HARMONY DAY

Harmony Day is a celebration of our cultural diversity – a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home. Held every year in March, Harmony Day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The theme for Harmony Day is ‘Everyone Belongs’.

Harmony Day is Thursday 21st March, but at HEPS, we celebrated it on Friday 22nd March where students had the opportunity to wear a SPLASH OF ORANGE. 

Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Wearing orange shows support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia.

Students had the opportunity to engage in activities with their buddy class. These activities encouraged thinking and discussion about the meaning of Harmony Day and how it links with our High Behaviour Expectations of We are Inclusive and We Are Respectful and our school values, particularly those of Friendliness, Tolerance and Compassion.

Facts and Figures

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

• 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
• more than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia.

These facts are taken from ABS 2016 Census Data. Check out the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.