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Harmony Day Navel Gazing – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

| March 21, 2012

This year Harmony Day focuses on Sport, recognising the important role and positive influence that sport has in our multicultural nation. Sue Ellson looks at how far Australia has come in eliminating racial discrimination, and how far we have to go.

Senior Australian of the Year 2004 and former Harmony Day Ambassador Tehree Gordon mentioned to me recently that as an Indigenous Australian, Harmony Day is more important than Australia Day. So let’s look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Harmony Day 2012.
 
Firstly, the Good. Harmony Day has progressed from its humble beginnings in 1999 to a bigger and better festival every year – celebrated throughout a variety of sectors in the community and this year, focusing on Sport – a real Australian past time. It would be interesting to know how much our participation has declined since Saturday trading was introduced – an era when sport was on Saturday and church was on Sunday.
 
The message of harmony has also changed. When I was first introduced to Harmony Day in 2003, we were saying ‘no to racism’ as it is also the United Nation’s Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Our more recent message is ‘everyone belongs.’ As a born and bred Australian, I am keen to support this concept.
 
New initiatives have come and gone but some notable ones include:
  • the increase in the number of interfaith networks in local communities,
  • the Taste of Harmony celebrating diversity through food,
  • special learning programs in kindergartens, schools, TAFEs and universities associated with Harmony,
  • cross sector programs in individual ethnic communities focusing on improving English skills,
  • Victoria’s Cultural Diversity Week.
 
It is also pleasing to have Senator Kate Lundy as the new Minister for Multicultural Affairs (from 5 March 2012). Australia is a multicultural society that needs official representation at the most senior level of government.
 
Now for the bad. Grants were originally given to help fund Harmony related projects and now the initiative simply provides marketing collateral and promotion. Even with the advent of social media and technology, organizing face to face interaction amongst people, the true key to change, requires time, money and effort. When the department reviews applications, they are gaining first hand knowledge of how the community would like to respond to local challenges.
 
Harmony Day is only one day … so to create a lasting impact is difficult to measure with a single event. However, Clean Up Australia Day was started in 1989 and it has instigated significant change and has reduced garbage in certain locations to almost nil. Unfortunately that is not the case as I stroll around the streets of Box Hill in Victoria and see bagged general rubbish, broken hard rubbish, shopping trolleys and overgrown nature strips.
 
The ugly. Like other Australians, I am disappointed that some suburbs have changed in a negative fashion over the years. At the Centre for Civil Society Conference in 2009, I was asked how do we change the behaviour of new migrants who do not know how to maintain the external appearance of their properties? Discussing this topic with my Russian next door neighbours was interesting – they simply do not know how to maintain a garden, only how to grow food.
Certain suburbs also attract particular ethnic groups because it is difficult to source ongoing English education. Professionally skilled migrants often lack career opportunities because they do not have opportunities to improve their business English and cultural intelligence. Upon arriving in Australia, they often find it difficult to secure work commensurate with their skills and experience because they do not have Australian experience and studies have shown that people from Chinese and Indian backgrounds find it even more difficult to secure work.
 
Whilst Australia’s record on diversity, social cohesion, access and equity is much better than many other countries, we still have a long way to go. Community based initiatives are vital and must be encouraged. Identifying gaps, particularly in relation to employment is also vital so that new arrivals have the opportunity to contribute to our Australian society. Education must be continued and can include:
  • settlement information seminars for skilled and business migrants (using the same model as the Financial Information Service of Centrelink www.centrelink.gov.au/fis);
  • workplace English and cultural intelligence programs for individual ethnic communities (like the model used at www.abrisa.org.au);
  • council based programs to help new arrivals maintain their homes and gardens;
  • budgeting and relationship programs to help people manage their everyday lives in a new culture (not slavishly follow television advertisements);
  • interactive social media videos and forums to encourage the next generation to find this information in their everyday activities;
  • ongoing programs through schools that include educating parents and extended families who do not normally interact with other general community members.
As a person living in Australia, we have rights but also responsibilities. It is time to encourage further education (and if necessary, regulation) to maintain our momentum on Harmony which transcends tolerance and moves towards respect and contribution. There was a time when Australia fought for ‘God and Country’ – now it is time to proactively work towards Harmony.

 

Sue Ellson BBus AIMM MAHRI is the Founder and Director of Newcomers Network, a socially responsible business providing information, events and advocacy for newcomers and networkers. With representatives in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Dublin and London, Newcomers Network helps people live, work and network in their new location. Sue is also the Convenor of the International Human Resources Network Victoria for the Australian Human Resources Institute  and a regular feature writer for various publications. Connect directly to Sue via LinkedIn.

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