Whilst built and strongly influenced by the British, contemporary Australia is a mixture of cultures. This is largely due to strong immigration policies, bringing more than 200,000 new migrants to Australia in the last year. In October 2005 one in four people in Australia were born overseas! With the Government's increased focus on immigration policy there is no doubt that Australia is set to remain a strong multicultural society. Australia's multicultural policy promotes acceptance of and respect for cultural diversity, and supports the right of each Australian to maintain and celebrate, within the law, their culture, language or religion Visit http://www.immi.gov.au/multicultural/australian/index.htm Living in Harmony http://www.harmony.gov.au and the Culture and Recreation Portal http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au

Generally, Australians are open and friendly people, usually informal in their relationships. Most people introduce themselves by their first name, and it is acceptable to do the same. Addressing someone by their first name is common in most business relations.

There are some cultural characteristics which can assist a newcomer in their initial dealings with Australians, whether in business or personal relationships. One of those is that Australians focus more on a task than on building a relationship. This is quite different for people coming from relationship focused cultures like those from the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. This means that Australians are relatively open to dealing with strangers and prefer to talk business from the start. Communicating over the phone and via email is totally acceptable.