Australia, following Canada, was one of the first countries to adopt a formal national policy on multiculturalism.^[48] In the case of Canada, this meant a national policy of bilingualism and recognition of both Anglo and Franco-Canadian cultural traditions. In Australia, however, it was taken up in a more ambitious manner. Under the progressive Whitlam Government (1972–75), multiculturalism was presented as an ideal response to Australia’s increasing cultural diversity, resulting from changes to immigration legislation since World War II. Whitlam’s flamboyant Minister for Immigration Al Grassby is credited as one of the ‘founding fathers’ of Australian multiculturalism. Of Irish and Spanish-Chilean parentage, Grassby, rejected prior citizenship models in which migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds were expected to efface of all prior cultural ties in favour of total immersion or ‘assimilation’ into Anglo-Australian culture. Grassby wanted to replace the assimilation model with a more pluralist approach which was better able to represent the lived reality of post World War II Australia.

In the first official reference to multiculturalism, a 1973 speech by Al Grassby entitled, A multi-cultural society for the future, there appears a real desire to shift older hegemonic models of Anglo-Australian identity. Grassby makes notes of the absence of images of non Anglo-Australian cultural representation within public culture and especially the media.^[49] He comments, “How often do our television screens reflect anything like the variety of migrant groups encountered in a real-life stroll through out city streets, or particularly, near city suburbs?”^[50] While his comments provided the stimulus for the 1978 Galbally Report, which in turn provided the framework for the establishment of Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), thirty years on, Grassby’s statements continue to have direct relevance.^[51]

The policy reforms which accompanied Australia’s adoption of multiculturalism were soon reflected within the arts and heritage sector. Since the mid to late 1970s shifts in Australia’s immigration policies have seen a promulgation of ‘multicultural’ awareness generally, as well as specific funding for multicultural artists and public programs through government sponsored organizations such as the Australia Council and the Office of Multicultural Interests. During the 1980s and 1990s, the formation of the European Union and US market protectionism led Prime Ministers’ Bob Hawke and his successor Paul Keating to turn to Asian markets for economic salvation.^[52] This shift in political axis from ‘West’ to ‘East’ resulted in a new ‘branding’ of Australia as part of the Asia Pacific region. It also led to a significant geo-political realignment of Australian identity. The period under Keating (1991-1996) marked the zenith of Australian ‘multiculturalism’ with the strength of government support reflected in both government rhetoric and funding.

The 1996 federal election of a Liberal-National Coalition Government led by John Howard was followed by the 1997 collapse of the Asian economic markets. A noticeable realignment back towards the West soon followed. Although the Coalition continued (at least tacitly) to support multiculturalism as an official government policy, Howard’s dislike of the policy of multiculturalism was well known.^[53] As mentioned earlier in this discussion, the late 1990s and early 2000s were marked by a conservative shift in political discourses on cultural diversity, which both reflected and were fuelled by global anti-terrorist rhetoric and an increasing tightening of border security.

In 2007, the election of a Labor government, led by Kevin Rudd, had many analysts predicting a return of stronger Austral–Asian regional links. Those seeking a return to Australia’s’ prior traditions of advocating multiculturalism, however, seem doomed to be disappointed. While the original intent of multiculturalism was to encourage Australian migrants to retain their unique languages and cultural expressions, this maintaining of difference is increasingly seen as polemical. A continued retreat from multiculturalism is evident from the current Labor Government (as well as the Liberal Opposition).