The passions of some Australians attending games in the 2015 Asian Cup that don’t involve the Socceroos has generated more comment than the crowd at the Australian games. Most notably, in their first game…
Michel Houellebecq’s latest novel, Soumission, was published just hours before the attacks on the office of Charlie Hebdo. It consolidates his reputation – for better or worse – as one of the few contemporary…
Howard-era Human Rights Commissioner Sev Ozdowski is the new chairman of the revamped Australian Multicultural Council.
AAP/Matthias Engesser
Late in December, I took a phone call from a young woman working for the Department of Social Services. She had called, she said, because the department was checking its database of contacts, so that the…
As Australia becomes increasingly multicultural it’s important our schools are aware of the diversity of social and cultural norms children bring to school.
Shutterstock
The first few years of school are tough for any child. Moving from the relatively unstructured activities of preschool to the formal requirements of school is a big step. Children require high levels of…
Religious leaders have come together to promote community harmony, but some political and media agendas have encouraged Islamophobia.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Many incidents of violence and harassment directed at Australian Muslims have been reported recently. These are visible confirmation of fears expressed by their community, that support for the government’s…
Has testing prospective citizens on Australian values increased social cohesion?
Glenn Hunt/AAP
Today, October 1, the Australian citizenship test turns seven. This is the official test that determines if a migrant can become an Australian citizen. It is a good time to evaluate its performance. The…
Robinvale footballers have been recruited into an active campaign to heal community divisions, which includes playing an annual Harmony Match.
Facebook/Robinvale Football Netball Club
Standing in the social rooms of Robinvale Football Netball Club on presentation night is perhaps like standing in any sports club in regional Australia when their vote count is on. There are the usual…
In Indonesia, ranting online holds the risk of offending thousands of people and even jail time.
EPA/Adi Weda
“Unity in diversity” is how Indonesia likes to describe its multicultural country. But cyber-bullying cases in Indonesia’s active social media project a different view of how Indonesia’s diverse groups…
Today’s young Australians are the smiling symbols of the embrace of multicultural identity, the nation’s defining moment.
Flickr/DIBP Images, Faces of Australia
The culture wars that dominated the narrative during John Howard’s prime ministership have returned with the ascension of his self-described “political love child”, Tony Abbott. While Abbott is sometimes…
The response to SBS documentary series Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl is indicative of the series’ backstory and the ongoing debate it has entered.
SBS/Author
The final week of SBS’ four-part documentary series Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl brings us to the last decade’s crises for Lebanese Muslim communities in Sydney’s west, and the path to redemption they…
David Cameron visits Commonwealth soldiers’ graves in Tourgeville Military Cemetery, France.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
Speaking as part of a commemorative celebration of the importance of the Commonwealth in WW1, David Cameron had this to say about the participation of colonial troops from all over the empire: They fought…
Muslim and Christian Lebanese join with other communities to rally against racism. The Lebanese in Australia story is the subject of a new SBS documentary series, Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl.
Andrew Jakubowicz
Mediterranean societies have been described as communities of honour and shame. The fundamental currency of their social order is respect. When the Lebanese civil war drove thousands of its citizens to…
For many children from Eastern European families, the 3pm school bell on a Friday isn’t the last they’ll see of a classroom until Monday. Many attend complementary schools, voluntary community-led programmes…
Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” would help students to question stereotypes.
Angela Radulescu
In Salman Rushdie’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, the fictional character Whisky Sisodia comments that the “trouble with the Engenglish is that their hiss hiss history happened overseas, so they dodo…
Australia’s cultural diversity attracts some, but scares others.
Andrew Jakubowicz
Australia seems to be becoming a more polarised society. This is the simple conclusion from recent research undertaken for SBS, which looked for answers to how Australians think the country has changed…
SBS has become riskier and more investigative in recent years, commissioning shows like Go Back To Where You Came From.
AAP/SBS
Due to Australia’s small population and high concentration of few media voices, public broadcasters play a pivotal role in shaping the media ecosystem and cultural landscape. With the ABC and SBS under…
We’re seeing shifts in federal policy – and in the way multiculturalism is framed in civil society.
betta design
Anthropological images of alien peoples have long been a staple in the collections of Australia’s institutions of cultural memory. From the invention of photography – and indeed before, through the hands…
Maybe the Left should take a leaf out of farage’s book on immigration.
Ben Birchall/PA Wire
The theoretical underpinning of the modern global economy has broken loose. The so-called Washington consensus based on neoclassical, laissez-faire economics has encountered a sustained challenge from…
Thousands will take part in citizenship ceremonies this Australia Day, but to what set of values are they pledging loyalty?
Wikimedia Commons
This Australia Day, thousands of migrants and refugees will stand proudly and pledge their loyalty to Australia and its people at citizenship ceremonies around the nation. The citizenship pledge is considered…
We should attempt to get cultural diversity right in our own backyard.
Alam Singh
We are fortunate to have bipartisan political support for enhancing trade and cultural links with our region in the so-called Asian Century. But do we have similar consensus when dealing with those from…