ASIA
19 October 2014
Asianising Australia
When Jason Day won his first World Golf Championship in the US this year, and Nick Kyrgios beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, it heralded a new phase in Australia’s immersion in the Asian Century.
Trade, investment, tourism, international students. These are the headlines of Australia's integration in the Asian Century.
But this year heralded a new phase, when Jason Day won his first World Golf Championship in the US, and Nick Kyrgios beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. These two young Asian Australians -- whose mothers were born in the Philippines and Malaysia respectively -- entered the temple of Australian society, namely international sport.
Australia's multicultural society is now "Asianising". This follows over two centuries of Westernisation, dominated the settlement of migrants from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Greece and other European countries. To be sure, there were some migrants from Asia in the 19th century, like the Chinese who worked as shepherds or in the gold fields, and the Indians who worked in the sugar cane plantations. But the migration of Asians to Australia was then restricted by the "White Australia Policy" until the early 1970s.
Australia has since been blessed with a wave migrants from Asia (and elsewhere), as have Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US. Asian Australians now make up 12% of the nation's population. Today's migrants from Asia are more skilled on average than the local population, and their children have better education achievements. Migrants are also more active as entrepreneurs.
Asian Australians are now making their mark on Australian society, politics and the economy -- not only on the sports field.
Penny Wong was a recent Federal Cabinet Minister. John Williams is a Grammy Award winning classical guitarist. William Edward 'Billy' Sing served in the Australian Imperial Force during World War I, including during the Gallipoli Campaign. Neville Roach was Chairman and CEO of Fujitsu Australia. Professor Veena Sahajwalla is a winner of the New South Wales Scientist of the Year Award. Singer Kate Ceberano was an Artistic Director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The list is seemingly endless.
But is Australia making the most of its skilled migrants?
According to the evidence, the answer is a clear no. Too many skilled migrants are unable to find jobs corresponding to their skills, and are vastly overqualified for the jobs they do secure. Doctors become nurses, accountants become taxi drivers, and so on.
Why? There are a number of reasons. Qualifications may not be recognized in Australia. Or when they are officially recognized, they may not be accepted by potential employers. Sometimes a lack of local experience or insufficient English language capacity may be perceived problems.
Business and government must make greater efforts to ease migrants’ path to economic and social integration. Giving migrants a “fair go” is not only a question of social justice. It is good economics to fully mobilise a nation’s human capital, especially since skills is one of the key selection criteria for migration.
The Diversity Council of Australia has highlighted this issue in a recent report on the "bamboo ceiling" in the business sector. The report found that Asian Australians are well represented in entry level and mid-level jobs in Australian business, but they are significantly under-represented in leadership roles, representing an enormous waste of talent.
The key barriers locking out Asian talent in Australian organisations are: cultural bias and stereotyping; Westernised leadership models; lack of relationship capital; and a lack of understanding of the value of cultural diversity. In other words, despite Australia's veneer of multiculturalism, its business and political leadership is dominated by a predominantly male, command and control leadership style.
It is critical for Australia to make the most of its talent, whether it be of Asian or other origin. Following a two-three decade period of strong growth, driven by the reforms initially launched in the 1980s and the Asia-driven resource boom, its Chinese and some other Asian export markets are now slowing down.
It is thus now time for Australia to re-engineer its growth strategy, and prepare for a new chapter in its journey into the Asian Century. One path for continued prosperity would be better harnessing the nation's social diversity as a source of creativity and innovation, especially in the service sector.
But success will require deep reforms, new attitudes and approaches, and a new narrative according to Lindley Edwards, Group CEO of the Australia and South East Asia based AFG Venture Group. In this context, Edwards has made a strong case for more inclusive and participative management and leadership which encourages the participation of all segments of society in idea-generation and decision making. This includes Australia's different ethnic groups, indigenous Australians (about 3% of Australia's population), youth and women.
Executive Director
Asian Century Institute
But this year heralded a new phase, when Jason Day won his first World Golf Championship in the US, and Nick Kyrgios beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. These two young Asian Australians -- whose mothers were born in the Philippines and Malaysia respectively -- entered the temple of Australian society, namely international sport.
Australia's multicultural society is now "Asianising". This follows over two centuries of Westernisation, dominated the settlement of migrants from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Greece and other European countries. To be sure, there were some migrants from Asia in the 19th century, like the Chinese who worked as shepherds or in the gold fields, and the Indians who worked in the sugar cane plantations. But the migration of Asians to Australia was then restricted by the "White Australia Policy" until the early 1970s.
Australia has since been blessed with a wave migrants from Asia (and elsewhere), as have Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US. Asian Australians now make up 12% of the nation's population. Today's migrants from Asia are more skilled on average than the local population, and their children have better education achievements. Migrants are also more active as entrepreneurs.
Asian Australians are now making their mark on Australian society, politics and the economy -- not only on the sports field.
Penny Wong was a recent Federal Cabinet Minister. John Williams is a Grammy Award winning classical guitarist. William Edward 'Billy' Sing served in the Australian Imperial Force during World War I, including during the Gallipoli Campaign. Neville Roach was Chairman and CEO of Fujitsu Australia. Professor Veena Sahajwalla is a winner of the New South Wales Scientist of the Year Award. Singer Kate Ceberano was an Artistic Director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The list is seemingly endless.
But is Australia making the most of its skilled migrants?
According to the evidence, the answer is a clear no. Too many skilled migrants are unable to find jobs corresponding to their skills, and are vastly overqualified for the jobs they do secure. Doctors become nurses, accountants become taxi drivers, and so on.
Why? There are a number of reasons. Qualifications may not be recognized in Australia. Or when they are officially recognized, they may not be accepted by potential employers. Sometimes a lack of local experience or insufficient English language capacity may be perceived problems.
Business and government must make greater efforts to ease migrants’ path to economic and social integration. Giving migrants a “fair go” is not only a question of social justice. It is good economics to fully mobilise a nation’s human capital, especially since skills is one of the key selection criteria for migration.
The Diversity Council of Australia has highlighted this issue in a recent report on the "bamboo ceiling" in the business sector. The report found that Asian Australians are well represented in entry level and mid-level jobs in Australian business, but they are significantly under-represented in leadership roles, representing an enormous waste of talent.
The key barriers locking out Asian talent in Australian organisations are: cultural bias and stereotyping; Westernised leadership models; lack of relationship capital; and a lack of understanding of the value of cultural diversity. In other words, despite Australia's veneer of multiculturalism, its business and political leadership is dominated by a predominantly male, command and control leadership style.
It is critical for Australia to make the most of its talent, whether it be of Asian or other origin. Following a two-three decade period of strong growth, driven by the reforms initially launched in the 1980s and the Asia-driven resource boom, its Chinese and some other Asian export markets are now slowing down.
It is thus now time for Australia to re-engineer its growth strategy, and prepare for a new chapter in its journey into the Asian Century. One path for continued prosperity would be better harnessing the nation's social diversity as a source of creativity and innovation, especially in the service sector.
But success will require deep reforms, new attitudes and approaches, and a new narrative according to Lindley Edwards, Group CEO of the Australia and South East Asia based AFG Venture Group. In this context, Edwards has made a strong case for more inclusive and participative management and leadership which encourages the participation of all segments of society in idea-generation and decision making. This includes Australia's different ethnic groups, indigenous Australians (about 3% of Australia's population), youth and women.
Author
John WestExecutive Director
Asian Century Institute