Customs and Ways of life in Australia

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Introduction

In Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 10 December 2012 noted that to highlight that a complex system for learning and teaching of foreign languages focused on upbringing of comprehensively developed, educated and intellectual young generation of people, and further integration of the republic with the global community has been established within the frames of the Law on Education and the National Programme for Personnel Training. Islam Karimov stressed that in view of entire enhancement of the system of teaching youths the foreign languages and training of specialists able to communicate in foreign languages fluently, by introducing progressive teaching methods using modern teaching and information-communication technologies thus enabling them to access the achievements of the world civilization and globally available information resources, ensuring international collaboration and communication.

Language is a means of expression. We express our feelings, emotions, thoughts, needs, desires in words, symbols and gesture which is considered as language. Language can be defined as verbal, physical, biologically innate, and a basic form of communication. Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Thus culture finds its expression in language; so, learning a new language without familiarity with its culture remains incomplete.

Culture is a powerful human tool for survival, but it is a fragile phenomenon. It is constantly changing and easily lost because it exists only in our minds. Our written languages, governments, buildings, and other man-made things are merely the products of culture. They are not culture in themselves. For this reason, archaeologists cannot dig up culture directly in their excavations. The broken pots and other artifacts of ancient people that they uncover are only material remains that reflect cultural patterns - they are things that were made and used through cultural knowledge and skills. In other words, Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Cultures are what make countries unique. Each country has different cultural activities and cultural rituals. Culture is more than just material goods, that is things the culture uses and produces. Culture is also the beliefs and values of the people in that culture. Culture also includes the way people think about and understand the world and their own lives. Culture can also vary within a region, society or sub group. In our course work we discuss the customs, traditions and ways of life in Australia.

Australia officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.

The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis («southern land») a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times. The earliest recorded use of the word Australiain English was in 1625 in «A note of Australia del Espíritu Santo, written by Sir Richard Hakluyt», published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus, a corruption of the original Spanish name «Austrialia del Espíritu Santo» (Southern Land of the Holy Spirit) for an island in Vanuatu. The Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia (Jakarta) in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. The first time that the name Australia appears to have been officially used was in a despatch to Lord Bathurst of 4 April 1817 in which Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledges the receipt of Matthew Flinders' charts of Australia. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted. In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.

For about 50,000 year before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups. After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies were established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Since federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states and several territories. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated in the eastern states and on the coast.

Australia is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the world's 12th-largest economy. In 2014 Australia had the world's fifth-highest per capita income. Australia's military expenditure is the world's 13th-largest. With the second-highest human development index globally, Australia ranks highly in many international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the Pacific Islands Forum.

The aim of the course work is to expand the knowledge about the customs, traditions and ways of life in Australia.

Thus, according to the set aim we are to solve the following tasks:

- to describe the customs and traditions in Australia;

- to characterize the ways of life in Australia.

The structure of the course work: introduction, two chapters, conclusion and bibliography.

1. Customs and traditions in Australia

1.1 Holidays and Leisure Activities

household cultural tradition holiday

Kangaroos, tennis players, and perhaps more recently wine, film actors, and the idea of Australia as an excellent tourist destination would sum up the extent of people's knowledge of the country.

Work and Leisure. It has always been difficult and is currently becoming even more so to talk about leisure in Australia without talking about work. There is in Australia a tension between the work ethic and the attitude symbolized by what is known as «the long weekend» - the fact that Australia's relatively plentiful public holidays are regularly transferred to Monday so that workers can get away for three successive days (or even four if they can swing it with their boss or doctor). One book by social commentator Ronald Conway even has the reproving title The Land of the Long Weekend (1978), which followed his equally tart The Great Australian Stupor (1971). Views of Australians (at least until fairly recently) as lazy, and frequent antagonism between employers and employees, where neither group can recognize any common interests, have been noted regularly. Sometimes they are traced back to the origins of Australian labor-a convict system under which the laborer had no rights at all and could even, at the whim of his master, be sent to Sydney with a letter in his hand demanding that he be whipped. The militancy and, for a long time, popularity of trade unions are ascribed to much the same causes. Sydney and Melbourne workers achieved the eighthour day as early as 1856-although it should be remembered that they still worked six days a week. Not until well into the twentieth century did unions achieve a half-day off on Saturday, reducing the working week to 44 hours, and later to 40.

Today there is the paradox that although the country has over 6 percent unemployment-more than one-half million people-as well as sizeable underemployment, of those in full-time jobs the average number of hours worked is 44 per week, and more than 45 percent of employees work overtime, much of it unpaid. Only in July 2002 did the Court rule that workers could refuse unreasonable demands from their employers to work overtime, although the concept of «unreasonable» was left carefully undefined. The picture has become increasing clouded by the rise of modern technology and the closing of the clear lines of demarcation between workplace and place of residence. Many modern devices are both tools and toys. Is that student huddled over a computer working on his assignment or is he playing computer games? Is that smartly dressed woman using her mobile phone to conclude a business deal or call up one of her friends for lunch? What is certainly true is that a great many Australians work longer than the regular forty hours, often without pay. So serious has the problem become that recently there have been arguments that workers' hours should be capped at 48.

The idea that Australians are afraid of hard work is dubious. Even colloquial language pays frequent tribute to the centrality of labor in the Australian consciousness, in terms like «hard yakka» or «hard slog» (hard work); «bullocking,» «bludger» (the term for someone who will not work and «bludges» on his mates and perhaps the worst insult you can offer an Australian); «graft» (work, especially manual work); «lurk» (an essentially dishonest scheme for making money); and above all, «dole bludger,» a term used contemptuously and often unfairly to denote those who dislike honest labor and prefer to rely on government handouts. Unsurprisingly, it is a claim often leveled against Aboriginal people.

On the Beach. At home the elders have their own rites of leisure. Actor Paul Hogan's famous series of advertisements in America («Throw another shrimp on the barbie» [barbeque]) testified to the popularity and ubiquity of the barbecue of a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, with its atmosphere of sunshine, good will, never-ending supplies of beer or cheap but eminently quaffable Australian wine, and blackened chops and sausages. «Australians all let us rejoice, / Our land is girt by sea,» goes the national anthem, «Advance Australia Fair,» and the beach is an important part of Australia's culture. During the summer months, especially, trips to the beach and beach resorts are almost obligatory. Small beach towns swell to 10 or more times their normal population during the months from December to March as holiday makers descend on them en masse, spending enough money to keep the towns viable for the other eight months of the year. With increasing affluence, many people have bought their own summer homes, which they can retreat to during the hotter months, or visit regularly at weekends, especially long weekends.

In the visits to the beach lies the origin of Australia's outstanding record in swimming and surfing and the growth of its famous life savers at Bondi, in Sydney. The Bondi Surf Bathers' Lifesaving Club was formed in 1906, after laws banning surfing in New South Wales were overturned. Although it has been responsible for saving thousands of struggling swimmers since then, ironically its most famous rescue was its first, that of Charles Kingsford Smith, who lived to become one of Australia's most famous aviators, setting a record for flights from Australia to England in 1929.

Australia's preeminence in surfing began with Bernard «Midge» Farrelly, who won the unofficial world surfboard riding championship at Makaha, Hawaii, in 1963. The following year he went on to win the first official world championship at Manly in Sydney. On the darker side, the beach can be a place of menace, especially to tourists who are unable to read the warning signs on beaches. Between 1992 and 1998 there were 102 reported drownings of overseas residents. Although the likelihood of death from shark attack is reputedly lower than that of being struck by lightning, or even being stung to death by bees, sharks strike the same menacing chord in the Australian consciousness as Peter Benchley's novel Jaws suggests they do in the United States. Shark attacks have become both more common and more daring in recent years, prompting fierce debates with environmentalists about how far measures should be taken to protect potential victims from the sharks. A similar debate has raged in the north of Australia over how far man-eating crocodiles should be protected or hunted down. A less conspicuous but equally deadly predator is the bluebottle jellyfish, with its potentially lethal sting, while less dramatically still, but most dangerously, cancers contracted from the rays of the sun are the biggest killer of all. As the hole in the ozone layer has widened and temperatures have slowly risen, Australians have finally begun to realize the danger of prolonged and unprotected sunbathing. Advertising campaigns encouraging sunbathers to wear hats and use preventative creams («Slip, slop, slap») have changed the culture of sunbathing as much as drunk-driving campaigns have changed public attitudes to driving under the influence of alcohol, or the appearance of HIV/AIDS has changed sexual practices, but there is still a lot of progress to be made.

A statement by SunSmart, the skin cancer awareness program, reads, «Attitudes towards tanning and sun protection have changed dramatically. Australians have realised the pitfalls of their sun-loving outdoor lifestyle and are taking preventative measures to reduce their risk of skin cancer.» But perhaps not dramatically enough as yet. According to SunSmart, more than 800,000 Australian men get sunburned every summer weekend, and more than 1,200 Australians, two-thirds of them male, still die from skin cancer every year.

Writer Robert Drewe argues that the beach is an indispensable part of Australian life and myth, often initiating young Australians into sexual experience and drinking. Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette in their best-selling novel Puberty Blues (1979) echo the thought, though they also point to the ability of the beach's attractions to outweigh even those of the girls: «The beach was the most sacred place of all. Boys' boards came before everything. It was waves before babes. They were faithful to the sea, and we were faithful to them.» The beach's almost mythic quality in the Australian consciousness has been captured by several artists, most often in the black and white photographs of Max Dupain (1911-82). His most famous photograph shows a bather, tanned and glistening wet, lying on his stomach and absorbing the sun, the very epitome of hedonism.

In Perth, nudist beachgoers appear in the «best bum» competition at the Swanbourne Olympics. In stark contrast, arid and landbound Alice Springs in the middle of Australia has its own Henley-on-Todd-where the river consists of a dry bed and the competitors carry their boats instead of rowing them. Darwin in the far north has devised another uniquely Australian competition in which rafts race against one another: all are made of beer cans. Even such parodic events, however, testify to the centrality of the beach in Australian leisure. Diggers at Gallipoli during World War I risked their lives to assert their inalienable right to swim off the beach while Turkish snipers took shots at them. One last attraction of the beach is that, for most of the time, it is still free. One study of tourism points out that «Over 95 percent of the Australian coastline is in public ownership. Only a handful of islands and some pre-1910 subdivisions in NSW are in private ownership, along with perhaps 150 marinas developed around Australia since the 1960 s.»

Other Forms of Holidaying. At the same time, ski resorts are available in many parts of Australia. Ski clubs had been organized as early as the 1860s and the first successful skiing expedition to the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko, Australia's tallest mountain, although still miniscule by overseas standards, took place in 1897. Now New South Wales has Thredbo and Perisher Valley while Victoria has Mt. Hotham and the Mt. Buffalo National Park. Australia won its first-ever gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 and followed it up with a second-in short-track speed skating and freestyle aerials, respectively.

Among the newer forms of entertainment are adventure holidays for the young and young-minded. The rise of four-wheel drive vehicles means that more and more of Australia's most isolated places have become accessible, though they have not displaced the old combination of car and caravan, which forms a kind of subculture of its own. Recreational vehicle drivers automatically hail each other as they pass, and some people, especially couples in retirement, have made their RV a kind of permanent, mobile home. This was one reason why, when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced, there was enormous protest from RV owners and demands that they be exempted.

There are other, more formalized, modes of entertainment. Building on nineteenth-century festivals such as Proclamation Day in Glenelg, South Australia, and the Easter Fair in Bendigo, Victoria, the major cities now mostly conduct their own celebrations. Melbourne has its Moomba festival in March, with celebrations and displays of various kinds-fireworks, exhibitions on the water, a parade through the city, and so on. Sydney more recently has attracted huge crowds, many of them from overseas, for its Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, and the growth of artists' and writers' festivals over the last two decades, not only in the capital cities but even in regional centers, has been astonishing. Centenaries provide further regular occasions for celebration.

Sport. Most countries now accept that sport plays a major part in the fabric of their culture, but there would be few countries in the world where it is more highly regarded than in Australia. This is the only nation that holds a public holiday for the running of a horserace, the Melbourne Cup, which is always held on the first Tuesday of November. The Melbourne Cup in 1901 attracted a crowd of 95,000, or virtually one in five of Melbourne's then population. Even now it commands attendance of over 120,000, and the nation traditionally comes to a halt as the race is shown over television. People who never otherwise bet in their lives take a plunge on the Cup and the Totalizer Agency Board (TAB), the State-run offtrack betting agency, is crowded as lines form from early morning. Many businesses organize their own staff «sweeps» where each participating member pays a small sum to receive the name of a horse, and those who draw the winning names receive a prize after the race is run.

Australians play or watch almost every sport there is, and Australia is one of only a small handful of countries that have competed in every Olympic Games. They have twice hosted the Games-at Melbourne in 1956 when they won 13 Gold Medals, their highest achievement to that point, and in Sydney in 2000 when they won a remarkable 58 medals, 16 of them in swimming alone, and came in fourth in the overall medal tally behind the three superpowers, the United States, Russia, and China, an astonishing achievement in terms of the countries' relative populations. But probably the sports in which they excel most are cricket (played largely among Commonwealth countries), tennis, and swimming-as well, of course, as their own indigenous code of Australian Rules football. Among other widely popular sports are golf, Rugby League, Rugby Union, squash, car and motorbike racing, horseracing, boxing, rowing, cycling, yachting, netball, hockey, soccer, baseball, and basketball.

The rise of American's influence can be seen in the growing popularity of the last two sports. There are even a few teams that play American football at a very low level-just as there are countries overseas, including the United States, which have begun to play cricket and Australian football.

Television and More. Although a great many Australians still play sports, many more watch from the comfort of their living rooms. Television first came to Australia in 1956, just in time for the staging of the Melbourne Olympic Games, and was enthusiastically embraced by Australians, so much so, in fact, that critics feared it would decimate other forms of entertainment. By 1960 Australians had purchased 600,000 TV sets. For a time it seemed as if the pessimists might be right, with cinemas, for instance, closing down everywhere and live entertainment such as cabaret, circuses, rodeos, and comedy acts disappearing. A favorite joke of the 1950s has a prospective patron phoning the local cinema and saying, «What time does the movie start?» to which the proprietor replies, «Well, what time can you get here?» But most of them adapted and survived. Australians are once again avid cinemagoers and there has been a huge revival of comedy acts, with several capital cities having their Comedy Festivals and Fringe Festivals.

Television, too, continued to adapt, with color television eventually coming to Australia; cable is offering a far wider range of programs, and most recently digital television is being introduced. Australians are also keen concertgoers and attenders of art exhibitions.

1.2 Australian Customs

Greetings. Men usually shake hands (firmly) the first time they meet. Women may or may not shake hands. «How do you do», «Good morning» and «Good afternoon» are formal greetings. Usually students and young people just say «Hello» or «Hi». People often appreciate it if you add their name: e.g. «Hi, Peta».

Social invitations. Whenever you receive an invitation formally (a written note) or informally (by telephone), it is good to reply quickly and honestly. On a written invitation, «RSVP,» means, «Please reply» by the date that is stated. It is usual to ring and tell your friend or colleague if you have to change your plans or if you are delayed. When you are invited to join friends for an outing to a restaurant or the theatre you will usually be expected to pay for your own meal and/or tickets. If the friend offers to «shout» then this means that they will pay for you. If you are in doubt, ask.

Servants. If you are used to having servants to do most of your work, you may find the Australian way of life a little difficult at first. In Australia, it is not considered shameful for anyone to do manual work and males often share in the housework. A person sometimes employs a cleaner, who comes once a week to clean the house, but Australians usually do most of the housework, child care and gardening themselves. This means that they don't have as much free time as people who employ servants.

Bring a plate. You may receive an invitation to a Barbecue be asked to «bring your own steak or veggie patties». This seems strange to most international students but it is an acceptable way to entertain. Buy a steak or patties at the supermarket (they come neatly packaged), put it in a bag and give it to your host when they greet you at the party. If you are asked to «bring a plate», this means «bring a plate of food» as a contribution to the meal - don't just bring an empty plate!.

B.Y.O? Bring your own. If you are told that a party is BYO it means that you are expected to bring your own drink - soft drink or alcohol. Some restaurants are also BYO. At these restaurants it is acceptable to bring your own alcohol, usually wine or beer. Soft drinks are normally available from the restaurant. Australians drink a broad variety of refreshments. Water is not automatically brought to tables in restaurants. Just ask for water and it will be brought.

Conversation. Don't be worried if you are not fluent in the English language. If an English speaker is speaking too fast ask them to speak a little more slowly.

Some questions are not asked in Australia unless you know a person very well or unless you are related to them. For example: don't ask someone their age (especially an older person) and don't ask men or women how much money they earn. Questions about the cost of a person's house and the cost of the various things they own are considered impolite in Australia. If you would like to know the cost of something, ask the question in a general way. For example, you could say, «How much does the average house cost in Brisbane?»

Saying thank you. If you are invited to a party celebrating someone's birthday, or for Christmas, take a small gift. If you are invited to a meal and you drink alcohol it is common practice to take a bottle of wine to contribute. If you do not drink alcohol then it is not necessary to do this. It is never necessary to give expensive gifts, but a small souvenir from your country, a box of chocolates or a bunch of flowers would be received with delight. Thank you is a phrase used often in Australia. It is usual to say thank you even for small favours done by people who are just doing their jobs (eg shop assistants or waiters).

The use of names. Australians usually have two or three names. The last name is their family name or surname while the first one or two names are their given names. On all official documents it is important that you always use your name in the same order. As different cultures adopt varying practices in relation to names many overseas students underline their family name, eg Wong Chee Lee. This is also why some Australians may have difficulty remembering your name.

Here are a few guidelines on the use of names:

- First names are used more frequently in Australia than in other countries. It is usually all right to use a person's first name if he or she is about the same age and status as you. This also true for people younger than you.

- Lecturers/supervisors will often invite you to call them by their first name, which is very acceptable practice in Australia.

- A man or woman who is older than you is often addressed as Mrs, Miss, Ms or Mr until the person asks you to use her or his first name, or until you get to know the person better.

- Many Australian women use the form of address, Ms (pronounced Mizz). Ms is used for both single and married women and replaces Miss or Mrs. Use «Ms» when you are not sure if a woman is single or married.

- If you have any doubts about what to call someone, simply ask, «What shall I call you?» If people seem unsure what to call you, tell them the name you prefer.

- The use of «nicknames» is very common in Australia. A nickname is not a person's real name but a name given by friends (usually) because of some physical characteristic or behaviour pattern, or it may be a contraction of a real name. Someone named Andrew, for instance, might be given the nickname, «Andy». Being called a nickname is not uncomplimentary; in fact, it is often a sign of acceptance and affection.

Meals and table manners. Australians eat three meals a day: breakfast (7 am-8 am), lunch (12 noon-2 pm) and dinner or «tea» (6 pm-7 pm, sometimes later), supper - (late evening) usually after an evening social event is only tea and coffee and a light snack. When invited to «tea» it is best to ask «at what time?» Tea usually means the evening meal, but as Australians also have «afternoon tea» (mid afternoon light snack) and «morning tea» (mid morning light snack) confusion might result from the word «tea». Australians forget that this term is not perfectly clear to newcomers. Australians eat with their fingers only at barbecues or picnics outside the home. Inside the house, you are usually invited to sit down and to use knives, forks and spoons. If you are not sure which one to use first, wait to see what your hosts do and copy them. Do feel free to ask your host if you prefer to eat according to your own country's custom. There is no cultural significance in eating with left or right hand in Australia. If you have medical, dietary or religious reasons for not eating certain foods, explain this to your hosts when you accept their invitation to dinner. It is the Australian custom to offer food or drink only once. If your first reply is «No» out of politeness, your «No» will probably be taken literally and food may not be offered again.

Smoking. If you are at someone else's home and you wish to smoke, it is common practice to go out of doors, as many Australians find cigarette smoking offensive. Smoking is forbidden in all University buildings, government buildings, public transport and many restaurants, shops and indoor venues in Australia.

Tipping. Tipping is not the usual custom in Australia except in the more expensive restaurants. In these situations, people usually tip the waiter or waitress about 10% of the bill, if the service has been satisfactory. Tips are not given in cafeterias, or in fast food shops (like Macdonald's etc). Sometimes the small change is given to the taxi driver. Hairdressers do not expect a tip.

Alcohol. In Australia, people under the age of 18 years are not allowed to buy alcoholic drinks. There are also heavy penalties for people who drink and drive. If you are drinking in a pub, you should pay for each drink as soon as you receive it, and not when you are about to leave the hotel. The Australian custom of shouting means that if someone buys you a drink you are expected to shout him or her back by buying his or her next drink.

Bargaining. You can't bargain in Australian shops for food items. Goods are sold according to the prices at which they are marked. However for household items eg washing machines and motor vehicles - some shops will offer discounts for cash or, if you ask, they might match or better another stores price. Also, in some street and weekend markets you may be able to bargain.

What not to do in public. It is against the law to be drunk, to swear, talk indecently, urinate or behave in a sexually indecent way in a public place. There are also local council regulations against spitting. If you need to clear your throat or nose, use a handkerchief or tissue.

Mothers and babies. Most large department stores and toilets in public buildings have a mothers' room where you can sit and feed your baby quietly and change soiled nappies. It is increasingly common for women to breast-feed their babies in public.

Noise. In most States it is an offence to make loud noise that annoys your neighbours even in your own home (eg playing stereo music) after 11.00 pm. or before 7.00 am.

2. Ways of life in Australia

2.1 Marriage, Gender and Children

In its early years, Australia always had many more men than women, and some feminist critics have suggested that this affected male attitudes toward women and continues to do so even today. As the title of one book on the subject suggests, they were, according to this view, either «Damned Whores or God's Police,» the latter a phrase first coined by the noted nineteenth century reformer Caroline Chisholm. The disparity in numbers between the two sexes was even worse in the outback where conditions were hardly conducive to a civilized life and where women with children were actively discouraged as being useless encumbrances. Their absence gave a new significance to the concept of Australian mateship. Historian Miriam Dixson points with ironical scorn to the fact that Australia's unofficial national anthem, «Waltzing Matilda,» does not feature a woman, as the title might lead us to expect; the eponymous Matilda is a bushman's swag, the cloth in which he carried his few possessions, and «waltzing Matilda» means merely «carrying a swag.»

Dixson points also to the thesis of Russel Ward in The Australian Legend (discussed earlier) and argues that the qualities he describes are «misogynist to the core.» It centers around a style of masculinity that «reeks of womanlessness.» And the true Australian had a further privilege omitted by Ward: the «privilege of despising not only `new chums and city folk' but also human beings who were female.» Indeed, it is argued, most, if not all, Australian historians until recently largely ignored the role and position of women in Australian society.

Ward and what became known as the radical nationalist tradition have come under fire from other commentators as well, with feminist critics claiming that his theories are male chauvinist, racist, and historically flawed. Feminist historians have also argued recently that the role of women as pioneers along with the men in the nineteenth century, as «creating a nation,» in the title of one book, has been seriously undervalued. In contrast to Ward's rugged, solitary individualists, men were increasingly likely to marry and father children in the second half of the century as more women became available and the imbalance between the sexes steadily righted itself. They point out that whereas in 1861 there were 138 white men for every 100 white women, by 1891, with the population now over three million, the ratio had changed to 119 to 100 white women. They go on: The increasing likelihood that adult men were married or would marry in the not too distant future gave further substance to the valorization of the respectable, prudent family man fostered in the colonies before 1860. It was a model of masculinity distinctly at variance with the rough-hewn independent white male of the frontier myth, and competed with this representation quite forcefully.

Like the novelist Patrick White, Dixson often casts the Irish and their «primitivity» as villains and frequently suggests they play a central part, one quite out of proportion to their number in the community, in the general demeaning of women in Australia. A whole chapter of her book is devoted to criticism of the Irish. Only secondly comes the formative impact of convictism. She traces it also, more plausibly, to Australian males' sexual misuse of Aboriginal women («black velvet») and their corresponding guilt. But part of her argument, at least, is flawed by the fact that the discovery of a convict among one's ancestors is more likely to be treated as a badge of honor and distinction by most contemporary Australians than the reverse. In his stories, written around the turn of the twentieth century, Henry Lawson tends at times to idealize or even sentimentalize women, further subtle if unintentional ways of reducing them to subordinate roles, but his lesser-known contemporary Barbara Baynton, in a small collection of stories gathered together as Bush Studies (1902), shows a horrified revulsion at the predicament of women in the Bush. The women in the stories run into an almost barbaric as well as deeply hostile world in which they are alone and vulnerable.

As in comparable countries during the same period, there were always women who fought for the rights of their sisters, even if they saw those rights in terms that might now seem narrow and unduly concerned with protection rather than equality. Usually, they were white, middle-class, well-educated women with a strongly moralistic bent. Temperance was high on their list of priorities, and in 1915 they succeeded in having pubs (hotels) closed down by six o'clock in the evening out of deference to the war effort, leading to the infamous «six o'clock swill» by which men forced themselves to down as much beer as they could in the short time after work before the pubs closed. Introduced as a temporary measure, the law was not repealed until 1954. Such was the strength of the «wowser» (Puritan) lobby in New South Wales that it also successfully agitated for a referendum on prohibition. The vote, which took place in 1928, was overwhelmingly against (896,752 as opposed to 357,684) but it was not the only occasion on which there were attempts to ban alcohol. The four «serpents,» in fact, were seen to be gambling, seduction, whisky, and cruelty.

Just as marriage as an institution has declined sharply and the percentage

of marriages that end in divorce has risen, so the rate of childbirth is equally on the decline. It is a process that began more or less out of necessity during the Depression when children were an unwanted burden but is now prevalent for different reasons. According to recent figures, the rate of Australian fertility is little more than 1.7 per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1, compared with 2.95 30 years ago. The falling rate is believed to have several causes, among them women delaying childbirth until their mid - to late 30s and therefore being unable to have many children, and an increasing number of women choosing to remain childless, even if in a relationship with a male partner, owing to the high cost of rearing children and the implications for their careers. In 1996, 20 percent of Australian women age 45-49 with a bachelor's degree were childless. The overall percentage was 11 percent, clearly indicating that it is far easier for women to gain a higher education if they do not have the burden and responsibility of a family.

Successive surveys by the Australian Institute of Family Studies graphically trace the pattern. The first, in 1971, found that 78 percent of married women under 35 felt that whatever career a woman had was not as important as being a mother. By 1982 the figure had dropped to 46 percent and by 1991 it was down to 26 percent.

Divorce had always been more difficult for women until the passing of the Commonwealth Family Law Act in 1975. Previously, all grounds for divorce had been based on the notion of the fault of one party-usually adultery-but also other faults such as cruelty, bigamy, or desertion. In the nineteenth century males had to prove only adultery; women had to supply an additional ground. In the latter part of the twentieth century the rate of divorce increased considerably, from around four percent to as much as one-third of marriages. There is no doubt that the Family Law Act was partly responsible for this. It removed the concept of fault and announced that the only necessary ground for divorce was the «irretrievable breakdown» of a marriage, testified to by the partners' separation for a period of twelve months or more. Maintenance and custody were also decided on a no-fault basis, with the primary emphasis being placed on the welfare of any children resulting from the marriage. Many divorce proceedings are now initiated by women.

In 2001, 55,300 Australian couples divorced-11 percent more than in 2000 and the highest figure since 1976 when the no-fault divorce law took effect-and more than one in five families with children under 15 are headed by a sole parent. But in response to criticisms, the Family Court Chief Justice argued that «I think it's not necessarily a bad thing that there's been an increase in the break-up of unsatisfactory relationships.» While sometimes it was too easy for people to walk away from relationships, «you shouldn't be trying to, for example, nurture violent relationships where one party is a victim of psychological abuse or violence.»

One change in procedure has meant that the institution of adoption is dying out as state governments use other legal arrangements to care for unwanted and at-risk children. Guardianship orders are now favored over the traditional process of adoption, in which new birth certificates are issued and all legal ties to biological families severed. The number of adoptions has plummeted from nearly 10,000 in 1971 to a record low of 514 in 2001. There has been a 30 percent decrease in the last three years alone. Fewer children are available for adoption because society no longer stigmatizes unmarried mothers to the same degree, and income support for sole parents makes keeping a child more viable.

One sign of the new secular society that drives some conservatives and Christians to despair is that it is no longer necessary to marry if a couple decides to cohabit. This is so even if they have children. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that de facto couples make up over 10 percent of all couple relationships and that the number is rising as the number of marriages is falling. They are now as much a phenomenon of the educated middle-classes as they are of the working class. It is no longer a mark of shame to live in an unmarried relationship and the old term, de facto, has largely been replaced by partner.

Every so often there are protests from conservative commentators. In 2002, when highly popular tennis star Pat Rafter was declared Australian of the Year (along with the current Prime Minister John Howard), two journalists in leading Australian newspapers criticized the choice because he was living in an unmarried relationship and he and his partner had announced that they were expecting a baby. They had even spoken of having as many as seven children.

Studies have found that women in de facto relationships are increasingly likely to be career women, like Rafter's partner, Lara, who is a model, and have corresponding status and financial independence. They tend to have particularly high expectations of their relationship. The increasingly fragmented nature of the population was shown up tellingly in the 2001 census. The population overall increased by 6 percent in the past five years, but the number of households rose by 9 percent, with the average occupancy falling dramatically to only 2.6 persons. Australia's population has continued to grow, however, as it is bolstered by the immigration program, a subject of constant debate. The current population is 20.3 million, but by 2050 it is projected to be 27.8 million-at an increase of around 15 percent.

2.2 Cuisine

Up until the 1950s Australian cuisine was largely conspicuous by its absence; indeed, probably many people could not have told you what the word cuisine meant. There was a preponderance of meat, usually roasted or grilled and invariably overdone, accompanied by soggy vegetables, especially potatoes, and heavy gravy. I remember sitting down at a pub once to a counter lunch of steak and five differently cooked kinds of potato. Fish was almost unknown except to Roman Catholics, who were obliged to eat it on Fridays in deference to a papal decree banning consumption of meat on that day. Most of them survived on the ubiquitous fish «n chips, eaten, steaming, out of one end of a bag wrapped in newspapers. The fish was usually the delicious «flake» (actually shark), and the food was both cheap and nutritious.

Even at Christmas, English customs were assiduously followed. In the middle of summer friends would send each other Christmas cards depicting snow, reindeer, and English scenery. Stores would play incessantly such classics as «White Christmas» and «Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.» And on Christmas Day, in temperatures approaching 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), families and friends would sit down to plates of steaming roast meat, followed by plum pudding with lavish servings of brandy custard and cream. Cooking was almost always the province of the woman of the house, the males not deigning to indulge in such domestic concerns, and usually adjourning to the «local» (pub-after pubs were finally opened for Christmas Day) to imbibe a few beers before returning home in time for the prepared lunch, after which followed a healthy nap. The extent to which this has changed represents almost a seismic shift in Australian culture and it is difficult to do justice to it. As many as 27 percent of males are now the primary or sole cook in a household. While still a minority, it represents a huge shift from a generation ago. Even more importantly, the arrival of emigrants from Europe after World War II slowly but steadily transformed the habits of Australian eaters.

Australian cuisine is now among the most culturally diverse in the world, especially in the major cities, but in many regional areas as well. Restaurants have sprung up specializing in a remarkable variety of national foods: Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Lebanese, Malaysian, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Afghanistan, Thai, Vietnamese, and even Swedish, Balinese, and self-styled «Modern British.» In the past this would have been as much an oxymoron as «Aussie Gourmet.» Chefs are now much more confident and daring; experimentation and cross-fertilization are common, especially among the various Asian restaurants, and many restaurants simply like to call themselves «Modern» or «Mediterranean.»

Native Food. At the same time, the growth of interest in cuisine led to a reassessment of local food as well. Since 1993, kangaroo, wallaby, and possum have been legally sold in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. Emu is now cultivated, although there is some concern that the numbers of emu have declined by 50 percent over the past 20 years, and buffalo is a common item at fancier restaurants. Imaginative chefs now create dishes like Wallaby Pie with sheep yogurt, or Wallaby Casserole.

Ironically, however, interest in native foods is much stronger overseas-in the United States, France, Germany, and England-than at home. Suggestions recently that wombat could replace the traditional Aussie lamb roast on Sundays were greeted with derision. Other exotic natives mentioned as possibilities for cultivation have been the bettong, a ratlike miniature kangaroo, the diminutive pademelon, and some of the more common species of wallaby. The British, for instance, consume 10 times more Australian native produce-what is often referred to as «bush tucker» - as Australians themselves do. There is even a factory in Glasgow that processes ingredients such as bush tomato, desert lime, lemon myrtle, mountain pepper, and wattleseed into a range of convenience foods specifically labeled as Australian. Some companies sell as much as 90 percent of their Australian produce overseas.

However, if resistance to indigenous food is still strong on the part of Australian consumers, it is beginning to weaken. In March 2001, Coles, one of Australia's two largest supermarket chains, announced its Taste Australia initiative. This had two aims: to bring to Australian consumers some of the foods and tastes that indigenous Australians lived off for many years before the coming of Europeans, and to assist Aboriginal communities to resume sustainable harvesting and cultivation practices. Foods previously sold only in gourmet stores would now become more freely available. These include Kakadu plum jelly, macadamia oil, wattleseed sauce, pepperberry vinegar, bush tomato sauce, lemon myrtle chili sauce, lemon aspen chili sambal sauce, native plum sauce, ironbark honey, and chili sauce and pepper leaf mustard sauce. Twenty-five cents from each sale would be funneled into an Indigenous Food Fund that would be used to ensure the long-term supply of indigenous ingredients.

Australia has-or used to have-a considerable number and variety of fish, but once consumers turned to fish, they did so with such enthusiasm that some species were almost instantly fished out; the rise and fall of orange roughy, for instance, is a dismal saga in itself. Among the kinds of fish whose numbers are low or uncertain are swordfish, school shark (more commonly known as flake), blue warehou (also known as black trevally, sea bream, and snottynose trevalla), rock ling, orange roughy, and eastern gemfish. Nevertheless, according to the CSIRO's marine division, more than 600 species of finfish and shellfish, both marine and freshwater, are caught and sold in Australia for local and international consumption. In Victoria, at least, the 10 most popular kinds of fish are blue grenadier, flathead, pink ling, blue warehou, gummy shark, blue-eye trevalla, king dory, orange roughy, Atlantic salmon (the basis of Tasmania's booming aquaculture industry), and yellowfin tuna-to which should probably be added rainbow trout, garfish, and King George whiting.

Changes. While much of the increased interest in food can be put down to the arrival of migrants from Europe, it was a change already underway. Veteran food writer Margaret Fulton, whose 20 books have sold four million copies, began a column for Woman's Day back in 1960 that encouraged imaginative, fresh food even of a simple kind («101 ways with mince»), encouraged men to take an interest in cooking, and promoted the concept of dinner parties, which in turn led to more dining out. Other influences can be traced back even further. Some Chinese immigrants abandoned the goldfields to cultivate their market gardens, carrying vegetables through towns once a week and finding a clientele.

The rise of the all-pervasive barbecue in Australia is not so much an innovation as a development of practices adopted by the Aborigines, who frequently cooked larger meats and fish with hot stones or coals, which was continued by the early white settlers. One writer on food has noted, «Campfire cooking, in a sense, never lost its place entirely in the Australian way of life. The climate has always been a big factor in this predilection for the bush, the out-of - doors, camping, and the rough, simple life. But in earlier days for many it was a necessity rather than, or as well as, a pleasure.»