Australia is a multi-ethnic, multi-faith, multicultural society. Its future depends on the constructive engagement of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. Though they have lived in Australia for a number of years, ethno-specific groups that are on opposite sides of the conflicts in the Middle East have had remarkably little contact with each other. Isolation of this kind can deepen mistrust and suspicion, lead in some cases to provocative actions that hinder conflict resolution, deepen old divisions and create new tensions within Australia. There is therefore an urgent need to bring these groups together and facilitate constructive dialogue between them.

Principal investigators: Joseph A. Camilleri (La Trobe University)︎, Michalis S. Michael (La Trobe University)︎, and N.A.J. Taylor︎
Institutional partner: La Trobe University’s Centre for Dialogue︎

Sponsors: The William Buckland Foundation; Victorian Government; La Trobe University
Funding: $200,000 (external)
Key output: more than thirty hours of inter-cultural dialogue