Up until the early 1940s, Australia maintained a strict immigration policy that largely restricted the groups that were allowed entry into Australia. During the Second World War, the Australian government allowed asylum to Jewish refugees from various nations, in the first mass-immigration program following British colonisation. From 1973 to 1975, Australia officially moved from its race-discrimination stance and assimilation policies to a non-discriminatory immigration policy. Migrants could now become citizens after three years, and the government started to invest more resources into research and social services to support our new official policy of multiculturalism – the respect of cultural diversity and social inclusion of migrants.

Today, half of all Australians are either a migrant or the child of a migrant. Read more on my research blog: http://buff.ly/1JYxtUV #sociology #migrants #socialscience #culture #australia #multiculturalism