Australia

• Australia has a multicultural population practising almost every religion and lifestyle. Over one-quarter of Australians were born outside Australia, and another quarter have at least one foreign-born parent. Virtually every large Australian city and town reflects the immigration from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific that occurred after World War II and continued into the 1970s. In the half century after the war Australia's population boomed from roughly 7 million to just over 20 million people. The cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth are culturally very diverse, and home to communities originating from all corners of the globe. Despite this diversity, there exists a strong sense of national identity and pride in the things that are uniquely Australian.
• In all major centres, you will find restaurants offering a variety of global foods. Each city has something different to offer; Sydney promotes itself as an urban nature capital; Melbourne, as a centre for the arts and culture; Brisbane, as a collection of multicultural urban villages. Adelaide is known for festivals, wine culture, and German cultural influences; Perth for its beaches, laid-back vibe, and the international fringe arts festival; and finally Hobart for its history, including its humble beginnings as a penal colony. Smaller rural settlements generally still reflect a majority Anglo-Celtic culture often with a small indigenous population. Most rural centres welcome visitors and have both history and local produce to share.
• Around one million Australians identify as Aboriginal; about 4% of the population. They live throughout the country in cities and in rural Aboriginal communities. Although not particularly obvious to a new visitor, there are many opportunities and cultural activities for people wanting to explore Aboriginal culture.
• Contrary to popular mythology, descendants from the original fleets of British convicts are a minority. Even during the years of transportation, free settlers outnumbered convict migrants by at least five to one; some places like South Australia nominally had zero convicts. Nevertheless, it is seen as a badge of honour for someone to be 'Australian Royalty' in having been descended from a convict, however tenuous that connection may be.

• Tipping is not customary in Australia, although tips are accepted if you freely choose to give one.
• Restaurants are required to include the cost of service and taxes in posted prices. You may, however, choose to leave a small tip if the service was exemplary. When paying by credit card, some restaurants give the option of adding a tip to your payment, although it is completely optional. Other places provide a coin jar or bowl by the cashier labelled "Tips", but the vast majority of Australian diners do not leave one. Bartenders are usually not tipped.
• Other types of service personnel, including hotel staff, porters, tour guides, food delivery drivers and hairdressers do not expect to receive tips.
• Tipping is also not expected in taxis, and drivers will typically return your change to the last 5 cents, though it is not uncommon for Australians to ask the driver to round the fare up to the nearest dollar.

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• Attempts to scam tourists are not prevalent in Australia; take normal precautions such as finding out a little bit about your destination. There have been rare instances of criminals tampering with ATMs so that cash is trapped inside them, or so that they record card details for thieves. You should check your transaction records for odd transactions after using an ATMs and immediately contact the bank controlling the ATM if a transaction seems to be successful but the machine doesn't give you any cash. Always cover the keypad with your hand when entering your PIN to prevent any skimming devices which have cameras recording your PIN.
• ATM Skimming is rare and easily avoided by using ATMs from trusted banks (ANZ, Commonwealth, Westpac, Nab), or ATMs located inside a bank "gallery" which are generally open 24/7 but are more secure than an outdoor ATM.
• Additionally, the ATO will never try to ask you to pay off your debts with Spotify or iTunes gift cards, and these ongoing scams have been targeting especially the elderly and those who are unaware of them. If you go to a Coles, Woolies, Myer, Target, Big W, Kmart etc. there will be warning notices at all checkouts, and it can never hurt to read them.