Culture and Society Demographics of Australia
The seclusion of Australia as an island continent has greatly influenced—and constrained—its culture. Over at least 40,000 years, during which they had limited interaction with the outside world, the Aboriginal peoples evolved their ability to coexist with the environment. The isolation of the continent was one reason why Britain founded New South Wales as a prison colony in 1788. Due to Australia's history as a penal colony, Europeans' perceptions of the environment were frequently colored by feelings of exile and isolation. But rather than weakening relations with Britain, the distance from it—and the isolation it imposed—made them stronger. The conflicting nature of the ongoing colonial relationship, which only started to be ended in the latter half of the 20th century, has been a major source of cultural concern in Australia.
Australia is a thriving, multi-ethnic nation. We are home to the oldest continuously existing cultures in the world as well as Australians who claim more than 270 different ancestries. Nearly seven million people since 1945
One of our biggest assets is our diverse, vibrant culture. It is fundamental to who we are as a country.
The Racial Discrimination Act, which was passed in 1975, made it illegal to discriminate based on race in various spheres of public life. Our adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was formalized by the Act, which was Australia's first federal anti-discrimination statute.
Acts of open racial hatred were made illegal under the Act in 1995. The Act still makes a powerful statement about our shared commitment to racial equality and the value of a fair shot for everyone today. Despite this legal protection, far too many Australians still endure prejudice and unfair treatment because of their appearance or place of origin.
History and Culture
The majority of Australian culture up until World War II was Anglo-Celtic. Due to the exclusionary White Australia policy of the Commonwealth government and the small and oppressed Aboriginal people, the continent's startling cultural homogeneity was kept in place. However, when immigration regulations were loosened in the second half of the 20th century, enormous numbers of people—both refugees and immigrants—from eastern Asia, the Middle East, and other continental European nations arrived in Australia and profoundly influenced the culture of the continent. Likewise, a renaissance in Aboriginal arts was sparked by a revival of Aboriginal identity, constructive government actions to right historical wrongs, and a sharp rise in the Aboriginal population.
The 22 million individuals who make up Australia are one in four born abroad, 46% have at least one parent who was born abroad, and approximately 20% of Australians speak a language other than English at home. In 2013, international migration accounted for 60% of Australia's population growth. People born in the United Kingdom continue to make up the majority of inhabitants who were born abroad (5.3%), followed by New Zealand (2.6%), China (1.8%), India (1.6%), and Vietnam (0.9 percent). A total of 163 017 applicants from more than 190 nations received approval to become Australian citizens in 2013–2014.
Social Demography
Although it is well known that Indigenous Australians are more likely to suffer from and pass away from mental health conditions, the majority of the data that are currently available only concern the use of mental health services. Little is known about other facets of social and emotional wellbeing. We investigated the prevalence and patterning of psychological distress among Indigenous Australian adults using the first nationally representative data available, and we contrasted these findings with data from the non-Indigenous population.