As multiculturalism has become more and more unpopular as a policy based on experience a new linguistic device has now been introduced to replace it: CALD: people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds.
Haven’t seen a precise definition but if your ancestors were British possibly European “Caucasian” Celtic it almost certainly means: “not you”. For most of us living in this area it will mean “not us”.
I have two bugbears about it:
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[li]Although people of CALD backgrounds are pouring into Australia and represent well over half the population growth in Australia competing with those of us born here for jobs and services there is quite a raft of special services and requirements that they get special attention not available to the rest of us. As far as I can identify there is nothing comparable for people born here. Do the people from the ‘born in Australia background’ have any special needs?[/li]
[li]Statistically people of CALD backgrounds are overrepresented in promotions by a huge amount. For example an image of a woman with a full headscarf is now widely used to represent a person of CALD background. It is after all so different. How many women in Australia go out in public wearing a full headscarf? Well if the proportions in some of the public (especially government) graphics are anything to go by you’d think it was every FIFTH woman!!!! Whereas it is probably more like one in 10000. I’ve seen a Disability poster locally that had people of every ethnicity (shown mainly by national costumes and headscarfs) but that of ordinary local people. There is a Heart Foundation walking poster that also seems to suggest that we are living in some Middle Eastern country not suburban Australia. To me this is a massive act of discrimination on racial and ethnic grounds against people of my heritage (British). [/li]
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As Australia maintains an immigration policy that has huge numbers of people pouring into this country every year and coming to live amongst us our relatively stable uniform cultural expectations locally will be mightily challenged. Most of us are highly skilled at working with cultural difference. New immigrants may be much less skilled at either this or at being tolerant and respectful of our culture and norms.
If we are going to be culturally resilient here we will need to both adapt to a much less predictable culture locally; and we will also need to develop a lot more awareness of our own culture and to be in there competing hard for it to be respected and to have its place. A lot of the new immigrants cultures and religions are very assertive and demanding and if we just continue to give and tolerate we will give away our own birthright and culture.
Our community includes some people (quite a small proportion of the whole) of CALD background and I am aware of no cases where they are not included and welcomed and make valued contributions to our community. It is a case of keeping a balance and not treating Australian-born people (not strictly the opposite of CALD but close to) as lesser-class citizens in their own country of birth.