Reports

IMPLICATIONS OF THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN FOR
IMMIGRATION AND SOCIAL COHESION

Des Storer, a Professor with the Institute, recently completed a report on the Implications of the Economic Downturn for Immigration and Social Cohesion.

This report considers whether the economic downturn in Australia commencing in 2008 will have the same implications in reducing immigration intakes and increasing social conflicts between new immigrants and existing residents, as occurred in earlier recessions in Australia in the 1980’s and 1990’s and is currently occurring in other advanced economies.

The report shows that immigration today is different to that of the 1980’s and the early 1990’s. Australia today is more dependant on increasing its immigration intakes to meet labour force replacement requirements especially of those people with professional and trades skills. To obtain such highly skilled persons, Australia has over the past decade been increasing not only its annual intakes of permanent migrants but has also been increasing the numbers of persons coming on 4 year employer sponsored temporary visas (457 visas). The same decade has seen increasing numbers of international students coming to Australia to study and obtain such needed skills.

The report concludes, by arguing, that it’s not the annual intakes of permanent skilled migrants that potentially could lead to any social cohesion problems. Rather, it is those long term temporary migrants, either on 457 visas (with limited trades skills); international students, and recently settled refugees who have limited skills and income and consequently settle in poorer, less well to do suburbs and regions in Australia that increasingly will be the focus of social cohesion problems over the coming decade.

The report suggests a range of information and social cohesion strategies that might be focused on by policy makers and support agencies to meet these new challenges.

This project was sponsored by the Scanlon Foundation.

Download Report Here

BRAIN DRAIN OR MIND-SHIFT?
Reconsidering Policies on Researcher Mobility

A report has arisen from the Moving Ideas and Research Policies: Australian Intellectuals in the Global Context conference held in July 2008 in Melbourne.

The conference discussed and debated the diverse benefits and difficulties of the international mobility of researchers and explored how research related policies, networks, institutions and bodies could best support and harness the benefits. Stemming from the current ARC Discovery project called Moving Ideas: Mobile Policies, Researchers and Connections in the Social Sciences and Humanities - Australia in the Global Context, the conference brought together diverse stakeholders, commentators, researchers from various disciplines and levels of seniority , representatives from the Australian Learned Academies, the Australian Research Council and state and commonwealth governments.

This report's main aim is to provide a collation of the policy considerations that emerged from the conference and some of the thinking that lay behind them. Selected full papers are available in the journal Around the Globe, Vol 5, No 1, 2009.

For more information on the report, conference and the ARC Discovery project contact Johannah Fahey via email at Johannah.Fahey@Education.monash.edu.au

Brain Drain or Mind-Shift?
Download Report Here

GETTING ALONG WITH THE NEIGHBOURS: NEW SURVEY

A report on the first round of major longitudinal survey on social cohesion in Australia has been released.

The report, Mapping Social Cohesion, provides insights to community attitudes to immigration, multiculturalism and social cohesion. These are based on findings from specially-commissioned national and local surveys.

Topics that are covered include: our sense of belonging, how happy we are, how satisfied we are financially, and how much we trust in politicians, public institutions and other people.

The report also examines complex attitudes to immigration and multicultural society, including assistance to ethnic groups, and levels of discrimination. It also examines the degree of disaffection in our community.

Mapping Social Cohesion has been undertaken for the Scanlon Foundation by Monash University and the Australian Multicultural Foundation.

Mapping Social Cohesion - the Scanlon Foundation Surveys –
Download Summary Report Here | Download Full Report Here