Celebrating diversity — Australia’s Harmony Day

Harmony Day is celebrated throughout Australia on March 21 which is also the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

During the last 15 years, Harmony Day has become a significant day of the year when Australians are encouraged to celebrate the cultural diversity of our country and to share what we have in common.

The Harmony Day message that ‘everyone belongs’ encourages people to participate in their community, respect cultural and religious diversity and foster a sense of belonging — the essence of multiculturalism.

Since 1999, more than 60,000 Harmony Day events have been staged in childcare centres, schools, community groups, churches, businesses and federal, state and local government agencies across Australia. Multiculturalism speaks to fairness and inclusion — it enhances respect and support for cultural, religious and linguistic diversity. Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Day and Australians are encouraged to wear something orange on March 21 to show their support for cultural diversity and an inclusive nation.

One of the centrepieces of Harmony Day is the National Multicultural Festival held annually in Australia’s capital, Canberra. The year 2015 marks its 19^th anniversary, evolving from a small celebration of a few hundred individuals to one of the biggest multicultural events in the country — drawing more than 260,000 people together. There is a considerable representation of people with South Asian backgrounds including Pakistanis, so the tempting smell of biryani in the background of Bollywood music is not alien to majority of Canberrans.

Multicultural Australia is an integral part of the nation’s history and character. Since 1945, 7.2 million people have migrated here. Australians identify with approximately 300 ancestries and today around 45 per cent of Australians were born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas. Australians speak approximately 300 different languages, including indigenous ones, and four million speak a language other than English at home.

Australians recognise that they live in one of the most prosperous and harmonious nations in the world. Our cultural diversity remains one of our greatest strengths and we express a sense of belonging almost unanimously. Today, we continue to draw on the best of this diversity, recognising the social, cultural and economic dividends that this brings.

This, however, hasn’t come about by chance and as we look ahead to the future, our challenge is to keep it that way. The Australian government is working to make this happen by supporting the skills and creativity of our diverse workforce, providing everyone with an equal opportunity to participate and build strong, secure and healthy communities.

Harmony Day is very much a part of those efforts. It aims to engage the Australian community, particularly young people, in celebrating the cohesive and inclusive nature of the country. It’s about community participation, inclusiveness and respect — a time to reflect on where Australia has come from, while also recognising the traditional owners of the land, Australia’s indigenous peoples.

I hope the message of belonging goes beyond March 21. It can be lived by each of us, every day in the rest of the world as well as in Australia.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2015.

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