One of my favourite things about Australia is that we are a multicultural nation — from the oldest continuous culture of our First Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world. Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. It makes Australia a great place to live.
All people who migrate to Australia bring with them some of their own cultural and religious traditions, as well as taking on many new traditions. Collectively, these traditions have enriched our nation.
We, parents and teachers, have a wonderful opportunity to help build a peaceful and productive future for our children by setting an example at home and at school of how to live in harmony with people from other cultures.
These are some fascinating statistics about Australia’s diversity:
- (49 %) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was
- we identify with over 300 ancestries
- since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia
- 85% of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia
- apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi
- more than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia
During Harmony Week (20-26th March) St Joseph’s will be celebrating Australia’s rich cultural diversity. On Monday we will celebrate with a special Harmony Day Liturgy beginning at 2pm in the flexible learning space and then on Harmony Day, Tuesday 21st March, our students are invited to wear orange and participate in different cultural activities from many countries around the world. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
Students are invited to bring along a gold coin donation to support Project Compassion, which supports many cultures around the world.
