Mr Paolo Totaro AM with the Participation Report

In 1977, the former Premier Neville Wran invited Dott. Paolo Totaro AM to examine case studies of all migrants including those in schools, hospitals, courts of law and workplaces and provide recommendations on how to put principles of multiculturalism in place. The result was the landmark 600-age Participation Report (pictured here with Paolo in 2017).

The report introduced multiculturalism to the NSW policy context as a concept that went beyond the preservation of cultural heritage and emphasised the need to ensure access and equity and to provide the opportunity for cultural and linguistic groups to participate fully in the social, economic and political system of NSW. One of it's key recommendations was "that a permanent body be established by Act of Parliament to be known as the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales and be constituted as a body corporate."