After attacks,Oz reputation in India badly tarnished: Expert

8220;The damage to Australia8217;s reputation in India is quite severe,8221; he was quoted as saying by 8216;The Age8217; newspaper.

Australia8217;s one-dimensional image meant that events such as attacks on Indian students could do greater damage here than in countries with which people were more familiar.

8220;A well-rounded national reputation is an insurance policy against that kind of thing,8221; said Anholt while addressing a conference on international education in Sydney organised by IDP Education,the international student recruitment company half-owned by 38 Australian universities.

According to survey,in 2008,the Indian panel of respondents ranked Australia seventh in the world for promoting equality within society but in 2010,its rank on this measure dropped to 34th.

Overall,the survey of 39,000 people in 26 countries ranked Australia the ninth-most admired country in the world.

Australia was ranked best in the world for natural beauty and as a place to visit if money was no object,Anholt said.

However,he said,the success of Australia8217;s tourism promotion campaigns had produced an 8220;unbalanced8221; view of the country.

8220;What you have is an image of a country that is considered to be very decorative,but not very useful,8221; he said,adding Australia relied too much on 8220;logos and slogans8221; in its efforts to change people8217;s minds about the country.

Rather than waste time fiddling around with promotional campaigns,what Australia needs to do is to invest in the sectors which demonstrate its seriousness and its capability and education is one of them,he said,adding another such area was culture.

Australia was unusual among developed nations in not having an organisation devoted to the promotion of culture,such as Germany8217;s Goethe Institute or France8217;s Alliance Francaise,Anholt said.