The culture of

Australia
Brenda Hernndez, Llunas, Andra Carrasco, karolina Garcia,
Nahim Tarabay

English class project.

International Commerce and Customs.

INDEX
1. Introduction
2. Objective
3. Theme
4. Main points
4.1.
Symbols
4.2.
Language
4.3.
Religion
4.4.
Music
4.5.
Traditions and holidays
4.6.
Typical food
4.7.
Sports
5. Statistics
6. Examples
7. Conclusions
8. Bibliography

Introduction
We hope to learn about Australia in this project the Australian society & culture, the
differences with the Mexican culture, the similarities with the Mexican culture, how
they live, their hobbies, their beliefs all this to know other type of culture and other
type of English, to get advantages to our carrier International Commerce and
Customs to know future clients and business with Australian people.

The Culture of Australia

Australian culture is founded on stories of battlers, bushrangers and brave soldiers.
Of sporting heroes, working heroes and plucky migrants. It's all about a fair go, the
great outdoors and a healthy helping of irony. Today Australia also defines itself by
its Aboriginal heritage, vibrant mix of cultures, innovative ideas and a thriving arts
scene.
Symbols
Symbols reflect cultural identities and facilitate cultural regeneration. They are used
to define what the culture stands for and to help individuals feel an emotional
connection to other individuals of the past, present and future. For a country with a
short urban history and small population, Australia has a high number of symbols;
however, reflecting Australia's diversity, these symbols do not have uniform
acceptance.

The Southern Cross

The Southern Cross is one of the most visible
constellations in the Southern Hemisphere and right
from the early days of the colony, it was being used to
represent Australia. Perhaps the colonists identified
with the Christian connotations, and the idea that god
was somehow watching over Australia. Perhaps they
identified with the four moral virtues of the Southern
Cross, justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude, as
defined by Dante. Perhaps they identified with the
idea of a clear night sky, which was a distinguishing
environmental characteristic when compared to
Britains grey night skies.
The Southern Cross is used on the Australian flag and
is commonly used as a symbolic tattoo by Skippies (Australians of British
descent.)

The Eureka Flag

The Eureka Flag was arguably Australias first patriotic symbol. It was
designed by a Canadian Digger Lieutenant Ross during the Eureka
uprising in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1854. The flag's five stars represent the
Southern Cross. The white cross joining the stars represents unity in
defiance. The blue background represents the blue shirts worn by the
diggers.
As the flag was raised, one of the rebellion's leaders, Peter Lalor, got down
on one knee, pointed his hand towards it and said,
'WE SWEAR BY THE SOUTHERN CROSS TO STAND TRULY BY EACH
OTHER, AND FIGHT TO DEFEND OUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES.'

Ned Kellys Helmet

In 1880, bushranger Ned Kelly led his gang into a
shoot-out clad in iron suits. His legs were shot out
from beneath him, he was captured, tried and hung.
Despite being a criminal, something about his iron
suit resonated with the general population. Perhaps
it has been interpreted to represent an individual
armouring himself against persecution, which
naturally appealed to a population in which the elitist
class were pure British citizens proud of their British
culture.
Kelly's armour has been incorporated into paintings, advertisements,
business logos and is arguably Australia's most proliferated symbol.

The Australian Flag

The Australian Flag was chosen after a

competition in 1901. The competition
guidelines stipulated that a Union Jack
must be included. Symbolically, the
location in the top left-hand corner signals
servitude to Britain. The Southern Cross
was included to represent Australia. The
seven-pointed Commonwealth Star was
located beneath the Union Jack to
represent Australia's federal system.

The presence of the Union Jack has made the flag controversial and unable to be
the uniting symbol that a flag should be. Some Australians support the retention of
the Union Jack as an acknowledgement of Australian history. Some Australians
want the Union Jack replaced with the Aboriginal flag as an acknowledgment of
Australian history. Some Australians just dont want a flag that signals servitude to
any other social group.

The Wattle

Many of the colonists identified with Australian flowers, much like the English
identified with roses, the Scottish with thistles and the Irish with shamrocks.
Because of its unique colours and design, the wattle became associated with
Australia. In 1912, it was included as decoration surrounding the
Commonwealth Coat of Arms. In the 1920s, the green and gold colours of the
wattle became associated with Australian sport.

Boomerang

The boomerang was a unique

hunting tool, weapon and ritualised
implement used by Aboriginal tribes.
The curved wings allowed the
boomerang to fly, with the spin
producing lift much like a helicopter.
The boomerang shape is used in
logos and boomerangs are sold in souvenir stores. The appeal of the boomerang
could be its recognisability as Australian, its ingenuity, or the idea of something
coming back. It is one of the few Aboriginal-origin symbols that can be used freely
in non-Aboriginal society without accusations of cultural theft or politicising.

The Sydney Opera House

The Opera House has frequently been used in advertising campaigns and
business logos to symbolise both Sydney and Australia. Despite being a
popular symbol, it has never been clear as to what it actually symbolises. It
certainly doesnt symbolise that Australians love Opera because the vast
majority do not. The late billionaire Kerry Packer articulated how many
Australians feel about opera when he said,
The ultimate purgatory for me would be to go to the Opera House and
hear Joan Sutherland sing.

Despite not liking Opera, Australians probably like the Opera House because it
seems to represent a water and beach culture. The Opera Houses design
looks a bit like shells on a beach or sails on the water.
Language

LANGUAGE

2% 2% 1% 0%

MANDARIN
ITALIAN
ARABIC
INDIGNOUS
ENLISH

95%

Although Australia has no official language, it is largely monolingual with English

being the de facto national language. Australian English is a major variety of the
language which is immediately distinguishable from British, American, and other
national dialects by virtue of its unique accents, pronunciations, idioms and
vocabulary, although its spelling more closely reflects British versions rather than
American. According to the 2011 census, English is the only language spoken in
the home for around 80% of the population.
The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian
(1.5%), and Arabic (1.4%); almost all migrants speak some English. Australia has a
sign language known as Auslan, which in 2004 was the main language of about
6,500 deaf people.
It is believed that there were between 200 and 300 Australian Aboriginal languages
at the time of first European contact, but only about 70 of these have survived and
all but 20 are now endangered. An indigenous language is the main language for
0.25% of the population.

Religion
Australia has no official state religion and the Australian Constitution prohibits the
Commonwealth government from establishing a church or interfering with
the freedom of religion. According to the 2006 Australian Census, 63.9% of
Australians were listed as Christian.
Historically, this proportion has been higher and a growing proportion of the
population define themselves as irreligious, with 18.7% of Australians declaring "no
religion" on the census. There are also growing communities of various other
religions in Australia and 11.2% of people did not answer the question on the
census.
From the early decades after federation, people from diverse religious
backgrounds have held public office. The first Jewish Governor General, Isaac
Isaacs, was selected by the first Catholic Prime Minister, James Scullin, in the
1930s. In recent times, some prime ministers have identified as religious, others as
non-religious.

61.1% of Australians were listed as Christian (25.3% are Roman Catholic and
17.1% are Anglican).
Australians declaring "no religion" (humanism, atheism, agnosticism and
rationalism). There are also people with non-christian religions 7.2% (2.5%
Buddhist, 2.2% Islam, 1.3 Hinduism, 0.5% Judaism). 9.4% of people did not
answer the question on the census.

RELIGION
Christian religion
People with no religion
Non-christian religion
People who didn't
answered

9%
7%

22%

61%

Music
Indigenous (Aboriginal) Music
The music is an integral part of Aboriginal Culture. The most famous feature of
their music is the Didgeridoo. This wooden instrument, used amongst the
Aboriginal tribes of northern Australia, makes a distinctive droning sound and it has
been adopted by a wide variety of non-Aboriginal performers.
Popular Music
Johnny O'Keefe became the first Australian rock and roll artist to reach the national
charts with his 1958 hit "Wild One". While American and British content dominated
airwaves and record sales into the 1960s, local successes began to emerge,
notably The Easybeats and The Seekers.
The Bee Gees and AC/DC rose to prominence in Australia before going on to
international success. Australian performers continued to do well at a local and
international level into the 1980s, for example Cold Chisel, INXS, Nick
Cave, Midnight Oil and Little River Band.
Held
since
1987,
the Arias
are
Australia's
premier
music
awards. Silverchair, Powderfinger, John
Farnham, Savage
Garden and Kylie
Minogue are among the most successful artists in the awards' history. Singersongwriter Paul Kelly, whose music style straddles folk, rock, and country, has
been described as the poet laureate of Australian music. Spurred in part by the
national expansion of ABC youth radio station Triple J, a string of successful
alternative Australian acts have emerged since the 1990s, including You Am
I, Gotye, Sia and Tame Impala.

Traditions and holidays

In Australia christmas is celebrated on summer, with temperatures reaching
38 degrees. Santa Claus is called Swag Man, childrens receive visits from
him who dress a blue T-shirt and shorts.
New year:
In Sidney at 24:00 hrs Fireworks are launched. Is a wonderful show watched
by so many people around the world by television.

Typical food:
Are famous cakes and meat with vegetables. The typical dish is meat cake.
Another famous delight is Canabossi, it is similar to salami.
Usually people eat exotic animal meat as kangaroo and buffalo

SPORTS
Canoeing and Kayaking in Australia
Rugby
Cricket
Snorkeling
Surf
Diving
Golf.
EXAMPLES
Rugby
One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand.
In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an
oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line.
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in
rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies.
Cricket
Is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players each on a field at
the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch. Each team takes its turn to
bat, attempting to score runs, while the other team fields. Each turn is known as an
innings (used for both singular and plural).
The Australian cricket team, nicknames as the Kangaroos or the Aussies, is the
national cricket team of Australia and the current ICC Cricket World Cup
Champions.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion we found Australia as a suucesfull, modern and thriving multicultural
country that despite the influence it has received remains true to its culture.
Respect a lot its aboriginal heritage. It is one of the most ethnically diverse nations
in the world. The Australian people are friendly, homely and enjoy the outdoor.

FUENTES BIBLIOGRAFICAS
http://instruction2.mtsac.edu/rjagodka/BUSM_51_Project/Negotiating/Austra
lia.pdf
http://www.australia.com/en/things-to-do/australian-sport.html
http://www.australia.com/en/things-to-do/art-music-culture.html