Open Forum: Multicultural Australia

As the Federal Government introduces a strict new citizenship test, Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs Senator Zed Seselja will address an upcoming Western Sydney Open Forum. Titled Multicultural Australia, the forum will discuss Australia’s continued evolution as the world’s most successful multicultural society.

The forum will take place on June 7 at 6pm at the Female Orphan School, Western Sydney University Parramatta South campus.

Earlier this year, the Federal Government released a new multicultural statement, focusing on the importance of being an integrated and united people, as well as the significance of shared values, national security and respect for citizenship.

In addition, the government has recently introduced a new citizenship test where applicants need to demonstrate a high level of English language proficiency.

Director of Equity and Diversity at Western Sydney University and Chair of the Multicultural Council, Dr Sev Ozdowski, says the event will be a good opportunity for the public to engage in dialogue with the government over these issues.

“Australia has flourished thanks for our cultural diversity, with our success built on the efforts and commitments of millions of people from different backgrounds,” says Dr Ozdowski.

“The government’s multicultural statement aims to recognize this, and strike a balance between the mutual rights and responsibilities of current and future citizens.”

“I look forward to hearing from Senator Zed Seselja about how he believes the government’s recent changes will help ensure Australia’s continued success.”

Multicultural Australia: United, Strong, Successful will take place on 7 June at  5:30pm, Parramatta South Campus, Female Orphan School, Building EZ.

On 10 May 2017 I had a pleasure to host Deng Adut as a speaker at the 64th Western Sydney University Open Forum. He spoke about: Why torture must be opposed unconditionally? His co-speaker was Prof. Michael Head.

Deng Adut is graduate of WSU Law School. He was born in a village in South Sudan. When he was 6 years old, he was taken away from his family and conscripted into the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. He was taught how to use an AK-47 and as a child soldier was send to battle.

After 5 years he was rescued by his brother john and smuggled into Kenyan refugee camp. He came to Australia as a refugee aged 14 where he taught himself to read, write and speak English, and went on to win a scholarship to study law in 2005.

By now at the age of 33 Deng works as a lawyer and spends much of his free time working with disenfranchised youth and refugees. Deng Adut become a well-known personality in 2015, when a short video about his life went viral – it has attracted more than 2.5 million views to date. Deng was recently named NSW Australian of the Year for 2017. He has published a book “Songs of a War Boy” in November 2016.

The Forum was filmed by Sky News and is available for streaming at http://www.a-pac.tv/video/

As you will remember, Francois Crépeau, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, conducted a visit to Australia last November, which included a visit to the RPC in Nauru.

The Rapporteur will present his report to the Human Rights Council on 8 June.

On 11 April, 140 people packed the conference room of Krakow’s International Cultural Centre for the launch of the Polish edition of Jerzy Zubrzycki’s biography, Jerzy Zubrzycki: wielki Polak i Australijczyk (published in English as The Promise of Diversity). The biography was written by IofC workers John Williams and John Bond, translated by Polish academic Joanna Nurmis, and published by Neriton Publishers in Warsaw.
http://www.iofc.org/pioneer-multiculturalism-honoured-krakow

On Tuesday 2 May 2017 The Affinity Intercultural Foundation has invited me to deliver a  Luncheon  Lecture titled: ‘Reclaiming Australian Multiculturalism: Policy and Practice in a Shifting Landscape’. Ms Cath Dwyer, Manager, 702 ABC Sydney was Affinity guest facilitator.

Copy of my lecture is available here: 2017-05-02 AFFINITY LUNCH Speech

My Affinity presentation has been uploaded and can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?=OBkuiIIHCRc

On Monday 20 March the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull released the “Multicultural Australia: United, Strong, Successful” statement that reaffirms the government’s commitment to multicultural Australia. For a copy of the document see: https://www.dss.gov.au/settlement-and-multicultural-affairs/australian-governments-multicultural-statement.

I am delighted that as the Chair of Australian Multicultural Council I was able to assist the Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs, Senator the Hon Zed Seselja, in the development of the statement. My speech delivered during the launch of the statement is attached.

This statement outlines the strategic direction and priorities for multicultural policy in Australia. It names cultural diversity as one of Australia’s greatest assets.  It asserts that Australian society is not defined by race, religion or culture but by our shared values of freedom, democracy, the law and equal opportunity. The statement rejects practices which undermine these shared values and emphasises Australia’s unique national identity and the importance of integration.

It also, for the first time, mentions the importance of safety and security for all Australians as the foundation for Australian society to remain free, diverse and harmonious. The statement recognises that to strengthen our economy we must support the economic and social participation of new arrivals who bring with them the skills, knowledge, and networks of a diverse workforce. The statement promotes self-reliance, equal opportunity and mutual respect. It points to the value of social integration and citizenship.

This document must be seen as an important shift from the 2011 multicultural statement by the former Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard. To start with the statement links to the former Labor Prime Minister Hawke Multicultural Agenda by being addressed to all Australians and not only to those from ethnic or religious minorities or refugees. It moves away from welfare entitlement and recognizes the impact of terrorism on the social fabric of Australia. It rejects multiculturalism as a vehicle for grievance and identity politics. The statement also stresses democratic participation and freedom of speech as important elements of multicultural Australia, and moves away from Labor’s past reference to the use of “the full force of law” while denouncing racism and promoting mutual respect.

The government’s approach to multiculturalism is echoed in the broader community, as revealed by the Scanlon Foundation in its 2016 Mapping Social Cohesion report which confirms high levels of support nationally for multiculturalism of 83%. (see: Scanlon Foundation (2016) “Mapping Social Cohesion”, p.54, accessible at http://scanlonfoundation.org.au/research_surveys/2016/)

The statement was welcomed by the Settlement Council of Australia. Ms Dewani Bakkum, SCoA’s chair, stated: “This goodwill indicates that multiculturalism is alive and well in Australia and the Statement provides a positive framework with which we can build on the successes of the past and ensure they continue for future generations of Australians.” The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) gave a cautious welcome to the statement suggesting that is should be followed by a set of tangible initiatives including a Federal Multicultural Act and the development of a National Language Policy.

Dr Ozdowski statement

The Organising Committee for the 8^th International Human Rights Education Conference “Bridging Our Diversities” to be held in Montreal, Canada, between 30^th  November and 3^rd December has issued “Call for Workshop Submissions and Paper Proposals” – see ATTACHMENT.

The deadline to submit is 30^th April 2017.  For more information about the conference see:  https://equitas.org/en/stories-from-the-field/bridging-our-diversities-an-international-forum-to-explore-human-rights-education-solutions-to-global-challenges/

Attachment: CALL for submissions

Yesterday Senator Brian Burston (New South Wales) introduced the Australian Human Rights Cmmission Amendment (Preliminary Assessment Process) Bill 2017. The purpose of the Bill is to make a change to the complaints handling procedure of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Before proceeding to a full inquiry and attempt at reconciliation, the Commission will now be required to contact both the complainant and the respondent or respondents, and consider any evidence that they provide for a preliminary assessment of the case. If the complaint is lacking in substance or otherwise unworthy, it can be terminated at that point. Senator Burston contended that the work of the Commission is seriously impeded by cases involving alternative facts and unreliable evidence, adding unnecessarily to its workload, and involving people falsely accused of discrimination in serious damage to their reputations and causing them untold expense.

For more detail see:

http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2F272a29a0-c557-4988-bcb8-227d6f4fffc8%2F0113%22

A copy of the article (in the PDF format) is attached below:

2017-01-19 Opinion Piece for the The Australian re reform of AHRC

The University of Chile School of Law and the Center for Human Rights hosted the 7th IHREC on 12-15 December 2016.     

The IHREC is an international event that has taken place in Australia, South Africa, Poland, Taiwan, the United States and The Netherlands. This time the conference was held for the first time in Latin America and the 2017 conference will be held in Canada.

The 7th IHREC was bi-lingual(in Spanish and English) and brought together some 250 experts, scholars and concerned individuals from different countries.

The summary of the conference may be viewed 2017-01-18 Record of the VII IHREC The papers and presentations from the panels are available on http://ihrec2016.org/en in the section with the program. As you go to the details of each panel, the presenter names are links to their papers. If you wish to download, for example, the papers from Panel 1, you go to this link http://ihrec2016.org/en/opalsingleevent-session/panel-1-human-rights-education-hre-in-formal-education-systems-part-1-challenges-and-analysis/ and select the papers you want to download. The final publication will be available in March 2017.

Dr Ozdowski, Foundation Convenor & Series Coordinator, International Human Rights Education Conferences, opened the conference (see  2016-12-12 7TH IHRE OPENING REMARKS BY SEV OZDOWSKI – speaking notes 2) delivered a paper on Australian Multiculturalism (see 2016-12-12 7IHREC CHILE – MULTICULTURALISM PAPER[1] ) and chaired the closing panel. Sev also presented to the Executive Director of the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos a coper dove given him by political prisoners in August 1986 when he was visiting Chilean prisons on a human rights mission to Latin American countries.

For more information see: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/equity_diversity/equity_and_diversity/conferences/international_human_rights_education_conferences

Below there are few photographs from the 7 th IHREC.