By : Angela Banerjee 2013MB0003

• Australia-comes from “Terra Australis”

• Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is

an Oceanian country comprising the mainland of the Australian

continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands

• Australia was a part of Godwana

• 6th largest nation.

• The Capital is Canberra.

• Only nation to govern an entire continent and its outlying islands.

• Australia is a developed country with the world's 12th-largest

economy. In 2012, Australia had the world's fifth-highest per capita

income

• Australia's landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres (2,941,300 sq mi)

is on the Indo-Australian Plate.

• Surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is separated from Asia

by the Arafura and Timor seas, and the Tasman Sea lying between

Australia and New Zealand.

Overview

History and Value of Australia

• 1st inhabitants are Aborigine who migrated there at least 40,000 yrs. ago from Southeast Asia.

• 1606-Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish ships sighted Australia.

• 1688-British arrived.

• 1770-Great Britain claimed possession, calling it New South Wales.

• Australian values include:

1) respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual

2) equality of men and women

3) freedom of religion

4) commitment to the rule of law

5) parliamentary democracy

6) a spirit of egalitarianism that embraces mutual respect, tolerance, fair play, compassion for those in need and pursuit of the public good

7) equality of opportunity for individuals, regardless of their race, religion or ethnic background.

Culture of Australia • The culture of Australia is essentially a Western culture influenced by diverse input

of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the British colonisation of Australia that began in 1788, and the various waves of multi-ethnic migration that followed.

• Although Australia has no official language, it is largely monolingual with English being the de facto national language.

• It is believed that there were between 200 and 300 Australian Aboriginal languages at the time of first European contact.

• The arts in Australia—film, music, painting, theatre, dance and crafts—have achieved international recognition.

• Australia has three architectural listings on UNESCO's World Heritage list: Australian Convict Sites (comprising a collection of separate sites around Australia, including Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney, Port Arthur in Tasmania, and Fremantle Prison in Western Australia); the Sydney Opera House; and the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.

• The visual arts in Australia date as far back as 60,000 years. Ancient Aboriginal rock art can be found throughout the continent, notably in UNESCO-listed national parks.

• Music is an integral part of Aboriginal culture. The most famous feature of their music is the didgeridoo.

• Australia's first dedicated film studio, the Limelight Department, was created by The Salvation Army in Melbourne in 1898, and is believed to be the world's first..

• Australia has no state religion.

• Mainland Aboriginal Australians', spirituality is known as

the Dreamtime and it places a heavy emphasis on belonging to the

land.

• Christian churches have played an integral role in the development of

education, health and welfare services in Australia.

• A survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation found that "Australia is one

of the least religious nations in the western world, coming in 17th out

of 21 [countries] surveyed" and that "Nearly three out of four

Australians say they are either not at all religious or that religion does

not play a central role in their lives."

Religion and its importance

Etiquettes

• Social etiquette 1) Meeting etiquette: Australians are not very formal so greetings are casual and relaxed. Aussies prefer to use

first names, even at the initial meeting. 2) Dining Etiquette: Many invitations to an Aussies home will be for a 'barbie' (BBQ). Arrive on time if invited to

dinner; no more than 15 minutes late if invited to a barbeque or a large party. • Business Meeting Etiquette: 1) Relationships & Communication

Australians are very matter of fact when it comes to business so do not need long- standing personal relationships before they do business with people.

Australians are very direct in the way they communicate. There is often an element of humour, often self-deprecating, in their speech. Aussies often use colourful language that would be unthinkable in other countries.

2) Business Meeting Etiquette Appointments are necessary and relatively easy to schedule. They should be made with as much lead time as possible. Punctuality is important in business situations. Meetings are generally relaxed; however, they are serious events.

3) Negotiating and Decision Making Australians get down to business quickly with a minimum amount of small talk. They are quite direct and

expect the same in return. They appreciate brevity and are not impressed by too much detail. Negotiations proceed quickly. Bargaining is not customary.

Geography and climate • Flattest and (after Antarctica) driest of continents

– North: rainforests and vast plains

– South East: snowfields

– Centre: desert

– East, South, and South West: fertile croplands

• 1/3 of the country lies in the tropics

• The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, lies a short distance off the north-east coast and extends for over 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi).

• Mount Augustus, claimed to be the world's largest monolith is located in Western Australia.

• Eastern Australia is marked by the Great Dividing Range, which runs parallel to the coast of Queensland, New South Wales and much of Victoria.

• The climate of Australia is significantly influenced by ocean currents, including the Indian Ocean Dipole and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, which is correlated with periodic drought, and the seasonal tropical low-pressure system that produces cyclones in northern Australia.

• The southwest corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate. Much of the southeast (including Tasmania) is temperate.

• At the heart of the country are the uplands of central Australia. Prominent features of the centre and south include Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), the famous sandstone monolith, and the inland Simpson, Tirari and Sturt Stony, Gibson, Great Sandy, Tanami, and Great Victoria deserts, with the famous Nullarbor Plain on the southern coast

India- Australia Relations • India first established a Trade Office in Sydney, Australia in 1941. It is currently

represented by a High Commissioner in the embassy at Canberra and Consulate generals in Sydney and Melbourne. Australia has a High Commission in New Delhi, India and Consulates in Mumbai and Chennai.

• Although Australia and India sometimes had divergent strategic perspectives during the Cold War, in recent years there have been much closer security relations, including a Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation in 2009.

Economic relations • Monthly value of Australian merchandise exports to India (A$millions) since 1988 • Monthly value of Indian merchandise exports to Australia (A$ millions) since 1988 • Trade between Australia and India dates back to late 18th century and early 19th century

When coal from Sydney and horses from New South Wales were exported to India. As of 2010, bilateral trade between the two countries totaled US$18.7 billion, having grown from A$4.3 billion in 2003. This is expected to rise to touch the mark of US$40 billion by end of year 2016.

Military relations • India and Australia conducted a joint naval exercise, termed Malabar 2007. • Prime Ministers Abbott and Modi signed a landmark deal to increase their nations defence

relationship in November 2014. Part of the framework for security co-operation includes annual Prime Ministerial meetings and joint maritime exercises. Areas of increased co-operation include counter-terrorism, border control and regional and international institutions

• Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a federal division of powers.

• It uses a parliamentary system of government with Queen Elizabeth II at its apex as the Queen of Australia.

• Government is divided into 3 branches:

1. Legislature: comprising the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and theHouse of Representatives; comprising the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and theHouse of Representatives;

2. Executive: the Federal Executive Council, in practice the Governor-General as advised by the Prime Minister and Ministers of State

3. Judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor-General on advice of the Council.

• National General Election must be held within 3 years of first meeting of new federal parliament.

• 1 vote per person voting system

• Prime minister nominates members to serve on Cabinet .

• Three major political parties: Labor Party, Liberal Party, National Party

Politics

Life in Australia Education

•Australia has an adult literacy rate that was estimated to be 99% in 2003

•Australia has 37 government-funded universities and two private universities

•The University of Sydney is Australia's oldest university, having been founded in 1850.

Standard of Living

•The standard of living in Australia is comparatively higher than the rest of the world.

•Australia is also home to a number of Aboriginals who have been for over the years marginalized by the European settlers.

•This marginalization has led to a huge difference between the living standards of the Europeans and the indigenous tribes.

•This economic growth is also well reflected in the lifestyle of people.

•The growth of the economy is about 3.3 % per year

Australian Cuisine

•Indigenous Australian food consists of mostly ‘bushfood’.

•There are many species of Australian native fruits, such as Quandong (native peach), Wattle seed, Muntries / Munthari berry, Illawarra plums, Riberry, Native Raspberries and Lilli pillies

•Clean ocean environments around Australia produce high quality seafoods for domestic consumption and export.

•An iconic Australian food is Vegemite. Other unique or iconic national foods include macadamia nuts; Violet Crumble, a honeycomb chocolate bar; Cherry Ripe; Jaffas, chocolate with an orange-flavoured confectionery shell and the Chiko Roll, a deep-fried savoury roll similar to a spring roll.

Moral Values

• Australians pride themselves on something they call “Australian Values”. • Concept of “Fair go’: “We’re a classless, egalitarian society where everyone gets a

‘fair go’. Even a struggling ‘battler’ is respected because he’s ‘doing the right thing’”.

• In an Australian survey, by Daphne Habibis and Anthea Vreugdenhil – asked nearly

2,000 respondents how kind they see themselves and others. • It was found that 95% of respondents believe that it is quite or very important to

be kind to one another; 97% agreed that they see themselves as a kind person; 90% reported performing a kind act at least once a week and 82% say most Australians are quite or very kind.

• 51% said they were kind because “it’s who I am” while only 12% of respondents

said it was because they like to be seen as kind, it may benefit them or that they are required to be kind.

Gender segregation at the workplace

• The degree of horizontal workplace gender segregation in medium

to large size workplaces stands at relatively high levels but has fallen significantly over the 1990 to 1995 period in Australia.

• Relative to the default (manufacturing) the female share of employment rises appreciably in health and community services and to a lesser extent in education and finance and insurance.

• Female share is also strongly positively related to part-time employment levels.

• The case of maternity leave entitlements is that the non-provision of maternity leave entitlements in medium and large workplaces is very rare.