<P> Prior to settlement by Europeans, the Australian continent was not a single nation, but hosted many different Aboriginal cultures and between 200 and 400 active languages at any one time . According to the 2006 census some 150 indigenous languages are still spoken . The present nation of Australia resulted from a process of immigration intended to fill the continent (also excluding potential rivals to the British Empire). Settlers from the United Kingdom, after 1800 including Ireland, were the earliest people that were not native to the continent to live in Australia . Dutch colonisation and possible visits to Australia by explorers and / or traders from China, did not lead to permanent settlement . Until 1901, Australia existed as a group of independent British settler colonies . </P> <P> The Immigration Restriction Act 1901, known informally as the White Australia policy, restricted non-European immigration to Australia from 1901 to 1973 . The policy limited the ethnic and cultural diversity of the immigrant population . The policy was an attempt to preserve the British ethno - cultural identity of the Australian nation, promote European immigration, and to exclude persons who did not fit the European, predominately Anglo - Celtic, character of Australian society . As the twentieth century progressed and the number of migrants from the United Kingdom became insufficient to meet labour shortages, immigrants came increasingly from other parts of Europe, such as Italy, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, and the former Yugoslavia . </P> <P> Following the initial moves of the Whitlam Labor government in 1973, further official national multicultural policies were implemented by Fraser's Conservative Coalition government in 1978 . The Labor Government of Bob Hawke continued with these policies during the 1980s and early 1990s, and were further supported by Paul Keating up to his electoral defeat 1996 . CALD (or Culturally and Linguistually Diverse) policies continue to be implemented at all levels of government and public service, such as medical support systems which cater specifically to non-English speaking residents . </P> <P> The meaning of multiculturalism has changed significantly since its formal introduction to Australia . Originally it was understood by the mainstream population as a need for acceptance that many members of the Australian community originally came from different cultures and still had ties to it . However, it came to mean the rights of migrants within mainstream Australia to express their cultural identity . It is now often used to refer to the notion that people in Australia have multiple cultural or ethnic backgrounds . </P>

When was the policy of multiculturalism introduced in australia