Australians’ Views on Cultural Diversity, Nation and Migration, 2015-16

Abstract

Between July and August 2015, and in November 2016, the Challenging Racism Project team conducted an online survey to measure the extent and variation of racist attitudes and experiences in Australia. The survey comprised a sample of 6001 Australian residents, which was largely representative of the Australian population. The survey gauged Australians’ attitudes toward cultural diversity, intolerance of specific groups, immigration, perceptions of Anglo-Celtic cultural privilege, and belief in racialism, racial separatism and racial hierarchy. In this paper we report findings on respondents’ views on cultural diversity, nation and migration. The majority of Australians are pro-diversity. However, we also acknowledge conflicting findings such as strong support for assimilation and identification of ‘out groups’. The findings paint a complex picture of attitudes towards cultural diversity, nation and migration in Australia. The attitudes reflect contradictory political trends of celebrated diversity, triumphalist claims about freedom, alongside pro-assimilationist views and stoked Islamophobia. This is within the context of a stalled multicultural project that has not sufficiently challenged assimilationist assumptions and Anglo-privilege.