With Australia set to take in 12,000 refugees from Syria over the next 18 months, the countrys population is more diverse than ever.
But its growing multiculturalism is at odds with dwindling rates of language learning in schools.
Experts say the education system is under resourced and ill-equipped to foster bilingualism in large numbers of students and say these failings are compounded by increased nationalism and monolingual dominance.
They say the problem is so advanced that children are missing out on opportunities to develop skills that will help them in later life.
