Australian Immigration Policy Research Articles

Health of children who experienced Australian immigration detention.

Australian immigration policy resulted in large numbers of children being held in locked detention. We examined the physical and mental health of children and families who experienced immigration detention. Retrospective audit of medical records of children exposed to immigration detention attending the Royal Children's Hospital Immigrant Health Service, Melbourne, Australia, from January 2012 -December 2021. We extracted data on demographics, detention duration and location, symptoms, physical and mental health diagnoses and care provided. 277 children had directly (n = 239) or indirectly via parents (n = 38) experienced locked detention, including 79 children in families detained on Nauru or Manus Island. Of 239 detained children, 31 were infants born in locked detention. Median duration of locked detention was 12 months (IQR 5-19 months). Children were detained on Nauru/Manus Island (n = 47/239) for a median of 51 (IQR 29-60) months compared to 7 (IQR 4-16) months for those held in Australia/Australian territories (n = 192/239). Overall, 60% (167/277) of children had a nutritional deficiency, and 75% (207/277) had a concern relating to development, including 10% (27/277) with autism spectrum disorder and 9% (26/277) with intellectual disability. 62% (171/277) children had mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression and behavioural disturbances and 54% (150/277) had parents with mental illness. Children and parents detained on Nauru had a significantly higher prevalence of all mental health concerns compared with those held in Australian detention centres. This study provides clinical evidence of adverse impacts of held detention on children's physical and mental health and wellbeing. Policymakers must recognise the consequences of detention, and avoid detaining children and families.

The immigration scholarship of Stephen Castles

The immigration scholarship of Stephen Castles

Refugee Policies and Narratives in the Globalised Era

One of the effects of globalisation has been population mobility as a result of famine, climate warming and war conflicts, among other things. This flow of refugees, however, is often seen as a menace to the rule of law and human rights concomitant with the Western lifestyle. Refugees are no longer regarded as human beings and victims, but rather as danger, even as potential terrorists, which has led many governments, including the Australian, to detain them indefinitely in detention centres where they are confined in inhuman conditions. The main aim of this paper will be to describe Australian immigration policies and how contemporary Australian narratives on and by refugees are reflecting this situation, mainly by analysing a selection of texts from three recently published collections, namely, A Country Too Far (2013), They Cannot Take the Sky (2017) and Seabirds Crying in the Harbour Dark (2017), and Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend but the Mountains (2018).

Norm-busting: rightist challenges in US and Australian immigration and refugee policies

Institutionalist scholars argue that international rights norms, judicial autonomy and discourses of immigrant nationhood constrain shifts to harsher immigration policies in liberal democracies, particularly settler societies. The Trump presidency and the Liberal–National Coalition government in Australia during the same period are occasions to test whether those norms functioned as expected in two paradigmatic country cases. Both governments attempted to undermine judicial autonomy, the illegitimacy of ethnic and religious selection of immigrants, the rights of detained children and families, and the principle of non-refoulement. A new institutionalist analysis of attempted norm-busting in each country specifies which norms were effective constraints. International legal and political constraints were weak. Domestically, norms obliging the protection of children were more effective than norms related to adults. Discourses favouring immigrant nationhood and opposing discrimination resonated, but were confronted by equally powerful discourses of insular nationalism and security that promoted restriction. While the judiciary moderately constrained new policies, particularly in the US, in neither country did the judiciary fully act in line with dominant theoretical expectations, because of both structural and normative weaknesses.

Clinician wellbeing: The impact of supporting refugee and asylum seeker survivors of torture and trauma in the Australian context

ObjectiveProviding therapy to refugees and asylum seekers who have experienced torture and trauma exposes clinicians to traumatic stories. Additionally, clinicians working with refugees and asylum seekers are often required to work in the context of immigration detention and uncertainty for clients' futures, potentially compounding the already difficult nature of trauma therapy and further impacting clinician wellbeing. There is a paucity of research considering the consequences of working with refugees and asylum seekers, particularly in the Australian context. This mixed‐methods study aimed to explore the impact of working therapeutically with refugees and asylum seekers on the psychological wellbeing of Australian clinicians.MethodFifty clinicians who work with refugees and asylum seekers participated in an online survey focussing on the impact of their work and protective factors. The survey also comprised open‐ended questions to collect qualitative information.ResultsThe sample reported low levels of depression, anxiety, stress, compassion fatigue, and average to high levels of compassion satisfaction. Analysis of free‐text comments regarding aspects of the job that impact wellbeing revealed three main themes: government and policy level stressors, work environment, and meaning‐making for the clinician.ConclusionWhile the sample reported psychological wellness, qualitative responses revealed that Australian immigration policies impact clinician wellbeing to a greater extent than exposure to traumatic narratives. Engaging in meaning‐making processes regarding work appeared to positively impact clinician wellbeing. Those in leadership or supervisory positions would benefit from understanding what aspects of the work most significantly impact clinicians, in order to best support staff.

“How Do We Put Him in the System?”: Client Construction at a Sport-Based Migrant Settlement Service in Melbourne, Australia

The empirical focus of this article is a sport-based settlement service targeting newly arrived migrants in Melbourne, Australia. This five-month study examines staff members’ everyday work routines with a focus on their participation in meetings and the production of documents. Embedded in the Australian immigration policy context, this article shows how staff members aim to empower clients while simultaneously falling back into stigmatising refugee/client identification through administrative practices. The results indicate that staffs’ everyday client constructions reinforce the othering and categorisation of ethnic minorities and support a reductionist deficit model of presenting clients. This may limit the opportunities for migrants to identify with and participate in wider Australian society and thus has the opposite effect of what governments and the sector aim to accomplish.

Muslim Student Associations (MSAS) and the Formation of the Australian Ummah

The evolution of Australian immigration policies led to the development of two key phases in the 20th century that changed the entry and settlement of Muslim migrants to Australia. Besides the phasing out of the White Australia Policy, the overlooked impact of the Colombo Plan and its correlation with the Muslim Youth Movement of Australia has not yet been considered. Moreover, the role of international students in universities led to the formation of Muslim student associations across Australian campuses from the 1960s. These associations and societies provided ground-breaking opportunities and safe spaces for the upward mobility, activism and communal development of their members. While the newly arrived Muslims were trying to find means to settle and lay the foundations of their communal life, the university associations were advancing into amalgamated national bodies, which through their activities soon became a referential establishment in national and international relations. This article traces the foundations and development of Muslim student associations in Australia, which shed light onto the Islamic revival euphoria that was prevalent at the time. This subsequently encouraged the Islamisation of the student associations as they became more focused on Islamic activism that contributed to the creation of the Australian ummah.

Anti-Communism in Australian Immigration Policies 1947–54: The Case of Russian/Soviet Displaced Persons from Europe and White Russians from China

This article assesses the role of anti-Communism in Australia’s postwar immigration policy in the years before the Petrov affair, with particular reference to the entry of Russians and Russian-speaking Jews from Europe and China. Our discussion focuses on the Department of Immigration under Arthur Calwell and his successor, Harold Holt, and the security agency, ASIO. We conclude that policy in this sphere was essentially bipartisan, and that anti-Communism was an important but not overwhelming motivation, stronger than the desire to prevent entry of Nazis and war criminals but probably less salient in practice than concern to minimise the entry of Jews.

Building Resilience: The Emergence of Refugee-Led Education Initiatives in Indonesia to Address Service Gaps Faced in Protracted Transit

Following recent changes in Australian immigration policy, and in the context of an increasing global refugee crisis, more than 14,000 asylum seekers and refugees now live in protracted transit in Indonesia, spending years awaiting resettlement through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to a third country. Despite the increasing length of time refugees are spending in Indonesia, they live in a state of limbo, prohibited from working and having limited access to education. Although refugees in such situations are commonly perceived to be passive agents resigned to helplessness and in need of outside assistance, refugee communities are challenging this notion by working together to independently address their collective needs. As such, the question emerges: How and to what extent do refugees self-organize to overcome barriers in access to basic services and rights while living in protracted transit in Indonesia? In Cisarua, a small town in West Java, the Hazara refugee community has responded by banding together and mobilizing their skills and experiences to independently provide sorely-needed education services for their own community. This article documents this example of refugee resilience and self-reliance, tracing the emergence of these refugee-led education initiatives, detailing their form, function, and benefits to the community, and analyzing the contextual factors that drove their emergence and proliferation in Cisarua.

Stephen Castles and Australian Immigration Policies, Politics and Possibilities

ABSTRACTStephen Castles has been a cutting-edge migration scholar and migration theorist since the 1970s. An Australian by birth, Castles’ retirement from the University of Sydney in 2017 provides a moment to reflect on his legacy in the field of global and Australian immigration scholarship. In this paper, I first present some personal reflections on the profound way that Stephen has shaped my own career as an Australian immigration scholar. The paper then situates Stephen Castles within the field of Australian immigration scholarship and situates his legacy of the giants in this field, including Charles Price, WD Borrie, Graeme Hugo and James Jupp. The paper then shifts to assess Stephen Castles’ contributions to the international migration literature.

What is the Problem Represented to Be: A Research Methodology for Analysing Australias Skilled Migration Policy

Most discourse theories contain no suggestion of a methodology to conduct policy analysis. The view that a prescribed methodology is a restriction on interpretation may account for why specific methodologies are few in policy (and discourse) analysis. However, Fairclough (2001) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) demonstrates that a prescribed methodology in discourse analysis can coexist with abstract discourse analysis. Extending Faircloughs argument for prescribed methodology, Bacchi (2009) What is the problem represented to be? What is the Prob-lem Represented to Be (WPR) uses a series of questions to assist in uncovering problem representation within policy settings. This paper applies the WPR approach to an analysis of the 2010 reform of the Australian skilled migration policy. This reform was a watershed in Australian immigration policy in terms of who may immigrate to Australia and on what conditions. The skilled migration program focus shifted from supply to demand driven migration. The WPR approach is applied to determine the motivation behind the policy shift through a series of six questions that uncover the ineffectiveness of human capital theory assumptions that drive the rationale for supply driven migration as the problem representation but fail to address the real and unrepresented problems. The paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the WPR approach as a research methodology in critical policy analysis.

Civil War, Migration and the Effect on Business Cycles: The Case of Sri Lanka

We estimated a stochastic growth model for Sri Lanka over the 1962–2015 period and found that permanent productivity shocks constituted the largest proportion of the variance in output growth. We computed correlation coefficients between permanent productivity shocks and some variables and found a negative correlation between the shocks and the growth in migration outflows. The findings are consistent with the negative effect of civil war on economic growth from an exodus of skilled workers. We further investigated the factors that drive migration from Sri Lanka to a major migration destination, namely Australia, for educated and skilled Sri Lankans. We regressed the growth rate of the Sri Lankan-born population in Australia on a civil war dummy variable, per worker Australian gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for the restrictiveness of Australian immigration policy and an estimated labour wedge that represents labour market inefficiency in Sri Lanka. We found that Sri Lankan immigrants in Australia increased with per worker GDP in Australia, civil war and labour market inefficiency in Sri Lanka. The finding suggests that excessive protection of insiders in the Sri Lankan labour market should be abolished to mitigate migration outflows that have continued since the end of the civil war.

CHINESE DIASPORA’S ROLE IN FORMATION OF AUSTRALIAN NEW IMMIGRATION POLICY

The article contains a historical overview of Australia's migration policy and analysis of the Chinese diaspora’s role in building an Australian multicultural society. The relevance of the study is determined by the increased importance of the human rights and racial discrimination problems in the developed countries’ policy discussion in connection with the strengthening of the world processes of integration. Those problems are not new in Australia, until the early 1970s the “White Australia Policy” restricted immigration from non-European countries, particularly those of Asian background, with the goal of creating an “Anglo-Celtic” Australian nation. Post-war mass migration, mostly from Europe, had a significant impact on the ethnic composition of the population. This situation put pressure on the government to recognize cultural diversity and in the early 1970s led to the creation of the concept of a multicultural society. The aim of the study is to follow the evolution of public opinion on migration and to assess the role of the Chinese diaspora in the formation of the Australian new immigration policy. In addition, the author also examines the problems of integration, racial discrimination and residual racism in the Australian multicultural society. In conclusion, the author pointed out that despite the existence of some challenges for migrants relating to the social integration people from all over the world now harmoniously coexist in Australian society. Today, the Chinese diaspora is the largest Asian diaspora in Australia and one of the factors affecting the political and economic processes in the country.

Walking Borders: Explorations of Aesthetics in Ephemeral Arts Activism for Asylum Seeker Rights

Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders vehemently enforces closed borders to asylum seekers arriving by boat to Australia. Policed urban borders were enforced in Brisbane, Australia, during the G20 Summit in 2014, to protect visiting dignitaries from potential violent protest. The ephemeral arts intervention Walking Borders: Arts activism for refugee and asylum seeker rights symbolically confronted border politics by peacefully protesting against Australian immigration policy. Rather than focusing on the direct effects of the ephemeral arts intervention, this article attends to the affective workings of the aesthetic elements of the project through sensory ethnography and storying. Informed by Ranciere’s aesthetics of politics, this article explores the affective experience and potential educative gains of the ethical turn attended to in participatory arts such as ephemeral arts interventions.

British Migrants, Criminality and Deportation: Shaping the Australian Post-war Approach

ABSTRACTThe British preference of Australian immigration policy was challenged by the demands of a rapidly expanding post-war programme overseen by the newly established Department of Immigration. An essential function of the department was the screening of prospective migrants against criteria shaped by national population policy preferences. This paper examines Australia’s post-war immigration security screening policies in domestic and international contexts. It compares the immigration department’s approaches to immigrating British subjects with their approaches to those from other national and ethnic backgrounds. We explain how assumptions about the free passage of British subjects across empire could persist until the 1970s despite revelations that Australian authorities were powerless to stop those with serious criminal histories gaining entry to the country. These revelations about risky British migrants exposed the limits of Australian control over entry and exclusion, while illuminating the emerging frameworks of post-war border controls.

Shifts in Intergenerational Mobility of Indian Immigrant Entrepreneurs

AbstractThe objective of this article is to examine the shift in the intergenerational mobility of Indian immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia. Based on a qualitative methodology, this article reports on the differences in the entrepreneurial attitudes of push and pull and the aptitudes of social and human capital between pre 2000 and post 2000 immigrant entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that the post 2000 Indian migrant entrepreneurs in Australia are mostly pull motivated, have higher qualifications than the pre 2000 arrivals, speak better English, have professional educational qualifications relevant to their business, and operate predominantly in the service sector. They take fewer years to get into business and are less dependent on immigrant social capital resources than pre 2000 arrivals. The study proposes that, compared with social capital resources, human capital resource have a greater impact on entrepreneurial propensity in the case of second generation Indian migrant entrepreneurs in Australia. Policy Implications This research has implication for Australian immigration policy, labour laws and settlement services of migrants. It recommends successful implementation of policies and durable solutions for Indian immigrants in the labour market in Australia. The Australian Government will be assisted in examining and identifying future options for the intake of temporary and permanent migrants that improve the income, wealth and living standards of Australian citizens, improve the budgets and balance sheets of Australian governments, minimize administration and compliance costs associated with immigration, and provide pathways both for Australian citizens to be altruistic towards foreigners, and for Australia's international responsibilities and obligations to foreign residents to be met. Improvements in the labour laws would promote the effective integration of Indian immigrants into society. Further, Indians in the USA have contributed immensely to the entrepreneurial spirit due to the government support for migrant SMEs and the small business venture funds. The Australian government can replicate this policy, reduce restriction on employment opportunities and enhance entrepreneurship for all migrants.

Responding to Negative Public Attitudes towards Immigration through Analysis and Policy: regional and unemployment dimensions

ABSTRACTThis paper examines two key dimensions of the impact of immigration for Australia and related policy aspects. One is sub-national and the other is national. They are, first, the regional location aspects of immigration and, second, the aggregate unemployment implications of immigration. These are chosen so as to focus on two important issues that condition public attitudes towards immigration. In relation to the first, there is a common positive view that channelling migration towards regional areas assists regional development and reduces pressure on metropolitan areas. The paper reviews regional concepts embodied in Australian immigration policy and the ways in which visa arrangements have implemented policies geared towards the regional dispersal of immigrants. Using official data, it discusses the demographic impacts of these policies and, in particular, considers the extent to which immigrants to regional Australia remain there over the longer term. In relation to unemployment, a common concern is that immigrants take jobs from local workers. The paper examines—using statistical regression methodology—the relationship between immigration and national aggregate unemployment in Australia. It evaluates the net consequences of immigration for both existing residents and new arrivals together. The paper concludes that, with good policy design in each case, regional location encouragement can be effective for immigrants and that immigrants need not take more jobs than they create. The analysis demonstrates that mixed-methods approaches to important social science issues can be productive, and helpful also for policy. Evidence, such as that presented in this paper, offers a powerful basis from which to counter negative public and political discourses surrounding immigration in contemporary Australia.

Australian Immigration Policy in Practice: a case study of skill recognition and qualification transferability amongst Irish 457 visa holders

ABSTRACTImmigration quotas in Australia are guided primarily by economic policy—the needs of the nation are quite rightly the principal concern of policymakers. Using data from a mixed-methods study, this article engages in a dialogue between labour geography and population and migration studies through an examination of the lived experiences of migrating workers and their families. The paper examines a number of cases where policy and practice have detrimentally affected the migration experience of Irish migrants who came to Australia under the Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) visa. The case study focuses on interviews with secondary 457 visa applicants, namely the wives of former 457 workers. These interviews highlight the problems faced by newcomers to Australia who arrive under this visa. The experiences relayed by these women demonstrate how ill-considered policy relating to qualification transferability makes entering the workplace and, therefore, transition to life in Australia more difficult than it needs to be. While the cases that underpin this paper ended in migration failure (the families involved returned to Ireland), the core issues of qualification transferability and skill comparison were replicated in the wider study dataset (of 1022 survey responses and 80 qualitative interviews). While acknowledging that citizens generally have more freedom and more civil rights than non-citizens, the findings of this study indicate that further review of Australia’s 457 visa is needed, particularly with respect to the limitations placed on the agency of migrant workers. Greater awareness amongst prospective migrants as to the purpose and limits of the 457 visa is also necessary, in order to avoid misinterpretation and the extreme personal repercussions outlined in this paper.

The Health Care Consequences Of Australian Immigration Policies.

Deborah Zion and colleagues discuss the “dual loyalty” conflict affecting Australian health care providers involved in the care of asylum seekers.

Regulating migration to Australia and back to the Philippines: Applying a ‘diaspora strategies’ framework

This paper examines circular labour migration between Australia and the Philippines by bringing Australian immigration policies and Philippine diaspora strategies under the same analytical framework. An extensive Philippine bureaucracy regulates migrants at each stage of the circular migration cycle, and as a sending state it has an interest in migrants staying temporarily in host countries such as Australia. The requirement to return home at the end of an overseas work contract compels migrants to remain attached to the sending state, their homeland, and return subsequently. However, Australia is allowing a route for temporary migrants to apply for permanent residency while in the host country. This has implications for sending states that rely on migrant ties to the homeland. The paper argues that analysing the intersections between the themes of migration, development and diaspora strategies reveals the multiple meanings of temporariness during migration and in migration studies. It questions whether associating temporariness with precariousness and marginalization is an accurate representation of the complex conditions underpinning circular labour migration.