By : Angela Banerjee

2013MB0003

Overview
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.

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 Australiafilm, music, painting, theatre, dance and craftshave 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..

Religion and its importance

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."

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 selfdeprecating, 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
NioSouthern 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 cooperation include counter-terrorism, border control and regional and international
institutions

Politics
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

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 orangeflavoured 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: Were a classless, egalitarian society where everyone gets a
fair go. Even a struggling battler is respected because hes 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 its 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.