Imagining an International Australia

Australians rightly spend much time discussing multiculturalism, yet rarely speak of Australian internationalism. Over the last few decades, however, Australia has become a truly international society. This development is underpinned by various reasons: the falling costs of international travel, the expansion of international information channels, the dominance of English as the international lingua franca, Australia's geographic location in the world, and the diversity of our population. Australia today is global in a way that few Australians recognise. Tens of thousands of foreign students study at our universities. At the time of writing, our defence forces are serving in peacekeeping roles around the globe, including in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands. Our local councils are thinking globally by developing community-to-community development assistance programs in countries such as Papua New Guinea and Vietnam. And our journalists anchor CNN International because the Australian accent is considered a 'universal' accent.