From the School Nurse

HARMONY WEEK

What is Harmony Week? 

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.

Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism.

Harmony Week is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.

Our cultural diversity is a great strength and brings with it a whole host of traditions, religions, languages and of course, food!

Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Week. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Australians can choose to wear something orange during Harmony Week to show their support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia.

Facts and figures

There are some fascinating statistics about Australia's diversity that can be good conversation-starters:

• more than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia.
• nearly half (49 per cent) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was
• we identify with over 300 ancestries
• since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia
• 85 per cent of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia
• apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi

Ref: www.harmony.gov.au