CLASS IN AUSTRALIA

Class in Australia

Class Is No Longer Relevant In Australia in the Twenty-First Century

Introduction

Australia has scored greatly on the development of its citizens. Australia was ranked 2nd among all countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) with a score of 0.94. The education and health sectors are well developed with a high literacy rate of 99% and high life expectancy of 82 years. The labour force contribution rate is also rising. To help raise input rates, the Australian government has introduced many initiatives that design to create half a million jobs by June 2013. Moreover, more than 95% of Australia is above the poverty line. Though, the alleged racial undercurrents in Australia and the poor rural healthcare record are causes for concern. Further, a low residents growth rate, coupled with the increasing average age of the residents, is a challenge for the Australian government. Due to the aging citizens, keeping high development of per person earnings will become difficult. Additionally, increasing age-related public expenditures covering insurance and health would raise budget pressures. This paper critically analyses the following claim, that “Class is no longer relevant in Australia in the twenty-first century”.

Discussion

Australia is a constitutional democracy. Free and fair multiparty elections occur in which representatives are elected. While the Australian government works diligently to respect the privileges of all citizens, problems remain.

Middle, Upper, and Lower Class

Just like their parts of the worlds, Australia also has various social classes such as Middle, Upper, and Lower class. Apart from growth in the development of its citizens, alleged class streams in Australia and a poor rural healthcare record are blots on Australia's high development of the citizens record. There have been numerous incidents of alleged racial attacks on Indians and their religious properties in Australia. Between January 2010 and June 2011, several Indian students were attacked and some Sikh places of worship were vandalized. Even the UN high commissioner of privileges, Navi Pillay, has commented on the "racist" undercurrent in Australia. According to the National Rural Health Alliance, the health deficit in rural and remote areas is more than A$2bn ($1.84bn) every year. This has to be tackled by the Australian government. (www.hreoc.gov.au)

Population of Australia is progressively rising and reached 22.7 million in January 2012. The median age in 2012 was 37.3 years, up from 29.4 years in 1980. The fertility rate has been comparatively steady over time and somewhat higher than that of most industrialised countries. It is currently 1.9 births per female - slightly less than the replacement level. Immigration is a more important contributor to citizens growth. It is estimated that in 2006 approximately 22% of all Australians were born overseas. In addition, another 26% of those born in Australia have at least one parent who was born overseas. Most of today's immigrants come from Asia. In the long term, the budget faces mounting pressure from citizens ageing and the rising costs of healthcare. (Rick 2010, 47-50)

Communities

The distribution of citizens is extraordinary owing to the fact that ...