The 2022 Mapping Social Cohesion Report continues to provide us with the most significant and detailed profile of social cohesion in Australia today. Again, it reveals our perceptions of immigration, trust in government, multiculturalism and our neighbourhoods. Importantly, it enables each of us to better understand how we can strengthen bonds between people and build a welcoming and cohesive society.
Foreign-born populations are increasingly perceived to integrate well into Australian society and are less likely to be seen as a threat. People overwhelmingly believe that people born outside Australia make good citizens (94 per cent in 2022), and people are increasingly less likely to believe that immigrants take jobs away or do not adopt Australian values.
Positive attitudes towards diversity and multiculturalism are complemented by active intercultural relations. This is reflected by the large number of people who have close friends from different national and cultural backgrounds, and the steadily growing share who think ethnic minorities should be given government assistance to maintain their customs and traditions.
Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic in a strong position and with the experience of what an even more cohesive society looks like, the Australian community has an opportunity to take the benefits and learn the lessons of what was done well and what was done poorly to strengthen social cohesion. In a world in which immigration continues to be a source of social division, the history of and public support for multiculturalism is a great asset to Australia, potentially insulating us from deeper divisions.
Support for Multiculturalism:
Australians have a high and growing level of support for ethnic diversity and multiculturalism. Table 20 shows that on four indicators, the degree of support for immigration and multiculturalism has increased significantly over time.
➤ The proportion of people who agree or strongly agree that ‘accepting immigrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger’ increased significantly from 63 per cent in 2018 to 78 per cent in 2022.
➤ The proportion of people who agree or strongly agree that ‘multiculturalism has been good for Australia’ increased significantly from 77 per cent in 2018 to 88 per cent in 2022.
➤ The proportion of people who agree or strongly agree that ‘immigrants improve Australian society by bringing new ideas and cultures’ increased significantly from 76 per cent in 2018 to 86 per cent in 2022.
➤ The proportion of people who agree or strongly agree that ‘immigrants are good for Australia’s economy’ increased significantly from 74 per cent in 2018 to 87 per cent in 2022.
Intercultural relations
Successful immigrant integration and multiculturalism requires not only in principle acceptance of immigrants, but active steps to establish and maintain positive and harmonious relations between ethnic and cultural groups (Berry, 2005). Table 22 shows levels of support for two aspects of active intercultural relations.
➤ The proportion of people who agree or strongly agree that ‘ethnic minorities in Australia should be given Australian Government assistance to maintain their customs and traditions’ has gradually increased from 30 per cent in 2018 to 38 per cent in 2022. The proportion who strongly disagree with the statement declined from 30 per cent to 17 per cent over the same period.
➤ The proportion of people who agree or strongly agree with the statement ‘we should do more to learn about the customs and heritage of different ethnic and cultural groups in the country’ increased from 59 per cent in 2018 to 69 per cent in 2022.
A powerful indicator of active intercultural relations is the number of friendships people have with people from different backgrounds. In our 2022 survey, 81 per cent of people said they have two or more people in their ‘close circle of friends’ who come from ‘national, ethnic, or religious backgrounds’ different to their own, while 40 per cent said they have five or more such friends.
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