Australia is often remarked as being one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world, but what does that actually mean? With populism, exclusive nationalism and xenophobia disrupting our social fabric, how can we work together to build socially cohesive communities that draw on our intergenerational, intercultural and interfaith wisdom? In this conversation we will explore changing community attitudes to cultural and religious diversity, reflecting on the past, present, and future of multiculturalism and its place in Australia’s civic nationalist and liberal democratic traditions. A Ballarat Harmony Fest event presented by the Eureka Centre.
Speakers:
Dellaram Vreeland is a journalist and Australian-born Iranian working and living on Wadawurrung Country. Raised in Ballarat, she has spent more than 14 years working as a storyteller promoting rural and regional communities. Dellaram’s work has appeared in Guardian Australia, across various Nine and Australian Community Media mastheads, as well as in a variety of lifestyle and travel publications. As a Baha’i with a desire to build community, she has a particular interest in multicultural affairs, arts and culture, social justice, and stories that cast a spotlight on all that’s good in the world. vreelandmedia.com
Andrew Markus AO is Emeritus Professor in Monash University’s School of International, Historical and Philosophical Studies. Since 2004 he has been a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. His research specialisation is in the field of racial and ethnic relations, ethnic communities, and immigration policy. In 1988 he was commissioned to prepare a report on ‘How Australians see each other’ for the Fitzgerald Committee which advised the Hawke government on immigration policy. In 2007 he established the Scanlon Foundation’s ‘Mapping Social Cohesion’ annual reports. He has extensive experience researching Australian public opinion, including a commissioned report for the Victorian Research Institute on Social Cohesion on protests in Bendigo to the proposed building of a mosque, ‘Division in Bendigo: Mainstream public opinion and responses to public protest in Bendigo, 2014-2016’, which was completed in 2018.
A Ballarat Harmony Fest event presented by the Eureka Centre.
Image: ‘Ballarat Benevolent Asylum Fete – The Chinese Procession’, print: wood engraving, published in ‘The Illustrated Australian News for home readers’, 1 December 1875, Publisher: Ebenezer and David Syme, Melbourne. State Library of Victoria, IAN01/12/75/188.
