Australian Human Rights Commission Australia and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), Shadow report to the CERD Committee – 8 July 2010 7 Issues relating to migrants and ethnic minorities 7.1 National Multicultural Policy (ICERD Article 2) 73. Respect for racial equality and diversity is a key element of robust multicultural democracies and the international human rights framework. Australia has a proud history of multiculturalism that has, in general terms, been managed with success in fostering a cohesive and inclusive society. However, as this report outlines, emerging and established ethnic communities in Australia still experience significant challenges in relation to their social and economic participation, safety and health and wellbeing. 74. An evidence based and properly resourced national multicultural policy is critical in regard to (I) guiding whole of government policy and program development (II) improving the access and equity of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and (III) fostering a tolerant and cohesive society. 75. Australia’s last national multicultural policy, United in Diversity 2003-2006 expired in 2006. Though the current Australian Government committed to developing a new federal multicultural policy in 2007, progress has been markedly slow. Recommendation 27: That the Australian Government consider the following in the development of a national multicultural policy: • that it should be based on extensive community consultation • that it should be properly linked with the Australian Human Rights Framework, 69 the Human Rights Action Plan and the Social Inclusion Agenda 70 • that it adopts a broad definition of the ‘multicultural community’ in Australia that genuinely considers: newly arrived migrants, international students, temporary and seasonal migrant workers, people from refugee backgrounds and established ethnic communities • that it addresses the issue of religious diversity and freedom of religion and belief • that systems of auditing, benchmarking, compliance and evaluation are created. 7.2 Persistence of racist attitudes (ICERD Article 2) 76. The Australian Human Rights Commission is a partner in the Challenging Racism Project. 71 The research began in 2007 and will be finalised in late 2010. The project is being led by Associate Professor Kevin Dunn, University of Western Sydney and research partners include: Macquarie 24