Introduction

The psychological assessment of human abilities in Australia has a very long history. An Australian had, by 1917, created a test for the assessment of cognitive abilities in Australian Aborigines. This was the famous Porte us Maze Test (Porteus, 1917). Its appearance then was remarkable, because for a long time only anthropologists had shown much interest in the abilities of Aborigines. There was, indeed, little interest of any kind in ethnic or cultural minorities, let alone their capabilities. It was even more remarkable that the first example of cross-cultural test development for a specific culture occurred in Australia so soon after the start of modern psychological testing signalled by Binet's work.

The prevailing view of pre-World War II Australians was, nevertheless, that they were a white people of British stock. Britain was home and many family members remained there. Family-kinship terms were often invoked when people referred to their British background. As American influence spread from World War II onwards, Australians moved closer culturally to those other “cousins.” Thereafter, many British visiting or settling in Australia found it too American, whereas the few Americans who came there found it quaintly British. Americans barely knew its geographical location: Even today, many have little idea of its size or of its predominantly urban development, or that the language spoken is English. The cultural shift was in one direction only.

In the last 30 years far-reaching changes have affected the structure of Australian society. With the end of the “White Australia Policy” and a yearly intake of many thousands of immigrants, Australia has become a multicultural society. Now more than 100 languages are spoken and the immigrants are drawn from all continents.