■Australian Society and Culture
◆ Aussie Modesty
◇Australians are pragmatic and always aware of not leaving the impression that they think they are better than anyone else.
◇They place emphasis on authenticity, sincerity, and dislike pretentiousness.
◇Australians appreciate people who are modest, humble, self- deprecating and humorous.
◇They do not pay attention to their academic or other achievements and tend to regard people who do as untrustworthy.
◇They often understate their own success, which may make them appear not to be achievement-oriented.
◆ Mates
Australians attach great importance to relationships. With a relatively small population, it is important to get on well with everyone, since you never know when your paths may cross again. This results in a win-win negotiating style, since having everyone leave with positive feelings is beneficial to promote future business dealings.
◆ A Multi cultural Society
The initial population of Australia consisted of Aborigines and people of British and Irish descent. After World War II a lot of people migrated to Australia from Europe, especially from Greece, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, and Turkey. This responded to the Australian policy of proactively trying to attract immigrants to increase the population and work force.
In the last thirty years, Australia has liberalized its immigration policy and opened its borders to South East Asia,which has given rise to a real shift in self-perception as Aussies start to give a new definition of themselves as a multi-cultural and multi faith society rather than the old homogenous, white, Anglo- Saxon, Protestant nation.
■Australian Etiquette and Customs
◆ Meeting Etiquette
◇Australians are informal so greetings are casual and relaxed.
◇The common form of greetings is a handshake and smile.
◇While an Australian may say, “G’day” or “G’day, mate”, this may sound patronizing from a foreigner. Visitors should simply say, “Hello” or “Hello, how are you?”