The Multicultural Framework Review is a generational reform agenda requiring a whole-of-government and community approach that will position Australia to realise its full potential as a nation made up of many cultures, faiths and lived experiences.
In delivering this report to the Australian Government, the Review was informed by 216 public consultations across Australia. The panel also considered 796 public submissions (15% in languages other than English) and conducted an art competition for children and young people, ensuring all generations were included.
The Panel heard a strong, united voice from communities wanting to be a part of decision-making processes, to co-design and co-produce with the relevant layers of government, to share responsibility and have a role in accountability as well.
Communities, sectors, institutions and organisations cannot solve these issues alone, neither can one age cohort. Essentially, everyone in Australia is responsible for an inclusive society; in our workplaces, social interactions, online or in person, everyone should take a human rights approach to inclusivity, fairness, respect and equality.
To ensure shared ownership and commitment across government the report asks the Australian Government to prioritise the implementation of 29 recommendations.
Drawing on these recommendations, we propose a road map for a multicultural framework. This road map, along with the right institutional settings, aim to provide the continuum needed to sustain a successful, fair multicultural Australia for all. Underpinned by adequate data, research and reporting, the road map outlines the following:
Connection: Setting the foundations
- Bipartisan national commitment to multiculturalism based on social cohesion, cultural identity, equality of opportunity
- Strong leadership and accountability, with a recommended multicultural Australia Commission to lead implementation of the framework
- Strategic planning and coordination through a dedicated Department of Multicultural Affairs, Immigration and Citizenship
- Collaboration across the country and community, Multicultural Ministerial Forum and Multicultural Community Advisory Council
Identity and belonging: Creating a Welcoming Australia
- National Plan to celebrate multiculturalism including Harmony Week and formally observe the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Implement a sustainable national language policy for social economic outcomes
- Refreshed citizenship process that reflects a modern, multicultural nation
- An independent and diverse media sector
- Invest in community organisations and cultural programs to drive social change through the Arts and sport
- Develop initiatives to deepen Australia-wide understanding of First Nations history, such as the history presented through citizenship processes, civic participation, pathways to permanent residency and education
Inclusion: Working together to get services right
- Embed culturally responsive services including health, disability, education, aged care and housing
- Uplift of cultural capability across the Australian Public Service, driven by the APSC through accountable leadership
- A modernised multicultural grants program centred on sustainability and certainty
- Design and implement strategy to bridge the cultural and digital divide
- Focus on unique needs of young people and regional communities
- Apply an intersectional and gender equality lens to multicultural policy and service.
Multicultural Framework Review, Towards Fairness – a multicultural Australia for all (14MB PDF).
Original Source: Department of Home Affairs
Page 106 of the Multicultural Framework Review states:
Educational institutions featured frequently through our consultations as places that are best placed to foster inclusive environments and deepen an understanding of faith so as to strengthen social cohesion.
The Multifaith Education Collaboration (MFEC) and Faith Communities Council of Victoria (FCCV) submission expands on the role of education, especially in developing greater understanding of cultural and religious diversity. MFEC recommended that:
- investing in religious literacy through general religious education (GRE) in schools would ensure the next generation of Australians respect rather than fear the religious diversity embedded within our multicultural communities.
- the development and provision of GRE resources that support the National Curriculum to enable GRE modules to be taught to primary school students by their classroom teacher as a religious literacy pathway for students to raise their respect and understanding of faith based multiculturalism and assist their fellow students who come from such lived multifaith experience to feel better understood and connected to their school, fellow students and broader community.
- the development of a well-founded understanding of world religions, which will help combat current hate-filled racial and religious bullying and vilification. This will contribute to social cohesion and is a prerequisite to respect for religious practise.
MFEC also argues that curriculum (in Victoria) does not provide a coherent understanding across multicultural faith traditions of how faith is expressed in community settings, and that this has led to the unintended consequence of students from diverse faith and cultural backgrounds feeling less included due teachers’ lack of confidence and access to in-class resources to enable an open and inclusive discussion across the GRE continuum.
The Panel supports GRE being updated in curriculums across the board. This should be inclusive of a GRE that teaches students about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first spiritual peoples of Australia, about Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim other religions, and about the views of atheist, humanist, rationalist and secular groups.