Awareness Day message – Harmony Week 2020 (15th – 21st March)

Harmony Week (external link) celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.

Harmony Week includes the 21st March, which is the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (external link).

Since 1999, more than 80,000 Harmony Week events have been held in Australia.

Harmony Week in WA

The Office of Multicultural Interests promotes Harmony Week in WA as a chance to experience, explore and appreciate WA’s wealth of cultural, religious, linguistic and ethnic diversity.

“Harmony Week is an opportunity to consider the many benefits WA gains from its culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Benefits include job creation, improved skill levels, the introduction of new skills and networks, and improved economies of scale.

The economic advantages are also many. Our diverse communities link us strongly with the rest of the world and increase our competitiveness in this global market.”

WA’s cultural diversity

Australia is a vibrant and multicultural country — from the oldest continuous culture of our first Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world.

Western Australia (WA) is one of Australia’s most culturally diverse States. The 2016 Census showed that:

• one-third (32.2 per cent) of Western Australians are born overseas—that’s the highest percentage of the population for any Australian State or Territory.
• among those born overseas, people from non-main English speaking countries (410,291) outnumbered those from main English speaking countries (387,423) for the first time since the Census began in Western Australia.
• Perth has the second-highest percentage of people born overseas of all Australian capital cities (36.1 per cent) after Sydney (36.7 per cent).

Stats from The Office of Multicultural Interests WA

 

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