Current State of Culture Diversity in Australia

By Muhammad Hamza Khan

Australia as we have been told several times in the past is known as "The land of the Immigrants”, this is due to the fact that the current Australian society is comprised of migrants that arrived different stages throughout its history and have contributed to its rich culture and heritage.  The following image showcases a timeline of the migration to Australia.

Source: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/a-brief-history-of-immigration-to-australia

In recent times we have seen a large influx of skilled professionals and students migrate to Australia to support the local industry and to seek a better livelihood. This has meant that the Australian workplace has undergone a lot of changes to be able to be inclusive for people from different cultures and beliefs. This has proved to be very beneficial for the Australian economy as it no longer relies on exports to its traditional partners (The West) and has been able to better interact and formulate strategic partnerships with major economies in Asia and the Middle East. As Australia has a formidable agriculture and mining sector this has opened opportunities to export items such as iron ore, gold, lentils and cattle. 

Advantages of Culture Diversity in the workplace

1. Higher Innovation: As there is a variety of perspectives from the different cultures and backgrounds, this leads to increased creativity and enhanced critical thinking thereby leading to higher innovation
2. Better Decision Making: As the the group is diverse and ways of thinking differ, the differnt approaches help by enhancing problem-solving skills of the group.
3. Reduced Employee turnover: A diverse group leads to higher employee engagement which would reduce the employee turnover.
4. Better company reputation: A company that is diverse has the essential building blocks to develop significant connections all over the globe to expand operations and improve its reputation in the process.
5. Improved hiring results: A company with a good reputation would mean that more skilled professionals would apply to work for it thereby improving hiring results.