The Need for Cross-Cultural Communication and Respect in Australia

Australia is a country made up of a diverse and multi-cultural population derived from different backgrounds and beliefs. In Australia there are issues of cross-cultural conflict in everyday lives, as well as in working environments. Issues of cross-cultural conflict include communication, cultures, religion and non-verbal behaviours. Without an understanding of conflicts, misunderstandings in the wider community can occur. Language can cause a cross cultural conflict in the workplace among workers as they may not understand what instructions have been given and as a result miscommunication issues arise. This could end up with angst and conflict between people and will create a division within the work environment. To overcome the issues of cross-cultural conflict and resolve situations that may arise, workplaces should show acceptance and empathy to the diverse cultures that are in the community. As a population consisting of a range of diverse cultures and backgrounds society need to be open and respectful of other people’s cultural differences and attitudes. This allows all members of the community to belong and be accepted to a harmonious multicultural country.

There are many issues that may cause cross-cultural conflict in societies. These include language, religion, personal appearance, cultural norms and non-verbal behaviours. As a society, accepting and respecting different cultures to understand the backgrounds of where they come from opens up new understandings of acceptance. By being ignorant to cultural diversity and believing in a dominant culture is not demonstrating respect and understanding of others cultures. Religion can be a very sensitive and personal choice/ issue and in a work environment may cause probl...

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...nd demonstrating empathy to issues that could develop, shows that people are important and allows them to feel a sense of belonging to a community.

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Open Colleges Pty Ltd, 2011. Diploma of Counselling Work effectively with culturally diverse clients and co-workers. [Online]

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