Woe, War or Woo? Responding Effectively to the Issues and Opportunities of our Multicultural Society in Queensland

Drew L¹*, Liyanage J²*

1. Local Government Association of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2. Caboolture Shire Council, Caboolture, Queensland, Australia

In “Postmulticultural Australia” how do we hear and respond to the issues and opportunities of our culturally diverse society?
Woe: A global climate of fear and paranoia has permeated Australian shores, leaving many with a sense of despair about this nation’s waning tolerance of difference.

War: The more radical want to wage a confrontative discourse to ‘crash through’ the invisible walls of structural racism and its unjust repercussions on the more vulnerable in our midst.

Woo: Others think that that the battle to create an inclusive community and accessible government can be won through strategies of positive engagement whilst still considering the words of the pessimists and incorporating the analysis of the radicals.

This paper will address these three approaches in relation to the work of the Local Area Multicultural Partnerships (LAMP) program in Queensland Local Government. The LAMP program is a partnership between the Queensland State Government and 16 Local Governments and the Local Government Association of Queensland. LAMP aims to address barriers to access for culturally and linguistically diverse community members and to improve community relations through the multiple roles of Local Government.
Initiated by the Qld State Government, this program is the first of its kind in Australia. Now in its fifth year of operation, workers have distilled key guiding principles for practice, which support a “break through” rather than a “crash through” approach.