January 26th is an important day. Not only is it Ellen De Generes’ birthday, it is also the countdown of the Triple J Hottest 100. These momentous occasions aside – it’s Australia Day. Apart from looking forward to a day off, it has got me thinking about what makes me proud about Australia. While in Spain for the first half of 2011, I was told a few times that you can really tell that I’m Australian. From my sunny Australian outlook – I’m laidback and love nothing more than laughing and hanging out at the beach - I assumed this was a compliment.
What idea of Australia, then, makes me proud?
Australians are a generous bunch. In fact in 2011, Australia was ranked the third most generous country in the world in terms of money and time donated, according to the World Giving Index. Nice one, us!
We may have slipped two places in the list since 2010, when we tied with New Zealand as the most generous countries but this isn’t cause for concern just yet: I’m happy to say that results I have been collecting for UNICEF’s Youth Survey on Foreign Aid have revealed that our generous spirit is alive and well in Australian youth. Reading responses to questions on foreign aid by young people aged between 10 and 25 has been heart-warming to see just what a positive attitude so many Australian young people have towards giving. Over 75% of respondents feel that Australia is not giving enough foreign aid, and the majority indicated that they were either extremely interested or quite interested in Australia’s foreign aid – pretty impressive!
Certainly, there are times when I’m less than proud of Australia’s past. We’ve got our work cut out for us in recognising and addressing the appalling history of the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and Australia Day is a particularly important day to remember this. But the generous spirit that I’m picking up on from the results from this survey has impressed me. More than 96% of responses so far have agreed that we need to help people in poverty both in Australia and overseas. We’ve got youth with big hearts who are capable of making a difference in the global community. And that’s definitely something to be proud of.
We can help shape Australia and show the world we care.
What you can do:
Are you proud of Australia’s approach to foreign aid? Do you feel confident that Australia is pulling its weight in the global community by giving foreign aid to other countries whose people need it?
Even if you feel like you know nothing about foreign aid, start taking an interest now! Have your say by completing this
short survey to let us know your feelings on Australia’s foreign aid.
About the author
Verity Smith is an Advocacy Intern at UNICEF Australia and is currently studying Arts/Law at the University of New South Wales. She is also volunteering at the Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern and hopes to pursue a career which involves her interests in human rights and child protection.
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