CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
AUJSi ALI A
PRIVME WVNISTER
FOR MEDIA SUNDAY, 25 JULY 1982
EVALUATION OF GALBALLY REPORT
Four years ago, the Galbally Report presented this Government
with a compelling analysis of the need for action in an
area neglected for decades and a package of measures to
assist migrants and ethnic communities realise their full
potential in Australian society.
The Report was based on the fundamental principles of
equal opportunity and equal access to general services,
providing special services where needed, respect for
cultural diversity, and encouragement for self-help and
self-reliance.
The Government endorsed these principles and accepted all
57 of the Report's recommendations initiating a major
re-orientation of migrant services and programs, and a
commitment to realising the promise of a multicultural
nation. The Galbally Report was a watershed in our development as a
multicultural society, but it was not the last word.
Policies and programs have to be adjusted and developed.
Since the Report was accepted, the Commonwealth Government
has taken further initiatives in multiculturalism including
establishing multicultural television on a permament basis,
per capita grants to ethnic schools and a program of expanding
community language courses in tertiary institutions.
The Government has now received and considered the evaluation
of the objectives and implementation of the Galbally Report,
prepared by the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs.
That Evaluation concludes that there has been an impressive
record of implementation and that the package of measures
recommended by the Calbally Report has made " a crucial
contribution to the well-being of migrants and to the commitment
to a multicultural nation." At the same time, achievements
in some areas have been less than we had hoped.
The Evaluation emphasises the n-ed for adjustment to maintain
momentum, to re-adjust programs in the light of experience
and changing circumstances and to undertake further major reforms.
Above all, it stresses the need for greater efforts to be
made to ensure that all our institut ions are responsive to
Australia's ethnic and cultural diversity.
The Evaluation makes 89 recommendations and a number of
important ancillary proposals. They cover a comprehensive range
of areas and groups education, employment and the arts,
welfare and the media, children and adults.
The measures proposed will extend and improve special
programs and services for migrants, and most importantly,
they will considerably enhance equality of access and
opportunity and direct assistance to those most in need.
The Government has accepted the proposals almost without
exception. Taken together with decisions relating to the
Australia-wide extension of multicultural television which
followed the Government's consideration of the Evaluation,
the direct additional cost of the package of measures will
be of the order of $ 21 million over the next three years.
This outcome is the result of a number of significant
expenditures, a number of savings where these are consistent
with increased program effectiveness and a substantial
re-allocation of resources.
The breadth of the Evaluation's recommendations and
of the Government's response is apparent in the summary of
Government decisions and the statements by by my colleagues,
the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs and the
Minister for Communications.
The far-reaching character of the measures ' can be seen in
just three of the areas covered by the Evaluation:
legal reform,, the media and migrant welfare.
In the area of the law, the Evaluation evidences a need
for further action to end discrimination between migrants
from different countries. This discrimination is incompatible
with our commitment to multiculturalism, and we now commit
ourselves to a substantial program of legal reform to put
all migrants on an equal footing before the law. We have
already amended the Electoral Act to make all migrants
equal in Commonwealth electoral matters, and the States
agreed that this should be uniform thoughout Australia.
The Commonwealth wants an Australia-wide commencement date,
and later in the year we will be reviewing progress.
The Evaluation also highlights the existence of many other
anachronistic Commonwealth laws, discriminating between
migrants on the basis of their country of origin. Important
among these is the area of Commonwealth employment. We will
amend all Co: n-onwealth acts which have a nationality requirement
for Commonwealth employment so that Australian citizenship is
the only requirement for eligibility. Beyond this, the
Attorney-General's Department will prepare a report within ./ 3
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six months on all other legislation discriminating between
migrants from different countries, and suggest amendments
necessary to remedy the situation. On the basis of this
Report we will act to end such discrimination.
A second area is the media. In October 1980 multicultural
television commenced transmission the only service of
its kind in the world. Its introduction was surrounded
by controversy but in a short space of time most of the critics
have seen its merits. The Evaluation has found results of
the first year and a half of multicultural television to be
very encouraging. There is a high degree of public acceptance
that multicultural television provides a worthwhile alternative
service, and it has shown itself capable of attracting
audiences of all backgrounds. The service is still at a
formative stage and further progress can be made in a number
of areas.
The Government has accepted recommendations made by the Evaluation
to achieve this, including greater use of multilingual community
service announcements, a better linguistic balance and the
teaching of English. There is a strong desire for multicultural
television to be extended beyond Sydney and Melbourne. The
signal already passes through the nation's capital, multicultural
television should be extended to Canberra in 1983 and proposed
that high priority be given to providing the service to Newcastle
and Wollongong, and to making provision to extend it throughout
Australia. Having considered the Evaluation, the Government has
decided on a three-year timetable to extend multicultural
television across Australia: in 1982/ 83 to Canberra and its
surrounds; in 1983/ 84 to Newcastle and Wollongong, Adelaide
and Brisbane; and in 1984/ 85 to Hobart, Perth and Darwin.
In the area of migrant welfare the Galbally Report called on
the Government to assist ethnic communities in their self-help
activities.
One of the key means was the funding of voluntary bodies to
employ social and welfare staff through extending the grantin-
aid scheme. The evidence gathered by the Evaluation shows
that the strategy has been a significant success. Ethnic
groups have established and extended vital welfare programs.
These are proving well-used, effective and popular. This is
a tribute to the capacity of ethnic communities and other
voluntary orcanisations to help those in need in our society.
The Government's faith in w. hat groups can do for themselves,
their ability to respond fl. c: ibly and appropriately, hias
been well vindicated. Over the next three years funds for
the grant-in-aid scheme will be : increased so that another
grants can be awarded. The general level of grants will be
increased, and grant allocations will be adjusted each year
to take appropriate account of anticipated changes in costs.
In all, this will involve an expenditure of over $ 6 million
over the next three years. / 4
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Beyond this, we will be moving on a number of other fronts
to improve the provision of welfare services to migrants.
These and other measures we will introduce will consolidate
and enhance what has been achieved as a result of the
implementation of the Galbally Report.
Australia now has a range of programs and services which
make up the most comprehensive system of multicultural
and migrant services in the world. It is an achievement which
is important to the nation at large. It benefits and enriches
the lives not only of the newest members of the community,
but of all Australians. On behalf of the Government, I reiterate
the commitment made four years ago to a united, just and
multicultura. Australia.