Every day on this planet many negative things happen on a grand scale. People die from disease, hunger and other causes which might have been averted, bombings occur which often result in the deaths and injuries of many – the list goes on.

Watch the news most days though and it is headlined by events in this country, usually in the city the channel is based in. Most events outside Australia are usually put towards the end of the hard hitting section of the news.

So why is this? If you listen to the producers and directors of the media organizations, they would say that their target audience, Australian adults and more specifically, Australian adults within their state of broadcast, would rather watch news concerning Australia than people overseas.

For a fairly young nation, Australia’s past has been quite a racist and nationalist one, but the worst has arguably been over for decades and Australia has changed a lot since then.  Migrants have moved in and helped contribute to building a multicultural Australian society and Australia has opened itself up to the world.

Why then does the impression persist that Australians do not care all that much about overseas crises? There surely exists the stereotype of Australians that they have that holier than thou feeling about themselves and this great diverse land we live in.

That may be the impression one gets when the average Joe Blow cannot tell you about the latest developments in Darfur or Afghanistan, but can give you a five minute spiel about what is happening with their favourite football team.

Things, however, are not always this way – it was only two years ago when the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami hit in December 2004. In the subsequent months, many Australians helped to raise a total of $280 million dollars to help the people and communities throughout Asia who were affected by this tragedy.

This shows that a number of Australians have at least some degree of consciousness and consideration for crises that occur beyond out waters. However it is safe to say that most Australians would care more about the Australian child involved in a hit and run than a child in Uganda kidnapped from their families and forced to serve years, even decades, as soldiers or slaves.

Perhaps it would be of greater overall benefit to Australia and the world if this begins to change.