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Cultural Diversity at Work
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In this session
Cultural Diversity at Work
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What is Australian Multiculturalism?
Cultural Diversity at Work

• all Australians commitment and loyalty

• respect for difference

• tolerance

• common commitment to freedom

• national interest

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Principles of the Multicultural Australia policy
Cultural Diversity at Work
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How Multiculturalism has developed
Cultural Diversity at Work
Multiculturalism seeks to embrace and be embraced
by all Australians our original inhabitants,
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
and everyone else whether born here or overseas
and whether of English or non-English speaking
origin.
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How Multiculturalism has developed
Cultural Diversity at Work

• global perspective

• 2000 Olympics

• technological advances

• growing prominence in Asia

• Republicanism

• Reconciliation

• Centenary of Federation

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Australias diversity
Cultural Diversity at Work
Diversity means difference
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About Indigenous Australians
Cultural Diversity at Work
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About Indigenous Australians
Cultural Diversity at Work
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About Indigenous Australians
Cultural Diversity at Work

• 20 of Australias total population is under the
  age of 15. This figure is doubled at 40 for the
  Indigenous population.

• 1.25 million Indigenous people in 1770 250 000
  today

• Right to vote? 1962

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About Indigenous Australians
Cultural Diversity at Work
What Act were Indigenous people protected under
prior to 1967?

• Land Rights Act
• Racial Discrimination Act
• Flora and Fauna Act

• Flora and Fauna Act

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About Australian Migrants
Cultural Diversity at Work
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About Australian Migrants
Cultural Diversity at Work

• 23 of Australians were born overseas
• 5.7 million people migrated since WWII
• 1.25 million people speak languages other than
  English at home
• Top three languages Cantonese, Italian, Greek

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Diversity in Defence
Cultural Diversity at Work

• Defence is committed to Diversity and Equity in
  the workplace.
• This is dealing with Australia AS IT IS!

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Challenges facing Defence
Cultural Diversity at Work

• large, complex, diverse, dispersed
• not reflective
• shrinking recruitment pool
• separations

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Addressing the challenges
Cultural Diversity at Work

• representative

• diversity a drawcard

• military leadership

• relationships

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The benefits
Cultural Diversity at Work
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Culture
Cultural Diversity at Work
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Culture
Cultural Diversity at Work
It is personality that makes every individual
unique.
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Intercultural communication
Customs are unwritten laws for the behaviour of a
culture.
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Communication can be interpreted differently
across cultures
Intercultural communication

• tone of voice
• body language
• ways of expressing courtesy
• direct vs indirect speech
• idioms/expressions
• jargon
• time tolerance
• turn taken in conversations
• accent

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Body language
Intercultural communication
Body language is a powerful communicator in
every culture

• can add to cultural misunderstandings

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Body language
Intercultural communication

• eyes

• facial expressions

• hand gestures

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Body language
Intercultural communication

• distance

• touch

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Speech
Intercultural communication

• rising and falling intonation
• direct and indirect speech
• formal and informal

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What to do?
Intercultural communication
To suit the situation

• be prepared to adjust your style

• vary questioning styles and active listening
  techniques

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Everybody judges on first impressions
Intercultural communication

• height

• colour

• accent

• gender

• age

• body smell

• dress

• body language

• tone of voice

• sense of confidence

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Stereotyping
Intercultural communication

• stereotypes may cause you to behave unfairly
  with people

• discriminatory behaviours based on stereotypes
  are unacceptable and in some cases unlawful

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Humour
Intercultural communication
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Whos not smiling anymore?
Intercultural communication
People wont say they are offended because they

• dont want to be labelled humourless

• feel less powerful than the group laughing at
  the joke

• are more polite than the joke teller

• dont want to lose face

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Active listening
Intercultural communication

• meaning

Listen for two things

• feeling

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Barriers to active listening
Intercultural communication

• short attention span

• impatience

• hearing impairment

• listening to words / not noticing body language

• more interested in what you are going to say next

• dislike of the person

• disagreement with the person

• lack of time

• not checking understanding

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The right question for the situation
Intercultural communication
closed
open
multiple
leading
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Use plain English but how?
Intercultural communication

• one word, not half a dozen

• easy to understand words

• short, uncomplicated sentences

• avoid jargon, slang and acronyms

• get the other person to talk

• be aware of what you say and change it, if you
  need to

• avoid double negatives

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Meetings
Intercultural communication
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Meeting strategies
Intercultural communication

• encourage all to participate in agenda setting,
  then to take responsibility for their item

• participants indicate to the chairperson when
  they want to speak

• everyone can speak or pass

• write brainstorming ideas on stick-on notes and
  collate on whiteboard

• change meeting ground rules from time to time,
  to suit

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Cross cultural training
Resources
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Interpreters and naming
Resources
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Looking back
Cultural Diversity at Work