American reacts to Australian Workplace Culture

I'm a 72 year old Australian, and I've never heard anyone shorten anyone's name to the initial, here in Australia, my whole life! At work or anywhere else!

A few years ago, one of my colleagues was a bit sick while she was at work (she had a bit of a cold) and one of the boys in her class must have mentioned it in passing to his parents; the next day, this boy showed up at school with a huge container of Aush (Afghani noodle soup) for her, saying "my mum wants to you to eat all of this so you get better!"
It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

She is talking from her experience in her particular work environment. Calling someone mate is acceptable anywhere, especially if you know them. No-one would take offence. In Australia it's not about the word you say but how you say it, the intent behind it.

I live near a very multicultural town with a population under 7,000. We have a Chinese cop, Indian service station, Sri Lankan, Chinese and Indian doctors, Irish and French wait staff, Canadian and American neighbours etc etc etc! They are all AUSTRALIAN!

Somewhere in Australia a court house tried to make the security guards not say mate to the public at the front door, it lasted less than 24hrs. 🤣💚

I'm an Aussie and I have never been called by my initial. This lady probably heard a couple of close friends who had a particular way of referring to each other.

This lady is originally from Argentina and her videos are targeted at other ppl from Spanish-speaking countries, who may have different social etiquette. That's why some of her advice may not quite gel with you. Also, someone called Susan would more likely be called Sue or Susie than S 😊

As an Aussie who worked with an American (from Chicago), apparently our humour in the workplace can be confronting. We tend to ‘pay out’ on each other. She thought we were really rude and unkind until we explained that if we’re making jokes at your expense, you’re one of the gang.

My ex husband and I owned a large successful WA traffic control company back in the 90s. Every year on the first Friday in December, for Christmas/end of the year party, we took all workers and their partners, on a Swan River, river cruise with dinner, and handed out a $400 Christmas hamper (large leg ham, chrissy pudding, bon bons, 6 bottles wine, carton of Corona beer, carton of VB, 6 pack spritzer's, 6 x 2 ltr bottles coke, packets of nuts, chips, shapes, savory snacks). We would present each worker with a bonus ( $100 - $1000 depending on length of service, and work quality). Cruise ended 11pm, we would put everyone on a bus, give workers and partners $100 each in chips, and headed to the casino, and paid all taxi fairs home.
Then on the same weekend, Sunday, we had family Christmas day - we put on a big BBQ at our house, all kids and partners given a gift up to $30 by Santa, and we played games with the kids all afternoon (cricket, footy, totem tennis, table tennis etc).
We did this because our business required our workers to work long night time hours, as well as going country for up to 3 weeks at a time. Which does affect their whole family life.
Being a family ourselves, we wanted to show our appreciation for all their hard work and sacrifices. It built a very close and respected relationship with all our workers and their families, and we loved doing it.
Sharing our success with them, was the right thing to do, because our workers are the reason why we were successful.

Im Australian and one of her comments reminded me of a workplace story my mum told me. She was in the lunchroom with another English speaker and 2 Nepalese co-workers came in, 2 young women. They came up to my mum n friend and one of them quietly said "we're going to be speaking our own language but its just because shes getting married and doesnt know what to expect .. and i dont know the right words in English" 😅 It was the sweetest story, but mum and her friend were like "go for it, if you need old lady advice, we're available" 🤣👍 Every time the girls giggled, the "old" ladies giggled along .. girl talk is universal i guess 🤷😅

Australian language is often a very subtle language, depending much on tone, inflection and context for the same words. A break down on the meaning of some Australian words you might be called:
"Mate" - A broad range of meaning from friend to idiot, depending on tone and context.
"Sport" - Being called Sport means things are heading south rapidly.
"Sunshine" - Run, because your next few minutes are going to become extremely interesting.

I’ve worked for 36 years as a public librarian and have negotiated a 3 day work week for the past year transitioning to retirement. I work 7 hours a day with a 45 min lunch break. Before this I had a 4 day working week for 17 years when I had my son who is now 20. I’ve been very lucky with a supportive local government employer.

I think an very important thing she missed is there is no class system. Every job is as respected as any other. A doctor could easily be best friends with a plumber with neither feeling superior to the other.

The one thing I have noticed that a majority of Americans order without saying the word “please” but they always say “thank you”. A lot of the young people in Aust are picking up that now. I fear that has come out of US shows and movies. I have been to the US many times and have noticed this.
I hope in Aust we get to keep our “Englishisms” and say “please” when ordering. When we were kids and asked for something, our parents used to say”What’s the magic word?” So we all learnt to say please when asking for things.

Australia is pretty multicultural all over now, not just in Sydney or Melbourne. Most larger towns have a mixed diverse population now. You were wondering about holiday pay. Full time employees have a minimum of 20 days a year paid days off with leave loading, plus public holidays with public holiday pay, 10 days sick leave and long service leave after 10 years. Some industries have more paid vacation time. I am in the health industry and have 6 weeks of paid holidays per year which accumulates to a maximum of of 30 weeks. This year i had 12 weeks long service and 8 weeks holiday so i had 5 months off all fully paid. To hear about the way the USA treats their workers is totally mind blowing to us.

Ryan you never sound “dumb”. Us Aussies love how interested you are in our country. I’m from Melbourne and we are very multicultural. We call everyone mate. We are very snobby about our perfect coffee.

I don't know where this lady lives or works but she really has generalized a bit much.
I've never been called an initial at anywhere in my life & especially not anywhere I've worked. Never!
Saying 'Whaaat?" in any circumstance is just rude! I said that to my Mum, once, when I was a teenager & was soundly rebuked for my rudeness!
There is a very broad multicultural dynamic, even in the country areas. Maybe not the same denseness as in the cities, but the % is possiblely still similar.

My friends WA work do’s are like the party of the century, everything is free and they just get absolutely levelled, they eat and drink like they have a week off work after !

Susan is shortened to Sue, not "S."

I don’t know about the initial thing, I’ve never heard of that, but they do shorten most names, like Susan, would probably be Sue. Speaking in a different language, around people who don’t understand it, is considered rude, unless you translate. Most workplaces are honest and open and everyone is treated with respect. ( well mostly)

Sue, Susie, Suz - but not S 😂😂😂

I'm old and I've never heard anyone called by 1 initial; TJ, JC maybe. I wouldnt call my boss mate, but any colleagues yes. We are highly multicultural everywhere because regions need overseas workers for farm harvest, healthcare & unskilled work. Its still pretty chill country.😊

My wife was known by her initials in her workplace for a long time, but that's because she was one of 5 ladies in the same department all with the same given name and they needed some way to differentiate 😀
Watch her video about vacation time and cry in American 😀 I'm in a typically Australian workplace and I get: 20 days of recreation leave a year; 10 days sick leave; 6.5 days Long Service Leave (you can only access that once you've worked there for 10 years or more); 7 extra Personal Days (these don't accrue from year to year - all the other leave types do). Australian also get around 10 paid public holidays a year (not paid if you're a casual employee).

We don’t love Starbucks. They failed in Australia as their Coffee was too sweet. They are trying to get back in now. Multiculturism was encouraged by the Government. We have had so many people come here since the War. They brought their music, great food,customs and culture and helped to build Australia up. Glad to have them.

Couple of things: We dont shorten names down to the letter unless its an obvious phonetic reason like Debra might be Dee which to a foreigner speaker they might think its the letter. We have drinks with our workmates after work and then go home. Our wives dont join us because only the single people stay on, the married and whatnots leave early then catch up on who rooted who on monday.

Americans blown away that we treat each other with common human decency and dignity

The subject of speaking in languages other than English in the Australian workplace came up a couple of times during my time as a manager in a software company. My view was that if people are talking about what they did outside work, then I had no problem with them not speaking in English. But if the conversation was work-related, then other people should be able to participate. This is an important part of teamwork.

While working for Virgin Australia at the International airport in Brisbane, it was such an experience to see different cultures dress up after work to go celebrate a special day ie: Diwali, beginning and end of Ramadan. And the food that people bring/share at work on a normal day was fantastic. Obviously many cultures celebrate life through food, so there was a lot to go around during break time. Break times obviously depends on your industry and deadlines, we had 'smoko" = short break for 10 minutes twice a shift and then 30 minutes for lunch/dinner. Not sure about other work places, but there were showers and big locker rooms to accommodate for people who had two jobs or had other commitments to travel/commute to. Aussies generally have good manners but when it's time to put your foot down, they're very direct extremely direct, especially when there is a mix of cultures and beliefs, it can be quagmire trying to understand each other. Speaking another language apart from English in the workplace is a complete no no.

In my workplace, we get 2 15minute breaks: one in the morning around 10:30 and one in the afternoon around 3-3:30 and we get a 1hour lunch break. And we have a room for our Muslim colleagues for them to pray. Where I work, we get 6 weeks annual leave per year.

I was a school teacher before retirement. Many teachers were called by friendly nick names by other staff but in my experience, shortening a person’s name to the first letter is not very common.

My husbands an asset inspector (fancy name for checking power poles) in the far north, he contends with snakes most days. And every now and then they have to check poles near mangroves, so they have a spotter to keep an eye out for crocs coming near them. I offered to be a spotter for them, I could have so much fun with that. 😂

American working and living in Aussie for 20 years now.
So much better here.
Work hard, but only work to live. Holidays are for a well-deserved break.
You can’t be a dead shit here (unless you’re a govt employee). Everyone is equal.
But, be prepared for them to tell it like it is. You need a thicker skin here. Which is great! People are direct and honest.

Lunch breaks are usually one hour. Starbucks went broke in Australia because they had lousy coffee and overpriced. We have about 30 coffee shops in my small town so we don’t need Starbucks. Coffee is amazing here. Most workers get 4 weeks paid holidays every year and if you are a shift worker you get a loading and bonus paid days off for working weekends. We also get long service leave if we stay with the same company for 10 years or more they will pay you 12 weeks extra holiday’s.

Our son moved to Brisbane from Canada a month ago and found a similar job last week at almost double his previous salary plus profit share for 36 hours a week. He asked to reduce lunch from one hour to half an hour so he could leave early. No problem. He has a take-home high spec laptop and has a paid public holiday after only 9 working days. MUCH better conditions than in Canada. Everyone gets 10 paid public holidays a year plus 4 weeks paid annual leave. Workers not on contracts get 17.5% extra leave loading on their annual holidays. There are also 10 paid sick days a year (they accumulate) and the employer is required to contribute the equivalent of 12% of income to superannuation (pension fund). An average worker will retire at 65 with maybe $500,000 tax free in super, and more if he/she adds up to $25,000 a year. It would be very rare not to call your boss (even the CEO of a big company) by his first name. No wonder people want to move to Australia.

I work 9.00am to 5.00pm with an hour for lunch and morning and afternoon tea breaks of 15 minutes each. Not every employer in Australia is as generous as this.Just to add, I get paid well above the award as well.

Ryan we had a feedback session on my company international survey of managers here and what they’re like. The managers here had a 60 to 70% rating on what their employees thought of them which was +90% in the US and 100% in China! Mind you still was an increase locally of 50% on what they rated the previous year as it’s probably the best place I’ve worked here. The reason nobody overseas gets why this rating was so low is that Australian invented the ballot system here, which everybody else in the free world has adopted. Unfortunately managers in other parts of the world don’t understand that 60% plus rating in Australia is like 110% everywhere else as they don’t comprehend how brutally honest we can be when it’s an anonymous survey, even when you like someone. NSW in Oz

Even in small towns you’ll find multi-culturalism. We’re from a small beachside town and couldn’t believe that in Toronto, when we lived there for 2 years, the amount of people we met who hadn’t ever eaten a lot of the food that we eat regularly even in a small town. I agree with most of the views this lady had. Thanks Ryan!

My boss used to eat quite regularly at a local Indian restaurant where the food was really bad.
He kept telling me how great the food was & insisted that I should take my husband & try it one night!!
So for one week, every night when I cooked our evening meal a put some of the Indian food that I cooked into take away containers & left it on his desk when I arrive at work each morning.
He knew it was me.
I was the only ethnic/ multicultural employee in the place.
He ate every bit, every day & handed me the empty containers as I left for the day.
All he ever said was
" Is this what you eat at home every day?"

Never ever have I heard anyone being called by their initial, and I have worked at many sites/buildings and workplaces. She probably worked somewhere very unique and thinks this is typical in Australia.

I'm Australian. I have never heard of 90% of what she said
We are multicultural because we are a large country with a relatively small population.
Housing is very expensive, every capital city the average price is approaching $1M. Our wages are higher,but so is.our cost of living.and most jobs give 4 weeks annual leave plus 10 days paid sick leave.

Its multi cultural all around Australia - in the regional areas as well as the cities. My friend is Fijian, father to my child is Portuguese and I have a Slovenian and Cypress friend too. I live in a small regional city.

Multicultural communities are pretty widespread in Aus. I live in a small country town, and we have a sizeable Phillipino and Indian community, with quite a few Islanders, South African and Japanese people in my workplace.

Saying "what" is considered rude in Australia not just in the workplace. It would be okay with family but even with friends, I avoid it. Obviously some ppl will have different experiences but average australian workplace/family

Australia has been very multicultural for a long time. During the goldrush of the 1850's, people moved here from all over the world.

Immigrants to Australia are amazing. It's been a while since I've had to bring lunch to work because all the Thai, Lao, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, German, Italian, Greek and Filipino ladies bring extra for me because I help them at work. I take the rest home for dinner. My grocery bill is very small.

I love the genuine smile on your face when you hear something positive about oz

Hey Ryan, long time watcher and 1st time posting though ( my other half is from the Mid-West of USA ). I'm an Aussie born and bred from Chinese immigrant parents. As others have mentioned, calling someone mate is generally acceptable anywhere, but from a white collar ( office/corporate professional ) perspective, it wouldn't be considered to be good professional etiquette to call/respond to someone you've just been introduced to at business a meeting as mate straight away. But, yes within the team you work with and know, calling others mate is common and acceptable. Sure, if I'm at the coffee shop, I will call the barista "mate" or if the sales person at the Kmart helps me find an item, it's ok to say, "thanks mate" in those situations. Kissing people on each cheek is more of a European custom/greeting that one would consider avoid practising in a corporate/professional workplace environment as it can be misconstrued as sexual harassment or people might take offence to it. Yes, it is common in Australian culture to shorten people's Christian names especially if you have a long one, but in my 56yrs of being an Australian and working in both white collar and blue collar jobs, I have never ever heard of anyone shortening down a person's first name down to just the first letter of their name. Sure, Susan or Susanne/Suzanne will become Susy/Susie or Sue. When people already have quite short first names that can't be shortened any further, the tendency for Aussies is create a longer name/nickname. Example being my name is Lok, so many call me "Lokky" or even "Lokster".......... Happy "arvo" mate and hope you visit "down under" one day soon !!

More than 25 percent of people living in Australia were born overseas and more than 50 percent were either born overseas or had at least one parent (if not both) born overseas.

Regarding the multiculturism in Oz, not necessarily just in the major cities as many people move to a lot of rural areas also. As a child our neighbours came from Holland, Malta, Italy and Greece. Today you will find people from all over the world living here.

We have four weeks paid holiday each year. My workplace (an iconic Barossa Valley winery) has a Christmas party which is held at a different venue each year. We all hop on a bus to get there. We have an amazing meal accompanied by craft beer and superlative wines. We dance into the early hours and then we're taxied home afterwards so that we can really enjoy ourselves. We also get a share of the yearly profits. How lucky are we?!

Us Aussies never miss an opportunity to abbreviate a word, and in Melbourne we will also then abbreviate the abbreviation lol

I'm shook by (both of) you saying Indian food isn't common where you live. It's one of my favourites, there are a shit ton of places where I live, I order it like every few weeks 👀

Hey Ryan 👋
That coffee she showed is a mocha ( half coffee half chocolate) and it’s amazing 👌

Where i work we have a lot of colleagues who immigrated from other countries and im a manager. Im so happy when a staff member gets to work with someone from their own country, like when someone is new and nervous. I feel happy to introduce them and let that colleague support them and for them to speak to each other in their native language. Of course its easier to learn in your own language. I try hard to learn something about all my team members native lands and customs, and help them learn about my culture. I really enjoy being in a multicultural environment 😊

7:34. Same in Australia, men always stand up and shake hands too!

Working at immigration a snotty British guy scolded me for using the word mate instead of sir. I made sure to call him mate every chance I got.

Regional Victoria is definitely quite multi cultural. And swearing although not "condoned" is quite common but not expressed in a derogatory fashion but in general conversation. Including amongst nurses!!!!! Especially female nurses lol!!!

She forgot a minimum of 4 weeks annual leave , 10 days sick pay, 12mths paid maternity leave for mums and dads (or any categiver), compassionate leave, domestic violence leave etc
Flexible work hours also allows you to work 3 days from home and 2 days in the office, and minimum of 12.5% paid into superannuation, if you work for a Not for Profit... $16900 in salary packaging... the list goes on.
I've never heard someone being called by their first initial, but I have had colleagues call by first and last name initials ...e.g., TC, MD... but not everyone at work is called by their initials.
And yes... beach after work is common 😂

I work in Aged Care in Queensland, and our staff members sometimes just bring their own food (indian, thai, chinese etc) and share it with everyone else. Sometimes we even have staff functions where we all bring something from wherever we came from :)

I think most Aussies would consider the US to be our closest friends and most similar cultures. Far more so than the UK. I was in San Diego buying a ticket to visit a maritime attraction. There was a sign saying there was a discount for veterans. I jokingly said I was a veteran but not from this country. The ticket seller gave me the discount saying, "you're Australian right? That's close enough to being American". Never felt more humble...

Corporate business is very differently run to all other employment. Most Australian owned businesses have a fair and honest work culture with mixed races in many places, but always depending on their skill levels.

1. Calling someone ‘s’ for Susan never heard of but cool initials like MJ or LG etc might become a nick name
2. After work drinks. Rarely bring partner and depends on business and team avoid drinking too much
3. International foods are available as all kinds here. In my city (Canberra) we have a food festival where over three days food tents set up with heaps of different nationalities sell food/drinks linked to their culture.
4. - We get a lot of international students and Asia immigrants.

It's not just the big cities that are multicultural, it's commonplace in country towns as well.

The last place I worked at, just about every person in the office was from a different country. Indian, Turkish, Persian Afghan among others. I loved it and learned a lot about different cultures. Ours was a more casual office and no one ever called their colleagues by their initials. But everyone was friendly and it was enjoyable to go to work each day. In Australia you get between half and three quarters of an hour for lunch and we get 4 weeks paid vacation. After 6 years you get an extra 2 weeks for pro rata and 6 weeks after 10 years for long service leave.

Most often people have nicknames and if they are comfortable with that you can use it. She mean't the initial thing is both first & surnamne initial like GT or KD or RB. Mine is KH but my work collegues always called me "Hoff" because they reckon i look like like David Hasselhoff. It is very common to be called by a nickname as long as the person is ok with it.
Drinks after work are usually a Friday before you head home when you knock off a bit earlier so everyone can join in and then head off home when they need to leave or even better is the Friday lunch when you all go to the pub for simple bite to eat & a drink and they are good fun as everyone is chilled out and a lot a humour (banter) rolls off the tongue as long as it is appropriate for all present as we are all very conscious of different cultures. Most immigrants adopt the Aussie way of life to be chilled out, witty & making sure you laugh a lot & not take things so seriously but still have good work effic to get the job done. The biggest impact on your health & well being is "stress"

Hey, I love your shows, but as an Australian, I have to say that there is a difference between hotdogs and snags (bbq sausages). There is a massive difference!

Ryan was proudly brought to you by Chick-fil-A.

My husband loves baking, he works 3 days in the office each week, so when he goes he always bakes something and takes it in for morning tea.

Sorry Ryan, NO, we don't love Starbucks. Under 20s who are obsessed with American culture like some Starbucks drinks, but most of us seek out independent coffee roasters or our favourite local barista for good coffee.

She’s right about multi cultural we are all different backgrounds

I work in a busy kitchen and breaks vary drastically. I usually work from 10am-10pm and will get 30mins to 2 hours break depending on the workload and what I get done. Some staff prefer not to take breaks and work all the way through, I don't know how they do it standing on their feet for 12 hours a day.

I've never heard names shortened to a letter, I'm 70 and Australian.

I used to live in Newcastle, NSW and worked ‘in town’ (the CBD). There were so many amazing beaches to choose from and we literally could and would go to the beach during our lunch breaks! You’d be so jealous Ryan!

You have multicultural people in every area, regional and cities. Most places have so many Indian, Thai, Chinese restaurants

As a Education teacher I get 2 weeks off every 9-10 weeks, then at Christmas I get 6 weeks it’s amazing 😊 I do accumulate long service leave after 7 yrs , sick leave, and personal leave.

One that amused me the most in Australia was watching surfers at one of the major beaches, typical muscles and long blond hair. As they came out of the water, one said to the other "we need to get a cup of tea!"

I think she is talking about working in an office in a city. This is not indicative of our overall workplace environment!

Ryan, your clip mentioned nicknames in the Australian workplace! My cousin started a new job, and as she was being introduced to the other workmates they came to this guy and the person doing the introducing said...."And this is David, but we call him 'Far'! My Cousin thought for a moment and said..."Why do they call you Far" ....and David said......"Because my surname is 'Kernel'!!!

People in Australia don’t refer to others with initials xd I’ve lived in both the country and the city idk what that’s about lol

It’s completely contextual. Not all workplace culture is the same, not all people are the same. Some places are like families. I’ve kissed work colleagues on the cheek and given them a hug, but these are people, I’ve worked with for many years, have developed rapport with them and perhaps they went on maternity leave and have returned to the office after many months so it’s a mutual and genuine warm greeting. Again with compliments or casual banter. It really doesn’t matter how far up the food chain they are, it comes down to workplace culture and individual rapport. There’s boundaries of course, I wouldn’t be that intimate with someone, I didn’t know. I wouldn’t compliment a colleague on their looks either unless we had developed a rapport where it couldn’t be misconstrued as something inappropriate.

G'day Mate! On working hours it depends on the industry in which you work. I worked in a major teaching hospital and we would be there for 8 &1/2 hours but there was an unpaid 30 minute lunch/dinner break. That said we also had 2 x 15 minute "tea breaks" as part of the 8 "working hours" Our award did let you work for more than 3 hours without a break...Fun Fact:- the term "mate" was banned from being used by staff in the Aussie Parliament back in 2005 but it was so heavily ridiculed that the ban only lasted 24 hours! Cheers!

Speaking another language in front of others is like whispering in front of others. It is absolutely not about race. It’s about common courtesy.

Friend has worked US and UK with long hours and vg remuneration but craves Aus work/life balance .
Worked hard here too, but easier to "escape" to a surf beach/hiking/cycling in down time. 4 weeks annual leave + public holidays wp helps.

I work for an American company here in Australia- it’s a 5 generation family owned business and we are treated incredibly well. Better than any Australian company I’ve ever worked for.

I work in an office but in a blue collar industry and everyone swears a lot and uses slang and calls each other mate. In blue collar industries you get 2 breaks, smoko in the morning for 15mins and then a midday lunch for 30mins. Your break entitlements are dependent on the hours you work because they are legislated, some companies opt to give longer breaks or an afternoon smoko as well but for an 8 hr day everyone is entitled to 45mins usually split into 15mins then 30mins.

'You stand when you shake hands.' I was taught this by my parents, but others may not have been. It's perfectly acceptable not to stand. Just make your handshake reasonably firm and wipe off your sweaty palm before you shake 😂.
Make it your rule....Don't ever touch a co-worker in Australia. It has the potential to open a can of whoop ass for you (whupass? 🤔). We have very strict anti-discrimination policies and laws.
The 'don't say what?' thing...we're multicultural but much of the social culture still has remnants of British civility so we think responding with 'what?' is brusque/rude.
Lunch hour. The time allotted for lunch in workplaces varies but by law must be a minimum of 30 minutes after working 5 hours. Many ppl have longer lunch breaks and you can negotiate with most employers. We are not paid for our lunch break, but we are paid for mandatory 15 minute morning or afternoon breaks.
Mandatory annual leave in Australia for a full time employee is a minimum of 20 working days, so 4 calendar weeks unless you tack your hols onto public holidays. In W.A. there are also 11 public holidays per year. Some on the specific date of the celebration and some always fall on a Monday so we get a long weekend.
A full time employee also gets a minimum 10 days mandatory paid sick leave and for a single day you are not usually required to provide evidence of illness (i.e. a doctors certificate of sick leave) and you are not required to give your employer any information, you simply say you are ill. So you can take a 'stress day' if you need. Just don't get caught on the Jumbotron in the background of a great catch at the cricket match and end up on the nightly news 😊. And depending on the business you work at, all of the above can be negotiated.

Ah the white collar do's and don'ts. A video on the blue collar do's and dont's would be hilarious. Shame you're not going to get many videos outside Melbourne let alone above the Brisbane line as it's a completly different world. Apart from our distinct love of coffee and food from other cultures.

As an Aussie , we never just us the first initial , Susan would never just be called by the first initial it would be Sue or Suzy and we never say What , we find that rather rude and abrupt . Pardon , is mostly used

Pretty sure workplace discrimination needs to be an action (not comments) for it to be taken further. Persistent bullying or harassment including sexual harassment can be taken up with unions and/or the Fair Work Commission (a sort of industrial court and regulator, among other things).

We are culture sensitive we welcome diversity

Australian here, named Susan. I hever never been called"S", not in any environment!

Having worked in the US I can say there really aren’t that many differences in the workplaces. The same differences between industries apply equally here as they do in the States. An office of lawyers treat each other and behave much differently than a retail store than construction site than a factory than a farm etc etc. The “mate” thing is much more a male thing than many commentators seem to acknowledge. A man would very rarely call a woman “mate” and vice versa. More common these days with more women in traditionally male work places e.g. a mechanics workshop where a female might be “treated as one of the blokes” so as not to treat her differently but I’ve never heard a male call a female “mate” in an office setting.

We have a barista that visits our workplace every day in his coffee van. Love it

I grew up with parents and teachers correcting us, “Don’t say “what”, say “I beg your pardon”, and even worse, “Don’t say “ay”, say “I beg your pardon?”

I grew up in a small city in the middle of nowhere, Qld, Australia and we had a ton of people from all over the world living there! Its definitely not only a large city thing to be multicultural.

where I worked in factory na philipine ladies speak in their own language always
Edit: this happened this week where I volunteer, workmate spoke about another workmate who overheard and reported to boss and workmate was suspended for a week!
Edit: we have a problem with people accepting Australian culture when they move here - its a big problem

Ryan, you are such a great guy and your lovely wife is a lucky girl, but more so, your son is really lucky to have such a fabulous role model in you. Your parents must be so proud. Carrol, from down under.

I've worked in most of Australia's big cities for an extended amount of time and most of this rings true to me. Except none of the companies I have worked for have ever celebrated foreign holidays like ramadan, diwali etc, never been a thing for me.

I worked with a bloke called Harrison, we would call him "H"

Its very common in Australia for all employment contract to give 4 weeks annual leave and 10 days sick/personal leave a year. Long Service leave can sometimes be given at 7 years prorata'd from 10 years. I work in Perth and while its a sleepy city (really more of a big country town) I can walk out of the office for my 60 min lunch break and choose from about 15 different cuisines.