"It's a step in the right direction" New multicultural office established

SBS Australia

03-06-2025

With a new Multicultural Affairs Minister in place, there's a new office to come with it. Anne Aly will be the Minister responsible for the Office for Multicultural Affairs, after being elevated into cabinet last month. "It's going to be an office within the Department of Home Affairs that is specifically focused on the multicultural interests for Australia." Programs like the Adult Migrant English Program, grants for humanitarian entrants and other eligible migrants and communities, as well as translation and interpreting services, and multicultural affairs policy are expected to be part of the office, although exactly what's included will be confirmed in the coming weeks. The office is expected to start operating before the new parliament sits in late July. The plan falls short of an urgent recommendation made to the government last year, to establish a standalone Department of Multicultural Affairs, Immigration and Citizenship with a dedicated minister. Chair for the Multicultural Framework Review, and Chair of the Australian Multicultural Foundation, is Hass Dellal. "It's not the full recommendation of a dedicated department that included immigration and citizenship as well, but however, this is a step in the right direction. The fact that we have an office now that's being established that sits within cabinet that will have the ear of the Prime Minister and cabinet itself. And I think that's an important feature that wasn't there before." Last year's review raised concerns about the Department of Home Affairs, with communities feeling like they were being monitored or managed, rather than supported. Since then, the department has been expanded to include additional law enforcement and security agencies, with the Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation moved into Home Affairs after the election. Dr Dellal says the government must ensure there is separation from those operations in the department. "It's really important to ensure that, although it is sitting within Home Affairs that we ensure that there is more of an inclusive approach and more celebratory approach, rather than giving the feeling or the sense that there is an approach of monitoring or creating marginalisation." Alongside the security and enforcement agencies, the Home Affairs department is responsible for immigration, citizenship, border control and enforcement, offshore detention, cyber crime, and counter terrorism. Dr Aly says there have been long standing concerns about how diaspora communities are treated. "We've heard those concerns from multicultural communities, and I must say, you know, I heard those concerns before I was a member of parliament as a professor and a researcher. It's something that I've written about myself and expressed my own concerns about that securitisation of multicultural communities and securitisation of Multicultural Affairs. That's why we've established this office to carve out Multicultural Affairs and to give it a spotlight within the department and within the caucus and within the government more generally as well." Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will still hold the Immigration and Citizenship portfolios. Dr Aly says she wants to change how multicultural issues are viewed. "For too long, multiculturalism has been about citizenship and immigration. I want to make multiculturalism about all Australians. I want to make all Australians proud of our multicultural character, our multicultural nature. I want it to be more than about celebrating diversity. I want it to be about valuing diversity in all its forms. And this is the opportunity to do that." The multicultural program in the Department of Home Affairs almost exclusively focused on social cohesion and the Israel/Hamas war during Labor's first term. Since the start of war in 2023, more than $30 million in grants for 'community funding to support social cohesion initiatives' have been awarded. Anthony Albanese also created a special envoy for social cohesion last year, although the role will not continue in the new Parliament. Dr Aly says she respects the need for social cohesion. "Social cohesion, I believe, is a worthwhile pursuit in its own right, and we should pursue social cohesion. We should be vigilant about social cohesion." But says the combination of the two issues has impacted multicultural communities. "Multiculturalism isn't solely about social cohesion and multicultural communities aren't solely responsible for social cohesion. Social Cohesion is about everybody. Making multicultural communities solely and wholly responsible for social cohesion, I think, has added to that perception of multicultural communities being over securitised, being responsible for things like social cohesion"