taxi back to your hotel, a single male alone should sit in the front seat and all others take the back seat.

Make the most of your time in Australia, whether visiting for business or pleasure, by enjoying the down to earth culture and the open honesty of the people.

Choice of words 

When interacting with students on Live Chat or Emails, Use of

Jargon e.g. OHS, Email Language /

Etiquette

Let us see what the official answers are

about Australian culture