Harmony Day Celebrating Diverse Australia

Just how rich a multicultural society we are is borne out by official statistics: more than half of all Australians in the 2006 Census claimed non-Australian ancestry. Collectively, we speak more than 200 languages and come from about the same number of birthplaces.

Harmony Day, 21 March 2010 , was a day when people all over the country acknowledged the enormously valuable contribution of the many diverse cultures to the nation that is Australia today. Harmony Day coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

According to the last census, 24 per cent of the Australia population was born overseas, 40 per cent have one or both parents born overseas and over 60 per cent have at least two different ethnic origins. More than two million Australians (or about 14 per cent of those aged over five) speak a language other than English at home.