Two left feet: Dancing in Academe to the rhythms of neoliberal discourse

Notions of culture, cultural diversity and cultural safety have again come to the centre of higher education awareness in Australia. The Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000 ensures that Australian universities have a legal and pedagogical obligation to effectively support the language and learning requirements of international students. The Final Report on the 2008 Review of Australian Higher Education (hereafter referred to as the Bradley Report) recommends a range of initiatives geared to make Australian universities more competitive in the global market place while also becoming more accessible for Indigenous students, domestic students of ‘low socio‐economic status’, and other identified equity groups.1 At the frontline of all these initiatives, both proposed and implemented, are those who design, coordinate and teach curricula in the multicultural environs of our university classrooms.