"Australian Values" in a Multicultural Australia

Project Coordinator: Dr Amanda Wise

 

‘Australian values’ have emerged in recent years in both academic and popular debates around national identity and social cohesion in a multicultural Australia. For the most part, though, what these values comprise and the ways in which these are, and/or indeed should be, expressed in contemporary daily lives remains vaguely defined. Whilst many politicians, media commentators and indeed ordinary Australians give credence to the apparent qualities seen to be fundamental to ‘Australian values’, for the most part, these remain articulated through ‘lists’ of more general and ‘taken for granted’ terms such as ‘mateship’, ‘a fair go’, egalitarianism, family support, loyalty and national pride, the Anzac/Digger spirit, freedom and the equality of people as human beings.

Exactly what ideals are incorporated under the ‘Australian Values’ umbrella and how widely they are shared remains unclear and subject to much debate. If funded, this study will involve qualitative research with Australians from diverse cultural backgrounds to explore the following research questions;  

  1. Is there a stable set of values important to long-time Australians of Anglo-Celtic background (‘Australian Values’) and, if so, what ideas underpin them?
  2. How do long-time Australians practice these values in their everyday lives and in times of crisis?
  3. What are the core values important to Australians of culturally diverse backgrounds?
  4. What are the cross-overs and differences between ‘Australian Values’ and the values important to Australians of culturally diverse backgrounds?
  5. What do Australians of culturally diverse backgrounds know and think of what are seen to be ‘Australian Values’?
  6. If there are differences and conflicts, what are the barriers to culturally diverse Australians practicing these values in their everyday lives?
  7. To what extent does the very idea of ‘Australian Values’ function to symbolically exclude certain groups within our society?

 

Project Activities