Similarly, in 1901, every Australian had the right to vote, however in 1902 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were not allowed to vote in Federal Elections until 1962. They were also not considered in the census until 1967 (Australian Electoral Commission, 2017). A White Australia Policy was employed in 1901 and it was not entirely eradicated until the 1970’s. Non-white Australians and women who worked were often viewed as a risk. As a result, they were paid significantly less, which created a wage gap between women and men. This unequal and injustice treatment is still continuing in today’s society.
In contrast, Australia has shown to be egalitarian through its protection laws. Protectionism in Australia such as high tariffs have increased import prices which have made products more expensive thus, creating a more equal society as it encourages more employment. Nonetheless, this can interrupt the global supply chains which affects customers, goods and employees. During the 1960s, the Menzies government introduced that government financial grants will be given to non-government schools. The public educational systems would offer free secondary education to students in Australia of the new century. Thus, egalitarianism, to an extent, has been developed in Australia overtime.
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Inequalities are detrimental to society because individuals with low incomes and wealth struggle to achieve a socially moderate quality of life in order to partake in society (ACOSS, 2018). This encourages segregation in Australian society. When excessive inequality arises, it disadvantages the economy because when people are too underprivileged to contribute successfully in the paid workforce, economic growth decreases. The main way to measure inequalities are through the Gini coefficient which measures the distribution of income and wealth among a population. Income inequality is defined as a measure that shows the difference between different individuals’ or families’ disposable income in a particular year. It is evident that income inequality still occurs in today’s society because the highest 20% of Australians living in a house have five times as much income as the lowest 20% (ACOSS, 2018). The decrease in unemployment and unequal growth in wages contributed to the rise in income inequality from 2000 to 2008. On the other hand, wealth inequality is the unequal division of assets within different groups of people. The wealthiest 20% own nearly two thirds of all wealth, while the lowest own just 18% (ACOSS, 2018). Wealth is crucial to many life opportunities as it encourages more income and upholds it when individuals are incapable in on-going paid work, by producing investment revenues. Wealth inequality is much higher than income inequality in Australia and is presently still increasing. Due to wealth accumulating from former income leading to potential revenue, high amounts of wealth inequality can intensify overtime. This confirms that Australia is not as egalitarian as people perceive it to be.
Reports based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated a significant expansion in wage inequality across workers since the late 1970’s (Parliament of Australia, 2018). Crucial features that have pushed this event in occurring are technological changes including advances in IT that have improved business practices. As a result, significant wage advances have developed for some high-skilled workers, whereas low-skilled workers are receiving minimal wage leading to an increase in segregation (The Conversation, 2018). Globalization has resulted in a rise of job opportunities. This has further allowed for low-skilled workers with a seemingly lower salary (The Conversation, 2018). Professor Ronald Henderson conducted a survey in the 1960’s which examined living conditions by using a poverty line population (Parliament of Australia, 2018). He investigated that one in sixteen of Melbourne’s population was living in poverty. According to the Henderson poverty line, poverty rates have increased up to 23% of the population (Parliament of Australia, 2018). Evidence by the Parliament of Australia (2018) about impoverishment has revealed that poverty mostly occurs between particular groups such as Indigenous Australians, the unemployed and individuals who are unable to manage without social security benefits (Parliament of Australia, 2018). Indigenous Australians are more liable to poverty due to high levels in unemployment, low levels of academic schooling, poor well-being and insufficient housing.
Since the 1980’s, Australia has had a significant gap between the rich and the poor and is continuing to widen today. Globalization has had both a positive and negative effect on Australia, thus causing individuals to have their own understanding of egalitarianism. Before the 1980s, Australia was a classless civilization where there were no strong distinctions in wealth gaps. However, in today’s society, the Guardian informed that the highest 1% of Australians own more wealth than the bottom 70% combined, evidently demonstrating the wealth gap in Australia (Hutchens, 2018). Pilbara is a regional area in Western Australia where globalization has had a huge impact on egalitarianism. Pilbara is a place used for mining and has expanded over the past 20 years. The mine produces iron, natural gases and oil which is mostly traded from other countries due to globalization (Pick, Dayaram & Butler, 2010). A big gap has been formed between the people who work in the mines and the people who do not (Pick, Dayaram & Butler, 2010). Hence, certain groups such as local industries battle to survive since they are incapable in paying their employees the appropriate funds they need, instigating unemployment and a rising wealth gap in this area (Pick, Dayaram & Butler, 2010). Although globalization causes more job opportunities in this region, it also minimizes employments and develops unemployment for people who require it the most for survival. This validates that globalization has a significant consequence on how people view Australia’s egalitarianism society.
One main domestic reason for the inequalities in Australia is due to private school funding. A report discovered in 2016 indicated that 85% of private schools obtained more public funding than public schools (Australian Education Union, 2018). The inequality is due to a significant rise in Commonwealth money as the families who pay for their children to attend private schools have more money to educate them. It is based on their socioeconomic status thus, the federal government primarily funded private schools (Baker, 2019). Prime Minister, Scott Morrison had abandoned Australia’s 2.5 million public school students because his proposal did not consist of a ‘fair go’ to school funding (Australian Education Union, 2018). Morrison’s approach was that overfunding private schools would produce lots of money for the wealthiest schools and they would be able to spend it any way they wanted (FairFundingNow, 2019). Nonetheless, all children deserve equal funding and opportunities because cutting public school funding contributes to a decline in funding for students with disabilities, disadvantaged backgrounds or those who come from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds (FairFundingNow, 2019). This validates the inequality for school funding in Australia and demonstrated that Australia is not as egalitarian as it appears to be.
Stable and affordable housing is central in encouraging work opportunities and welfare by allowing social and economic contributions in society (Haylen, 2015). Housing affordability in Australia has depreciated overtime since the early 1980’s. Certain groups including low-income earners and individuals with no rental history such as recent migrants, have encountered particular barriers to accessing cheap rental housing through the private market (The University of Sydney, 2019). The increasing difference between income and rental price growth has damaged the affordability of earlier accessible rental houses for low to middle income earners. Statistics from the Family and Community Services advise that there are 271,000 lower income households in rental stress in urban Sydney (The University of Sydney, 2019). Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute data displays that a further 130,000 households in NSW are unable to access reasonable rental housing. As a result of increasing house prices, the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated that the projected amount of average weekly household spending on current housing increased from approximately 12.8% to 18% (The University of Sydney, 2019). This increase is partially due to fluctuating societal preferences, with some families preferring to put most of their budget into a greater or more comfortable home. Therefore, this does not create an egalitarian nation as people with lower social and economic wealth should not be unable to access affordable housing, when those who encompass a higher level of capital have countless opportunities in populated areas.
In conclusion, Australia is often represented as a classless society where each person is expected to get a ‘fair go’, however some individuals believe otherwise. This is because some of Australia’s policies have created an unequal division between the rich and the poor people. These inequalities are measured by the Gini coefficient which measures the distribution of income and wealth in a population. Since the 1980s, Australia has had a significant gap between the rich and the poor and is continuing to widen today. Globalization has had both a positive and negative effect on Australia, thus causing individuals to have their own understanding of egalitarianism. Many people believe that because of Australia’s mateship and respect towards each other, that it is an egalitarian society, however I have proved that this is not entirely accurate throughout the essay.
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