Abstract
The assimilationist approach to Australia's large-scale immigration program since the Second World War has recently been replaced by a policy of multiculturalism. While it is clear that public policy may have accepted multiculturalism as the appropriate philosophy for contemporary Australia, there is evidence to suggest that much of the community has yet to agree. This study has been designed to investigate Australian-born respondents' attitudes toward the policy of multiculturalism. Specifically, the study focuses on two research questions: (1) what is the extent of support for the policy of multiculturalism and its underlying dimensions?, i.e., the belief that such a policy is in line with Australia's national interest, that the policy has benefitted Australian society, that it serves as a social justice strategy by providing a fair share of society's resources to all Australians, and that it will lead to social cohesion, and (2) what are the correlates of these attitudes? A total of 159 Australian-born respondents (89 males, 70 females) were surveyed. The results obtained indicated a discrepancy between support for the dimensions underlying multiculturalism and support for the policy itself. Specifically, the strong support for the underlying dimensions was not reflected in the moderate support for the overall policy. With regard to the correlates of these attitudes, the concept of ethnocentrism was found to be the only significant predictor, while none of the demographic variables (sex, age, education, and SES) was found to be significantly related to any of the multiculturalism variables. The implications of these findings for a policy of multiculturalism in Australia are discussed.
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