The Good Neighbour Council was an Australian Commonwealth Government program launched in 1950 to win public acceptance of mass immigration of post-Second World War refugees and settlers by promoting rapid assimilation. State Good Neighbour Councils (GNCs) were formed to activate, encourage and co-ordinate the efforts of local church and community organisations in this role.[1]
The Good Neighbour bulletin was distributed by various Good Neighbour Councils.
The Good Neighbour movement was formally launched at the first Commonwealth Citizenship Convention in January, 1950. From their inauguration, the Councils influenced the Australian community towards a wider acceptance of the immigration programme and enlisted the community's support in the work of the integration of new settlers.[2]
There were Good Neighbour Councils in each State and Territory which successfully enlisted the active support and co-operation of some 960 community agencies and thousands of Good Neighbour volunteers to assist in migrant integration. The Council itself became a focal point for the training of volunteers and for information and direct assistance to migrants, holding seminars on the recognition of qualifications and welfare entitlements. The Council held art exhibitions and other events to celebrate ethnic origins and talents and prepared publications for settlers and volunteers.[3]
In 1950, Australian Government sponsorship of the Councils amounted to $16,000 with a staff of three, expenditure increasing in 1972 to $620,000 with a staff of 70. As well as head offices in each capital city, there were ten regional offices and five sub-offices established to bring the services available through the Good Neighbour Councils to areas of high migrant population. These offices were supported in their work by 2,187 branch members and 550 representatives of the Councils.[2]
The Council saw itself as distinctively Australian, stubbornly resisting meaningful migrant participation. Migrant groups and academics criticised this narrow assimilationist approach and alleged that the English-speaking staff failed to reach beyond British migrants.[1]
As the concept of multiculturalism replaced those of assimilation and integration, ethnic groups sought direct funding and on the recommendations of the Galbally report[4] the Councils were abolished in 1978,[1] though branches still continue in some states [3] such as the Good Neighbour Council Launceston Inc.[5]
↑ Australia. Review of Post-arrival Programs and Services to Migrants; Galbally, Frank, 1922- (1978), Migrant services and programs: [report of the Review of Post-arrival Programs and Services for Migrants], Australian Government Publishing Service, ISBN0642036683CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
The term White Australia policy is widely used to encapsulate a set of historical policies that aimed to forbid people of non-European ethnic origin, especially Asians and Pacific Islanders from immigrating to Australia, starting in 1901. Governments progressively dismantled such policies between 1949 and 1973.
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, of political philosophy, and of colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchangeably, for example, a cultural pluralism in which various ethnic groups collaborate and enter into a dialogue with one another without having to sacrifice their particular identities. It can describe a mixed ethnic community area where multiple cultural traditions exist or a single country within which they do. Groups associated with an indigenous, aboriginal or autochthonous ethnic group and settler-descended ethnic groups are often the focus.
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
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The immigration history of Australia began with the initial human migration to the continent around 80,000 years ago when the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians arrived on the continent via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea. From the early 17th century onwards, the continent experienced the first coastal landings and exploration by European explorers. Permanent European settlement began in 1788 with the establishment of a British penal colony in New South Wales. From early federation in 1901, Australia maintained the White Australia Policy, which was abolished after World War II, heralding the modern era of multiculturalism in Australia. From the late 1970s there was a significant increase in immigration from Asian and other non-European countries.
The United Kingdom is an ethnically diverse society. The largest ethnic group in the United Kingdom is White British, followed by Asian British. Ethnicity in the United Kingdom is formally recorded at the national level through a census. The 2011 United Kingdom census recorded a reduced share of White British people in the United Kingdom from the previous 2001 United Kingdom census. Factors that are contributing to the growth of minority populations are varied in nature, including differing birth rates and Immigration.
Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society.
Post-war immigration to Australia deals with migration to Australia in the decades immediately following World War II, and in particular refers to the predominately European wave of immigration which occurred between 1945 and the end of the White Australia policy in 1973. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia (1945–1949), established the federal Department of Immigration to administer a large-scale immigration program. Chifley commissioned a report on the subject which found that Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of defence and development and it recommended a 1% annual increase in population through increased immigration.
African Australians are Australians of African ancestry. Large-scale immigration from Africa to Australia is only a recent phenomenon, with Europe and Asia traditionally being the largest sources of migration to Australia. In 2005–06, permanent settler arrivals to Australia included 4,000 South Africans and 3,800 Sudanese, constituting the sixth and seventh largest sources of migrants, respectively.
An ethnoburb is a suburban residential and business area with a notable cluster of a particular ethnic minority population. Although the group may not constitute the majority within the region, it is a significant amount of the population. That can greatly influence the social geography within the area because of cultural and religious traditional values exhibited. Ethnoburbs allow for ethnic minority groups to maintain their individual identity, but that may also restrict their ability to fully assimilate into mainstream culture and society.
Albert Christian Schlüter OAM was a German-born Australian activist for immigrant rights in Australia.
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Criticism of multiculturalism questions the ideal of the maintenance of distinct ethnic cultures within a country. Multiculturalism is a particular subject of debate in certain European nations that are associated with the idea of a nation state. Critics of multiculturalism may argue against cultural integration of different ethnic and cultural groups to the existing laws and values of the country. Alternatively critics may argue for assimilation of different ethnic and cultural groups to a single national identity.
Multiculturalism in Canada was officially adopted by the government during the 1970s and 1980s. The Canadian federal government has been described as the instigator of multiculturalism as an ideology because of its public emphasis on the social importance of immigration. The 1960s Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism is often referred to as the origin of modern political awareness of multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism in Australia is today reflected by the multicultural composition of its people, its immigration policies, its prohibition on discrimination, equality before the law of all persons, as well as various cultural policies which promote diversity, such as the formation of the Special Broadcasting Service.
Multiculturalism in the Netherlands began with major increases in immigration during the 1950s and 1960s. As a consequence, an official national policy of multiculturalism was adopted in the early 1980s. This policy subsequently gave way to more assimilationist policies in the 1990s. Following the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh the political debate on the role of multiculturalism in the Netherlands reached new heights.
Francis Eugene Joseph "Frank" Galbally was an Australian criminal defence lawyer.
John Tolson Massey was an Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and a long serving National General Secretary of the YMCA of Australia.
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between March 1996 and November 2001. Its slogan was "Enriching Australia through migration."
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