What is diversity value?

Diversity as an Australian value is the recognition and celebration of the country's many cultures, languages, religions, ancestries, and ways of life. About 30 per cent of Australians were born overseas, almost half have a parent born overseas, and more than 270 ancestries and 300 languages are represented across the population, making Australia one of the most diverse societies in the developed world.

Diversity has been formally recognised since the federal government's adoption of multiculturalism as official policy in 1973 under the Whitlam Labor government, with the policy framework developed further through the Galbally Report of 1978 commissioned by the Fraser Coalition government. The Australian Multicultural Council, established under the current National Multicultural Framework, advises the government on settlement, social cohesion, and inclusion. The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), founded in 1980, delivers television, radio, and digital content in more than 60 languages.

Indigenous diversity sits alongside migrant diversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians make up about 3.8 per cent of the population and represent more than 250 distinct language groups at the time of European contact, with 167 Indigenous languages still in use. The country's First Peoples are recognised as the original custodians through Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country protocols at most official events and through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags flown alongside the National Flag.

Diversity is supported by anti-discrimination law, by settlement services, by community-language schools, by religious freedom protections, and by everyday cultural practice. Lunar New Year, Diwali, Eid, Hanukkah, the Greek Orthodox Easter, the Multicultural Eid Festival, NAIDOC Week, and the Sydney Lunar New Year Festival are all part of the national calendar. Schools include Harmony Week each March around the anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March. Workplaces increasingly track diversity and inclusion alongside other measures of performance, with reporting required by publicly listed companies under the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 and emerging requirements for cultural diversity reporting from the Australian Human Rights Commission.