Beyond stereotypes: Understanding the culture and character of Australians

If you are researching information about Australians it is because you want to know more about their culture and maybe you just want to know if all the stories you have heard about Australia are true. Well, just to clarify, in Australia there are no kangaroos, spiders and dangerous animals everywhere! and also the water of the toilet doesn't flush in a different direction to other parts of the world. 

In this post we will tell you the most relevant aspects about Australians and Australian culture so you can have an idea and familiarise yourself with what you are going to experience. It is important to mention that this article has been designed on generalities and that not all Australians are the same. It is just based on my appreciation during 8 years living in this country. 

Let’s start with the first aspect:

Personality

Aussies are the most relaxed, calmed, and easy-going people that I have never met!. They enjoy having a slow-paced life and you do not see them running around and rushing like people in other countries. 

They value transparency and sincerity so they really do not like drama and entanglements. Something that for me was incredible is that they do not know what “malicia indigena” means and because of that they do not assume or think negatively about someone or something in the first instance!

Australians can be shy at the beginning, and they do not openly socialise with people that they do not know. However, once you have seen them more than once they open up and feel more confident. 

They respect the space and privacy of others and live very independently.  It is very common that you do not hear or meet your neighbours ever!

Another aspect that I personally love about Australian culture is that they are not competitive in a bad way (except in sports!). They do not need to overshadow other people’s actions to succeed and they are always keen to support you if they can. If you resign to a job because you found something better, they do not keep any resentment, they are just happy for you to progress and escalate in your career. 

Love for animals 

In Australia, animals are widely loved and respected. Many households have dogs and cats as mascots. Despite dogs are not allowed everywhere, people know where they can take them to play. There are parks and beaches that specifically say you can bring your dog and leave them to run free or if you can bring it, but with the lead. 

Love to travel 

Many Australians, especially the new generations, love to travel. In a normal conversation you can find out that many of them have been overseas for a while. They are really open-minded and like to ask questions about other countries and cultures. 

High levels of tolerance 

As Australia is a multicultural country, the people that live in Australia have different backgrounds, which means that even if they have been born in Australia, the parents are from somewhere else, so the new generations have inherited the costumes of other countries. However, everybody coexists in harmony and respect no matter what your beliefs, religion or political choices are. It is important to mention that it's not perfect, some people get badly treated, but it's not the normal

Outdoors activities

Aussies love outdoor activities specially in summer. Normally when there is a long weekend or a holiday period they head out to the cities to do activities such as camping, hiking, fishing, climbing or just a simple picnic in the park. 

As there is lots of nature, and green spaces there are a lot of possibilities to go out. Australians love the sun, despite being known as dangerous, they love to sunbathe every time they can. Some of them use protection such as hats and sunblock especially the kids but others just ignore the government campaigns about the damaging effects of the sun. 

Beach 

Since Australians are little the parents care about teaching them how to swim as Australia is surrounded by water. Many Aussies head to the beach in the summer or even in winter to swim a big amount of kilometres. As beaches are close to the city center in many main cities it is really easy to go for a quick bath even on a work day. 

Unraveling the truth, not all Australians are blond, with tanned skin and with blue eyes but what is true is that they love surfing. There are beaches with more waves than others and those are meeting points for them.

Brunch

Every weekend Aussies love to go out to have the famous brunch. The word brunch comes from the union of breakfast and lunch. People go out between 8:00 and 11:00am and head to the modern and colourful cafes of the city. The menus are very similar in all the cafes and include the famous Smashed avo or avo on toast which is a slide of bread toasted (sometimes two) with pieces of avocado on top. Generally the dishes come with poached eggs (huevos escalfados) which is a very famous Australian way to make the eggs. 

Light Lunch and big dinner 

Hard for a Colombian to believe! Lunch is the most important meal in Colombia, so just to let you know Australians on a normal day of the week have a sandwich for lunch. They are also happy having a piece of sushi or a salad for lunch but once they get home they have a big dinner with meat, potatoes and vegetables (remember this is in general).

Coffee

Aussies love their coffee and have high standards for this one. Here I have to mention Melbourne, which has one of the strongest coffee cultures in Australia and perhaps in the world.  

Coffee is part of the day to day life in Australia, and many consume between one or three coffee cups per day. There are single origin coffees imported from around the world to please these strict coffee tasters. 

The most common preparation in Melbourne is the flat white which the Australians dispute the origin with the New Zealanders. If coffee is an art the baristas are the artists. Being a barista in Australia is a well respected profession and also well paid. 

Wine and beer

Aussies love to have a drink and they do not miss any opportunity to do it!!!! it is part of the culture and in the majority of cases they  socialise around beers. You will see that they drink even in events that you probably did not imagine that could be catered. Weather and type of soils are the two main factors that influence the quality of the wine in Australia. There are very good quality wines in Australia and at affordable prices. 

Food

They love to try any food. Unless they have an allergy in general they like to eat pretty much everything. As I mentioned, multiculturalism in Australia has opened the door to food from around the world, you will be able to find Indian, Thai, Nepalese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Mexican, Greek, and Italian food just to name a few. But honestly there is no country that does not have a representation in Australia in terms of cuisine. 

There is no true ‘Australian’ food though. It is all a blend of dishes borrowed from other countries. The most typical are meat pies (England), chicken parmas (Italy), burgers (USA), or souvlakis (Greece). 

Sports

Australians love their footy or sports in general. Footy is a type of football unique from Australia, and means a different thing in different areas! In the southern states (VIC, SA, WA, TAS) it means Aussie Rules, and in the north (NSW, QLD) it normally means Rugby League. The season is between February and September each year and each suburb has its own team. There are games every weekend during these months and they support their teams. These games are also a big opportunity for international students to work for example in the hospitality industry. 

Collaboration

There is a feeling of cooperation in the way Australians operate daily. They do not want to be the first ones anywhere if that means passing through someone else. For example, a car gives way to another car on the road, or someone lets you pay in the supermarket if you have only a few items or even better!cars give way to pedestrians. 

Slang

One thing is that Australians love to abbreviate words. We have a full article about aussie slang, but it is something that you will get used to. At the beginning might be a bit confusing because they also have a different accent, but in less than a month you will have identified the main phrases and words and be ready to communicate with them. 

Punctuality 

Appointments with Australians are on time! They normally get to a date or event a few minutes before the agreed time. So I know how things work in Latin America, well let me tell you that people in Australia value their time a lot. It would be disrespectful with the other person if you get to an agreed appointment late. 

To finalise 

Australian culture is very diverse and has been influenced by migrants from all over the world. It is something that you have to experience and make a judgment yourself but it is important to appreciate the differences and be respectful.  This post shows you the most characteristic features, but as I said before it is a generalisation. 

I personally admire certain behaviours from people in Australia, especially the fact that they do not raise a generation of kids that compete between each other. Some things from the culture have been embedded in my day to day and one of them is that now I am very punctual!