Social cohesion talks in Parramatta drew 160 leaders
A social cohesion summit in Parramatta backed a renewed push for the federal parliament to declare Australia a multicultural country after 160 invited leaders met on 29 July 2026.
Ed Husic, the federal Member for Chifley, opened the Think Social Cohesion National Summit with a defence of multiculturalism on 29 July 2026. He argued Australia built it through work and necessity, not luck, and warned against dismissing it as a woke concept.
“This country, for its success, needed multiculturalism. This was not a woke experiment. It is not something that is politically correct. It was a critical ingredient for the country’s success,” Husic said.
At the start of his keynote, Husic used the Great Barrier Reef to make his case. He told delegates the reef sits inside Australia’s borders by a cartographer’s fluke, while multiculturalism does not.
SydWest, SSI and the Settlement Council of Australia convened the summit in Parramatta. Their conclusion was that Australia does not lack ideas on social cohesion, but lacks a shared framework to act on them.
By the end of 29 July 2026, the event had produced an emerging Social Cohesion Roadmap. Organisers drew it from keynote addresses, panel discussions and more than 300 live contributions from participants.
Peter Gutwein motion proposal
Peter Gutwein, former premier of Tasmania and chair of the Australian Multicultural Council, urged leaders to revisit the first recommendation of the Multicultural Framework Review. That proposal called on the federal parliament to reaffirm that Australia is a multicultural country.
According to Gutwein, the national opportunity has not closed. “That opportunity still exists at a national level. I would love to see the parliament debate and pass a motion in those terms,” he said.
Across the 29 July 2026 summit, five linked priorities kept surfacing. Organisers said the discussions covered migration, belonging, racism, civic participation, economic inclusion and democratic trust.
Delegates called for stronger legal and policy foundations. They also pushed for broader engagement in schools, workplaces and local government, better recognition of overseas qualifications, and clearer proof that consultation changes decisions.
Meanwhile, Louise Perry, interim chairperson of the Victorian Multicultural Commission, told the summit that the Multicultural Victoria Bill entered the Victorian Parliament at 12:10pm on 29 July 2026. The bill would create a new statutory body to lead Victoria’s multicultural and multifaith portfolio.
Unlike a traditional conference, the Parramatta event asked delegates to shape the discussion as it happened. Organisers synthesised every contribution in real time and fed it back into the room during the day.
The summit also set a 28-day accountability deadline. Within 28 days, every delegate will receive a report outlining what changed because of their participation.
That reporting promise reflected one of the strongest themes raised on 29 July 2026. Organisers argued that listening is not complete until participants can see what changed because they spoke.
