Culture in Australia

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Australia is a multicultural society, predominately based on western origins. Australian children have many opportunities to be involved in sports, entertainment, and cultural experiences. Australia's generally temperate climate, relatively low-cost access to tennis courts, golf courses, and other sporting facilities, and the presence of beaches and waterways, open spaces and bushland, encourage Australians to take up outdoor activities as part of their lifestyle (Commonwealth of Australia, 1998). The commission's Aussie Sports programs make the many sports Australia has to offer available to children. Children also enjoy going to the movies, watching videos, playing computer games and CD-ROMS, visiting museums, going to the theater, and watching television. Television is the main form of entertainment for pre-teenage children. Almost every single home in Australia has at least one television, and about eight percent of them have VCR's (Australian Consulate General Shanghai, 1998). Technology is also becoming an everyday part of children's lives.

The roles of the home and of the school are obvious in relation to the maintenance and development of ethnic cultures among children. A large variety of ethnic groups exist in Australia. In fact, it is possible to find children who are fifth generation Jewish, fourth generation Chinese, and third generation Greek who continue to preserve aspects of their heritage (Brown, 1980). This cultural pluralism transpired as a result of immigration over several hundreds of years. It is important not to make assumptions about the cultural uniformity of children born in Australia to Australian parents and not to except them to have the same cultural patterns as the Anglo-Australians. Ethnic groups in Australia have every right to be regarded as proper Australians. The most distinct ethnic group in Australia is the Aboriginal-Australians.