List of Tables

List of Figures

Executive summary

The last decade has seen a major increase in both the scale and complexity of international population movements. The proportion of the global population for whom international movement is part of their calculus of choice as they examine their life chances has increased massively. The constellation of forces driving movement between countries is different and the context in which migration is occurring has been transformed in both origin and destination countries. A half century ago relatively few countries were influenced in a major way by international migration. Now a majority of the worlds nations are so affected. Australia was one of a handful of traditional migration countries (along with the US, Canada and New Zealand), which drew the bulk of their immigrants from Europe. Overwhelmingly the main type of international population movement was of more or less permanent migration involving settlement in the destination country.

This paper argues that in the contemporary situation the drivers of international migration have changed and as a result the international population movement influencing Australia has changed dramatically. Yet much Australian thinking and study of international migration remains anchored in a paradigm of migration which applied in the first four post-war decades. Policy making and research into international migration in Australia needs to be undertaken in such a way as to take account of the shifts which have occurred in the drivers of international migration and in the types of international movement affecting Australia.

Perhaps the greatest change which has occurred in Australian immigration in the last decade is that whereas in the first five post-war decades Australia emphatically eschewed acceptance of temporary workers in favour of an overwhelming emphasis on settlement migration there has been a reversal with a number of new visa categories designed to attract temporary residents to work in Australia (especially the temporary business and student visa categories). As a result there has been an exponential increase in non permanent migration to Australia so that while in 20012002 there were 88 900 incoming permanent settlers to Australia there were a total of 340 200 foreigners granted temporary residence in Australia in that year. On 30 June 2001 there were 554 200 people in Australia on a temporary basis of whom 289 300 had the right to work. These people differ in many important ways from permanent settlers but the bulk of our research and knowledge relates to the impact of the permanent settlers. The much larger numbers of temporary residents are also having significant effects on labour and housing markets as well as other areas of Australian society.

However, settler migration to Australia has also undergone profound change in the last decade or so. There has been a substantial reduction in the proportion of our migrants drawn from traditional sources of the UK and Europe while the numbers from Asia, Oceania and Africa have increased. Also our model of the immigrant settler being someone, who applies for immigration in a foreign country, is processed and then some time later arrives in the country needs modification. Three out of every 10 settlers to Australia are onshore immigrants in that they are already in Australia under a temporary residence visa and seek to transfer to permanent residence. There has been a substantial shift in the balance of the settlement program away from family and humanitarian to skill selected immigrants. Accordingly the labour market performance of recent migrants has improved substantially while in the United States and Canada it has declined. There has also been a substantial increase in governmental efforts to influence where new immigrants settle in Australia. There has been a raft of State Specific and Regional Migration Schemes introduced in an attempt to reduce the proportion of immigrants being attracted to Sydney, and, to a lesser extent, some other major urban centres.

There is a tendency for Australia to be thought of purely as an immigration country. Yet it has a substantial outflow of emigrants which has increased in recent years with the internationalisation of labour markets and other globalisation effects. It is estimated that there are around one million Australians living on a permanent or long term basis overseas. In relation to the resident population this is one of the worlds major diasporas. The of Australian residents is highly selective of young, highly educated, skilled and high income groups and has led to discussions of brain drain. Undoubtedly however, there is a brain gain since skilled immigrants outnumber their emigrant counterparts yet suspicions remain that we may be losing the brightest and best among our young people. The setting up a senate Inquiry into Australian Expatriates indicates the significance which is now being given to Australians overseas. It is argued that Australia needs to develop a policy toward its skilled workforce which includes four elementsrecruitment, retention, return and re-engagement. A diaspora policy is an important part of that. It should seek to include the diaspora more on a cultural level; it is important that expatriates who still consider themselves Australian are included more in the mainstream of Australian life. On an economic level, there are a myriad of ways in which the expertise, experience and contacts of the diaspora can be harnessed to benefit Australia in a rapidly globalising economy. We must realize that there is much to gain from young Australians leaving Australia and acquiring experience, knowledge and connections in foreign nations. However, if a substantial proportion can return, the country can gain a double dividendnot just retaining their talents but having those talents enhanced by the period away. Perhaps we should be working toward policies which facilitate brain circulation as opposed to attempting to stem brain drain.

There is no doubt that the last few years have seen a transformation of the scale, characteristics and significance of international population movements. This demands a continuous reassessment of Australias immigration policy and program as well as a full assessment of the global situation impinging on population movements to and from Australia. Australia can no longer confine its consideration of immigration to what is happening in Australia. The globalisation of capital, the transformation of international travel and communications systems, the instant worldwide distribution of information, the increasing levels of education, the internationalisation of many labour markets and the creation of political and environmental refugees, are among only a few of the processes and trends which are producing an exponential increase in all forms of international population movements and opening up such movement to a much broader spectrum of the worlds population. No nation can isolate itself from the global system of which population movement is an important part. These changes not only have important implications for people wishing to come to Australia, but also for Australian residents wishing to move elsewhere.

All of the worlds nations are facing challenges associated with the new global regime of international migration in what has been termed the Age of Migration. However, few are as well positioned to meet those challenges as Australia. The long experience as a country of immigration, especially during the post-Second World War era, has given Australia an almost unique capacity not only to cope with new migration pressures but also to develop policy and program approaches which maximise the benefit of those developments. Australia has developed a culture of migration in which there is broad acceptance in the community of the benefits that immigration can deliver. This contrasts sharply with community attitudes in many nations. Moreover, Australian politicians have developed a more sophisticated understanding of the issues surrounding migration and settlement than in most other nations so that the capacity to formulate, develop, introduce and operate sound and effective policy is considerable. Finally, it is often overlooked that Australia is one of very few nations that has had a federal government department devoted to immigration and settlement for more than half a century. This has meant that there has been the development of a skilled and committed cadre of immigration bureaucrats over a number of generations. This substantial body of people with a level of professionalism, knowledge and experience gives Australia a huge advantage in confronting the challenges created by the New Migration. The need for Management of Migration has become the mantra emerging from international fora, conferences, summits and meetings concerned with international migration. However, an essential element in any migration management is the availability of human resources, institutions and infrastructure to develop and operate effective management strategies and Australia is extremely well positioned in that respect.

Introduction

The last decade has seen a major increase in both the scale and complexity of international population movements.⁽¹⁾ The proportion of the global population for whom international movement is part of their calculus of choice as they examine their life chances has increased massively. The constellation of forces driving movement between countries is different and the context in which migration is occurring has been transformed in both origin and destination countries. A half century ago relatively few countries were influenced in a major way by international migration. Now a majority of the worlds nations are so affected. Australia was one of a handful of traditional migration countries (along with the US, Canada and New Zealand), which drew the bulk of their immigrants from Europe. Overwhelmingly the main type of international population movement was of more or less permanent migration involving settlement in the destination country.

The present paper argues that in the contemporary situation, the drivers of international migration have changed and as a result the international population movement influencing Australia has changed dramatically. Yet much Australian thinking and study of international migration remains anchored in a paradigm of migration which applied in the first four post-war decades. Policy making and research into international migration in Australia needs to be undertaken in such a way as to take account of the shifts which have occurred in the drivers of international migration and in the types of international movement affecting Australia. This paper attempts first to briefly consider the main dimensions of the new global international migration and then considers the shifts which are occurring in Australias international migration patterns. It concludes with a consideration of some of the implications for future policy development and research to inform that policy.

The new international migration

International migration has increased in scale and complexity as both a causal factor and effect of globalisation. For half of the post-war era, global international migration has been dominated by movement from Europe to the traditional migration countries of Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand. However almost all nations of the world are now influenced significantly by migration and non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations have become the dominant sources of migrants. One way in which the significance of the changes can best be demonstrated is by examining Table 1, which shows the numbers moving permanently between Australia and the United Kingdom since 1991. Australia has experienced a significant net gain of immigrant settlers from the UK for more than two centuries. Yet Table 1 indicates that while in the early 1990s, there were significantly more people moving permanently from the UK to Australia the net flow was reversed in 2001 and 2002. There was a net gain in 2003 but there may have been a new method adopted by the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) to make estimations.

Table 1: Australia: permanent migration to and from the United Kingdom

Year	From	To	Net
1991	20 867	6332	14535
1992	14465	6251	8214
1993	9484	5392	4092
1994	8661	4815	3846
1995	10 238	4835	5403
1996	10 520	5228	5292
1997	9001	5773	3228
1998	8424	6561	1863
1999	7211	6789	422
2000	7561	7466	95
2001	7027	7854	-827
2002	7525	8273	-748
2003	11 842	8408	3434

Source: DIMIA, Immigration update and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Migration Australia, various issues.

This reflects a number of developments:

        Europe has been transformed from being the major global source of international migrants for much of the twentieth century to being a major destination for migrants

        London as one of the worlds global cities is now drawing people from all over the world due to its key role in the globalisation process⁽²⁾

        much of the contemporary flow from the UK is of people who come to Australia and seek temporary residence rather than permanent residence as working holiday makers, temporary business migrants and job transfers. Of course there is also a significant non-permanent flow from Australia to the UK.

Australia continues to be an important global player in migration but it is within quite a different context.

Figure 1 shows that in terms of total stock of migrants, Australia ranks ninth in the world. Other major destinations include the traditional migration countries, several European nations, areas of refugees settlement and Middle Eastern countries receiving large numbers of guest workers. Figure 2 indicates that Australia ranks similarly in the percentage that migrants make up of the total resident population in those destination countries.

Figure 1: Countries with the largest international migrant stock, 2000

Source: United Nations, International migration 2002, United Nations, New York, 2002.

Figure 2: Countries with the highest percentage of international migrant stock, 2000
(countries with population of one million or more inhabitants)

Source: United Nations, International migration 2002, United Nations, New York, 2002.

 Whereas the dominant global flow in the early post-war decades was from Europe to the traditional migration countries it now is from less developed to more developed nations, the so called south-north movement. In all more developed countries in 2000, 40 per cent of net population growth was due to net immigration from less developed countries (LDCs).⁽³⁾ Table 2, for example, indicates the estimated Asian-born population in a number of OECD nations.

Table 2: Traditional migration countries: Asian populations around 2001

	Europe/Japan	Australia	US	Canada	New Zealand	Total
	2000	2001	2001	1996	2001
Afghanistan	29 465	11 296	39 000	11 815	735	92 311
Bangladesh	91 701	9078	104 000	12 405	1185	218 369
Brunei	216	2068	na	4310	na	6594
Burma	187	10 973	22 000	3125	513*	36 798
Cambodia	48 879	22 979	92 000	19 505	4770	188 133
China	480 060	142 780	947 000	238 485	38 949	1 847 274
Hong Kong	10 720	67 124	223 000	249 175	11 301	561 320
India	248 800****	95 452	1 024 000	240 560	20 889	1 629 701
Indonesia	185 300***	47 158	72 000	9340	3792	317 590
Japan	9983	25 469	334 000	24 300	8622	402 374
Korea, Republic of	653 906	38 902	826 000	52 170	17 934	1 588 912
Laos	32 293	9565	117 000	14 905	1017	174780
Macao	84	1948	na	7110	na	9142
Malaysia	35 300****	78 858	39 000	20 930	11 460	185 548
Mongolia	136	126	na	20	na	282
Nepal	335