Inequality+Based+Upon+Multiculturalism

__MULTICULTURISM__ Multiculturalism has been part of the Federal government policy since the Whitlam government (1972-75) The 1997 governor General Sir William Deane stated:  ·  Multiculturalism recognised the entitlement of all Australians to preserve and cherish the customs, cultures and religions that they or their ancestors had brought from the lands or regions of their birth, subject to the limitations that all Australians were bound to.  ·  Australians constitution did not guarantee freedom from racial or cultural discrimination, or protection from racial, cultural or religious discrimination or oppression.  ·  Multiculturalism is ‘recognising and protecting our diversity of backgrounds, cultures and beliefs, it promotes that identity and unity by building up and adding to what we are’. According to the 1996 census, Sydneysiders who were born overseas were much more likely to be poor than those born in Australia. The poorest national groups represented were those from Lebanon, Vietnam, Turkey, Cambodia and Laos. This is based upon weekly income statistics. Discrimination based upon language: ACCESS - to government documents for example information about social security. Employment - Assumptions made about different ethnic groups that deter people's hiring patterns.