Being Polite and Respectful

Social etiquettes are applied everywhere in the world. However, Sharp (2009) says that every community has its hidden codes. Therefore, being
polite and respectful could be quite complicated. Basic understanding of people, their stereotypes and customs may be key aspects to blend
in society. Australia is no exception. It is very essential for the foreigner to understand their hidden codes to avoid unnecessary conflict or
misunderstanding. Some of the trivial codes are quite obvious and can be found in our early moment of arrival.

‘A wilful, lavish land— All you who have not loved her, You will not understand.’
Australian poet Dorothea Mackellar (1885–1968) in Sharp (2009).

2. Apology
Forms of apology varies thorough countries; even amongst different age, as well as emerged perception towards the forms (Chang and Haugh
2011). Furthermore, in the following study, Haugh and Chang (2018) highlight the idea of variability perceptions both in giving apology and
receiving it. This conclusion relies on an inquiry into eighty respondents in Australia.

3. Do not use silence in university seminars as a manifestation of ‘Do not do the Face Threatening Act (FTA)’
Nowadays, cross-cultures coincidence might be the result of variability about interpreting education and expecting appropriate attitude in the
classroom (Nakane, 2006). Many Indonesian students admit that they faced the cross-culture clash when attending Australian universities.
Some of them were successful in defeating the issue however, the other students were failed. Of all the threats, ‘silence’ in university seminars
might be the most significant. In fact, rather functioned as a pronouncement of critical view or disagreement, practicing silence in classroom
can be inferred as form of the implementation of ‘Don’t do the Face Threatening Act (FTA)’ (Penelope and Levinson, 1987). Thorough Nakane
(2006) investigation, Australian lecturers interpret the silence of students as ‘rude’ if they actually cannot understand lecturers’ views.

Place /
Do’s and Don’ts Details
Condition
Breakfast Don’t tell “Vegemite is Gross!”  A kind of vegetables-essence which is peppery, so is widely-known as
black Australian food;
 It is favorable to have it in breakfast for most Australians but in many
cases, less preferable for oversees.
Do drink coffee  Coffee is a type of glorious drink in Australia due to high rate
consumers.
Party “No shrimps on Barbie” Another way of Australians to say Barbeque is Barbie. Australian say
prawns rather shrimps, instead.
Don’t assume Aussies drink Foster! Foster is not Aussie’s favorite alcohol despite they are the producer.
Don’t be late
Restaurant Do not tip
Don’t use thongs Thongs is flip flops, casual sandals. It is considered impolite to use it in a
restaurant.
Do finish your meal Don’t leave any food in a plate. Aussies normally empty the plate.
Don’t whistle to call waiter Basic manner implied world-wide. Whistling to call waiter is considered
impolite.
Public Areas Don’t Smoke in Public Place No one like smoker in Australia, Many rules and regulation about
smoking:
 Don’t smoke within 3 meters of entrances or exits of Café or
Restaurant
 Few beaches and some entire suburbs are smoke free
 Don’t ever throw cigarette butt anywhere
No spitting! Australia is such a clean country. Do not split anywhere.
Respect people space  If you find space, it is better to keep a distance from somebody else
beside you
Public transport
 People exit first  Let people who want to exit before you come into the bus, the train,
etc
 Left-left-left  When you in escalators, in roads, take the left side as your priority
 Don’t sit in the back of taxi  Being friendly
when travelling alone
Greeting Don’t use ‘mate’ to greet woman  Mate still mostly refers to men and there is no exact female
equivalent. Men are mates and women are friends;

Don’t get offended on swearing
 Men use the term ‘mate’ in common situation to other men (to
apologize, when shaking hands, when forget a man’s name, or when
pulled over by the police);
 If men use the term ‘mate’ to woman, they are likely to get slapped
down or hated forever after.
It is common to swear in Australia.

Bibliography :

Sharp, I., & Sharp, I. (2009.). Ilsa Sharp.

Australians, M., & Peter, H. (n.d.). Social customs, 39–41.

Duarte, F. (n.d.). Culture and Management in Australia: “G’day, mate,” 1–35.

McInerney, P. (2018). 27 Do’s and Don’ts when Visiting Australia. Retrieved September 09, 2019. From
https://www.contentedtraveller.com/27-dos-donts-visiting-australia/

Chang, Wei-Lin Melody, Haugh, Michael, 2011. Evaluations of im/politeness of an intercultural apology. Intercult. Pragmat. 8,
411e442

Haugh, M., & Melody Chang, W.-L. (2018). “The apology seemed (in)sincere”: Variability in perceptions of
(im)politeness. Journal of Pragmatics. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2018.11.022
Nakane, I. (2006). Silence and politeness in intercultural communication in university seminars. Journal of
Pragmatics, 38(11), 1811–1835. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2006.01.005

Brown, Penelope, Levinson, Stephen C., 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
https://www.academia.edu/26395652/Politeness_Some_universals_in_language_usage?auto=download. Downloaded at 15.45 pm October 04,
2019