The Australian Multicultural Council (AMC), formerly Council for Multicultural Australia (CMA), is a body appointed by the Minister for Home Affairs to advise the Australian Government on multicultural affairs, social cohesion and integration policy and programs.

History

The Council for Multicultural Australia was established by the Australian Government in July 2000 for a period of three years. Its purpose was to "raise awareness and understanding" about multiculturalism. The term of the CMA was extended for an additional three years to 2006. The Howard government allowed it to lapse in that year, with the departure of its champion Arthur Sinodinos from the office of the Prime Minister. In August 2011, the Federal Government under Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

, acting in accordance with the recommendations of the Australian Multicultural Advisory Council, established the Australian Multicultural Council, with the terms of reference being to provide ongoing advice on multicultural policy, social cohesion and interfaith dialogue. The membership included Rauf Soulio, as chair of the Council, Peter Wertheim, Tanveer Ahmed, and

Tim Soutphommasane Thinethavone "Tim" Soutphommasane ( ; born 1982) is an Australian academic, social commentator and former public servant. He was Australia's Race Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2013 to 2018. He has pre ...

. and Gail Ker, deputy chair, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Bulent Hass Dellal , Carmel Guerra,

Samina Yasmeen Samina Yasmeen is an Australian–Pakistani author and intellectual who is known for her work in political and strategic development in South Asia and the role of Islam in International relations, world politics. She has published articles on t ...

, and

Talal Yassine Talal Yassine (born 1 January 1972) is a Lebanese Australian businessman. He is the founder and managing director of Crescent Wealth, Australia's first Islamic wealth management company, that launched the country's first Islamic superannuatio ...

, and two ex officio members, Andrew Metcalfe, and Helen Szoke. The council's membership was allowed to lapse from July 2014 to December 2014.

Sev Ozdowski Seweryn Antoni "Sev" Ozdowski (born 24 June 1949, in Poland) is an Australian human rights advocate and social researcher, former senior civil servant and Australian Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Commissioner and Disability Discriminatio ...

was appointed Chair of the Australian Multicultural Council in December 2014. Other members were

Helena Kyriazopoulos Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...

, deputy chair, Vasan Srinivasan, Charlotte Vidor, Faiza Rehman, Bulent Hass Dellal .

Role and composition

The priorities of the council are listed as: * strengthening public understanding of a shared "Australian identity" as a unifying characteristic of Australia * harnessing the economic and social benefits of our diverse population * advancing programs and policies aimed at building harmonious and socially cohesive communities * promoting the importance of mutual respect and responsibility, which foster our shared Australian values, identity, and citizenship * building stronger and more cohesive communities and addressing barriers to participation, including racism and discrimination * promoting greater intercultural and interfaith understanding and dialogue , the council, whose term runs from 2022 to 2025, is known as the Australian Multicultural Council. Bulent Hass Dellal is Executive Director, and other AMC members include Nora Amath, Craig Foster , Helena Kyriazopoulos, Vasan Srinivasan, Anthony Sukari and Jason Yeap . CC-BY icon

Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)
licence.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Council For Multicultural Australia Multiculturalism in Australia