Migrant rights activism and the community origins of Australian multiculturalism, 1970s

Abstract

The origins of Australian multiculturalism—as an access and equity issue—did not evolve from government foresight, nor did it begin with government policy initiatives drawing on Canadian models. It began on the streets, with ethnic or migrant rights activists speaking on behalf of their working-class communities. As “non-English-speaking” migrants in an Anglophone state, they worked from within their language groups and ethnic organisations, and in partnership with sympathetic left-wing trade unions and ecumenical charities, to support non-Anglo or non-English-speaking migrants. They made demands for better access to social services, equitable communication, and targeted programs; they also advocated for more “ethnic” representation and participation in all levels of politics and public life. While memories of this grassroots movement are alive within ethnic minority communities today, they have little purchase in public discourse, which offers a top-down perspective on multiculturalism's history. This reflects the current situation: state-directed multiculturalism is gutted of the original welfare rights objectives of the migrant rights movement, and its calls to inter-ethnic and class solidarities. This chapter will address this disjuncture using the work of the Australian Greek Welfare Society as a case study. Show more