All members of Australian society should be able to enjoy the basic right of freedom from discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion or culture. This includes not only overt or conscious discrimination at the personal level, but also that unwitting systemic discrimination which occurs when cultural assumptions become embodied in society's established institutions and processes. Equal employment opportunity and affirmative action requirements, for example, are a response to both the individual and systemic discrimination experienced by women, Aboriginal people and certain other groups in the labour market. Many Australians are aware of these problems. One-third of Australians think that immigrants receive worse treatment when renting a house or flat.
Multicultural policies seek to eliminate such discrimination.
They aim to protect the rights of all members of society to enjoy their culture and language and to practise their religion - within the institutional framework of Australian law, parliamentary democracy, English as the national language and acceptable methods of conflict resolution. Multiculturalism is concerned to encourage all Australians, including those from nonAnglo-Celtic backgrounds, to share their diversity of cultures, rather than excluding one another or being forced into separate enclaves. Being an Australian has nothing to do with outward appearance.