Immigration to Australia

Australian Government poster issued by the Overseas Settlement Office to attract immigrants (1928).

Immigration to Australia is estimated to have begun around 51,000 years ago^[1] when the ancestors of Australian Aborigines arrived on the continent via the islands of the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea. Europeans first landed in the 17th and 18th Centuries, but colonisation only started in 1788. The overall level of immigration has grown substantially during the last decade and a half. Net overseas migration increased from 30,042 in 1992-93^[2] to 177,600 in 2006-07.^[3] This is the highest level on record. The largest components of immigration are the skills migration and family re-union programs. In recent years the mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals by boat has generated great levels of controversy. During 2004-05, 123,424 people immigrated to Australia. Of them, 17,736 were from Africa, 54,804 from Asia, 21,131 from Oceania, 18,220 from the United Kingdom, 1,506 from South America, and 2,369 from Eastern Europe.^[4] 131,000 people migrated to Australia in 2005-06^[5] and migration target for 2006-07 was 143,000.^[6] The planning level for the 2007–08 Migration Program has been set in the range of 142,800 to 152,800 places, plus 13,000 in the Humanitarian Program.^[7] In 2008-09 about 300,000 new migrants were expected to arrive in Australia, the highest number since World War II.^[8][9] However, in March 2009, the Australian Government announced a 14 per cent cut in the 2008-09 permanent skilled migration program intake from 133,500 to 115,000 in response to worsening economic conditions,^[10] this was further reduced to 108,100^[11] for 2009-10. In November 2009, specific skills are still in shortage in Australia, especially in the areas of Health and Social Welfare.

History

Main articles: Immigration history of Australia and Convictism in Australia

Human migration to the Australian continent was first achieved during the closing stages of the Pleistocene epoch, when sea levels were typically much lower than they are today. It is theorised that these ancestral peoples arrived via the nearest islands of the Malay Archipelago, crossing over the intervening straits (which were then narrower) to reach the single landmass which then existed. Known as Sahul, this landmass connected Australia with New Guinea via a land bridge which emerged when prevailing glacial conditions lowered sea levels by some 100–150 metres. Australia's coastline also extended much further out into the Timor Sea than at present, affording another possible route by which these first peoples reached the continent. Estimates of the timing of these migrations vary considerably: the most widely-accepted conservative evidential view places this somewhere between 40,000 to 45,000 years ago, with earlier cited (but not universally accepted) dates of up to 60,000 years or more also proposed; the debate continues within the academic community.

Being the loser in the competition with the US, Britain sought for a new penal colony with an aim to find a solution for its prisons which were overloaded by too many convicts. On 26 January 1788, a date now celebrated as Australia Day - but regarded as "Survival Day" or "Invasion Day" by some Aboriginal people and supporters,^[12] the British First Fleet of Penal transportation ships landed at Sydney Cove for the purposes of establishing a penal colony. The new colony was formally proclaimed as the Colony of New South Wales on 7 February. A group of petty criminals, second-rate soldiers and a crew of sailors were the very first European settlers of Australia. After then, from 1788 until the end of the penal transportation in 1868, there were approximately 160.000 people entering Australia.^[13]

The colony was originally mostly a penal colony with a minority of free settlers. From the very first days of settlement, it was necessary to obtain leave to migrate to Australia. Since the cost of travelling from Europe was much higher than going from there to the United States, the colonies found it difficult attracting migrants. In the 1840s this was overcome by using the ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who proposed that land prices be kept high, and the money used to subsidise immigrants. This continued until self-government was achieved, when the electors refused to sanction tax money being used to provide competitors for available jobs.

The Gold rush era, beginning in 1851, led to an enormous expansion in population, including large numbers of British and Irish settlers, followed by smaller numbers of Germans and other Europeans, and Chinese. This latter group were subject to increasing restrictions and discrimination, making it impossible for many to remain in the country. With the Federation of the Australian colonies into a single nation, one of the first acts of the new Commonwealth Government was the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, otherwise known as the White Australia policy, which was a strengthening and unification of disparate colonial policies designed to restrict non-White settlement. Because of opposition from the British government, an explicit racial policy was avoided in the legislation, with the control mechanism being a dictation test in a European language selected by the immigration officer. This, of course, was selected to be one the immigrant did not know, and the last time an immigrant passed a test was in 1909. Perhaps the most celebrated case was Egon Erwin Kisch, a left-wing Czechoslovakian journalist, who could speak five languages, who was failed in a test in Scottish Gaelic, and deported as illiterate.

The government also found that if it wanted immigrants it had to subsidise migration. The great distance from Europe made Australia a more expensive and less attractive destination than Canada and the United States. The number of immigrants needed during different stages of the economic cycle could be controlled by varying the subsidy. Before federation in 1901, assisted migrants received passage assistance from colonial government funds. The British government paid for the passage of convicts, paupers, the military and civil servants. Few immigrants received colonial government assistance before 1831.^[14]

Period	Annual average assisted immigrants[14]
1831–1860	18,268
1861–1900	10,087
1901–1940	10,662
1941–1980	52,960

With the onset of the great depression, the Governor-General proclaimed the cessation of immigration until further notice, and the next group to arrive were 5000 Jewish refuge families from Germany in 1938. Approved groups such as these were assured of entry by being issued with a Certificate of Exemption from the Dictation Test.

In 1954 the 50,000th Dutch migrant arrived; Maria Scholte is to the right of the picture

After World War II, Australia launched a massive immigration programme, believing that having narrowly avoided a Japanese invasion, Australia must "populate or perish." Hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans migrated to Australia and over 1,000,000 British Subjects immigrated under the Assisted Migration Scheme, colloquially becoming known as Ten Pound Poms.^[15] The scheme was initially open to citizens of all Commonwealth countries and after the war, was gradually extended to other countries such as the Netherlands and Italy. The qualifications were straightforward: you needed to be in sound health and under the age of 45 years. There were initially no skill restrictions, although under the White Australia Policy, people from mixed race backgrounds found it very difficult to take advantage of the scheme.^[16]

Australia gradually became a promising land with the vastness of land in contrast to rareness of labour. Around 1970, there was a fundamental change in immigration policy. Million of migrants and refugees came to Australia during the 1970s which resulted in the issue of a policy of multiculturalism.^[13] For the first time since 1788 there were more migrants wanting to come (even without a subsidy) than the government wanted to accept. All subsidies were abolished, and immigration became progressively more difficult.

During the 2001 election campaign, asylum-seekers and border protection became a hot issue, as a result of incidents such as the 11 September 2001 attacks, the Tampa affair, Children overboard affair, and the sinking of the SIEV-X. This incident marked the beginning of the controversial Pacific Solution. The Howard government's success in the election was largely due to the strong public support for its restrictive policy on asylum-seekers. However, the overall level of immigration increased substantially over the life of the Howard Government.

Nowadays, Australian, which is a popular destination of migrants all over the world, has become one of the most multicultural and diverse countries with more than 200 languages and about 25 percent of the population from overseas countries of birth. ^[13]

Country of birth of Australian residents

Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006.
Source:Australian Bureau of Statistics^[17]

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics^[18] in mid-2010 5,993,945 of the Australian resident population were born outside Australia, representing 26.8% of the total Australian resident population.

Top 40 Countries of birth	Estimated resident population[19]
United Kingdom	1,192,878
New Zealand	544,171
China	379,776
India	340,604
Italy	216,303
Vietnam	210,803
Philippines	177,389
South Africa	155,692
Malaysia	135,607
Germany	128,558
Greece	127,195
South Korea	100,255
Sri Lanka	92,243
Lebanon	90,395
Hong Kong	90,295
Netherlands	88,609
United States	83,996
Indonesia	73,527
Ireland	72,378
Croatia	68,319
Fiji	62,778
Singapore	58 903
Poland	58,447
Thailand	53,393
Japan	52,111
Republic of Macedonia	49,704
Malta	48,870
Iraq	48,348
Canada	44,118
Serbia and Montenegro	42,064
Egypt	41,163
Turkey	39,989
Taiwan	38,025
Bosnia and Herzegovina	37,470
Iran	33,696
Zimbabwe	31,779
Cambodia	31,397
Pakistan	31,277
Papua New Guinea	31,225
France	30,631

Settlement patterns

There are some differences in settlement patterns, as demonstrated in the statistics compiled at the 2006 Census.^[20]

New South Wales has the largest population, and the largest foreign born population, in Australia (1,544,023). Certain nationalities are highly concentrated in this state: 74.5% of Lebanese-born, 63.1% of Iraqi-born, 63.0% of South Korean-born, 59.4% of Fijian-born and 59.4% of Chinese-born Australian residents live in New South Wales.

Victoria, the second most populous state, also has the second largest number of overseas-born persons (1,161,984). 50.6% of Sri Lankan-born, 50.1% of Turkish-born, 49.4% of Greek-born and 41.6% of Italian-born Australian residents were enumerated in this state.

Western Australia, with 528,827 overseas-born residents has the highest proportion of its population being foreign-born. The state attracts 29.6% of all Singapore-born Australian residents, and is narrowly behind New South Wales in having the largest population of British-born.

Queensland had 695,525 overseas-born residents, and attracted the greatest proportion of persons born in Papua New Guinea (52.4%) and New Zealand (38.2%).

Impacts and concerns

There are a wide range of views in the Australian community on the composition and level of immigration, and on the possible effects of varying the level of immigration and population growth, some of which are based on empirical data, others more speculative in nature. In 2002, a CSIRO population study entitled "Future Dilemmas", commissioned by the then DIMA, outlined six potential dilemmas associated with immigration-driven population growth. These dilemmas included the absolute numbers of aged continuing to rise despite high immigration off-setting ageing and declining birth-rates in a proportional sense, a worsening of Australia's trade balance due to more imports and higher consumption of domestic production, increased green house gas emissions, overuse of agricultural soils, marine fisheries and domestic supplies of oil and gas, and a decline in urban air quality, river quality and biodiversity.^[21]

Environment

Environmental movements, notably the organisation Sustainable Population Australia (SPA), believe that as the driest inhabited continent, Australia cannot continue to sustain its current rate of population growth without becoming overpopulated. SPA also argues that climate change will lead to a deterioration of natural ecosystems through increased temperatures, extreme weather events and less rainfall in the southern part of the continent, thus reducing its capacity to sustain a large population even further.^[22] The UK-based Population Matters, (formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust), supports the view that Australia is overpopulated, and believes that to maintain the current standard of living in Australia, the optimum population is 10 million (rather than the present 20.86 million), or 21 million with a reduced standard of living.^[23]

It is argued that immigration exacerbates climate change, because immigrants generally come from countries with low greenhouse gas emissions per capita to countries with high per capita emissions (like Australia). A number of climate-change observers see population control as essential to arresting global warming.^[24] Australia could experience more severe droughts and they could become more frequent in the future, a government-commissioned report said on 6 July 2008.^[25] The Australian of the Year 2007, environmentalist Tim Flannery, predicted that unless it made drastic changes, Perth in Western Australia could become the world’s first ghost metropolis, an abandoned city with no more water to sustain its population.^[26] Analysis by The Australia Institute shows that Australia’s population growth has been one of the main factors driving growth in domestic greenhouse gas emissions. It further finds that the average emissions per capita in the countries that immigrants come from is only 42% of average emissions in Australia, meaning that as immigrants alter their lifestyle to that of Australians, they increase global greenhouse gas emissions.^[27] It is calculated that each additional 70,000 immigrants will lead to additional emissions of 20 million tonnes of greenhouse gases by the end of the Kyoto target period (2012) and 30 million tonnes by 2020.^[28] In contradiction to this, a study in science journal Nature claims that immigration does not result in global warming because although immigration increases population in one country, on a global level immigration does not affect population.^[29]

Housing

A number of economists, such as Macquarie Bank analyst Rory Robertson, assert that high immigration and the propensity of new arrivals to cluster in the capital cities is exacerbating the nation's housing affordability problem.^[30] According to Robertson, Federal Government policies that fuel demand for housing, such as the currently high levels of immigration, as well as capital gains tax discounts and subsidies to boost fertility, have had a greater impact on housing affordability than land release on urban fringes.^[31]

The Productivity Commission Inquiry Report No. 28 First Home Ownership (2004) also stated, in relation to housing, that Growth in immigration since the mid-1990s has been an important contributor to underlying demand, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne.” ^[32] The RBA in its submission to the same PC Report also stated “rapid growth in overseas visitors such as students may have boosted demand for rental housing”.^[33] However, in question in the report was the statistical coverage of resident population. The “ABS population growth figures omit certain household formation groups — namely, overseas students and business migrants who do not continuously stay for 12 months in Australia.” ^[34] This statistical omission lead to the admission: “The Commission recognises that the ABS resident population estimates have limitations when used for assessing housing demand. Given the significant influx of foreigners coming to work or study in Australia in recent years, it seems highly likely that short-stay visitor movements may have added to the demand for housing. However, the Commissions are unaware of any research that quantifies the effects.” ^[35]

Employment

According to one researcher, there are thousands of low-cost IT workers entering Australia who are undermining the job prospects of new computer science graduates and reducing salaries in the IT industry.^[36] However, other research sponsored by DIAC has found that Australia’s structured labour market along with the larger number of immigrants with higher education levels has tended to raise employment levels for Australians who are relatively unskilled.^[37]

In May 2008, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said that he wanted “a major overhaul of the migrant program to boost numbers, promote unskilled as well as skilled applicants” and that “cabinet is expected to approve a pilot program for a guest worker scheme from the South Pacific. Senator Evans called this a "stalking horse" for the larger debate on unskilled migration.^[38]

In October 2008, in response to a question concerning possible cuts to immigration levels resulting from possible rising unemployment due to the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009, Prime Minister Rudd replied that : “As with all previous Governments . . whenever we set immigration targets, we will adjust them according to economic circumstances of the day. . . . What we’ll do in the future is adjust according to economic circumstances.”^[39]

In February 2009, Australia indicated that it will cut its annual immigration intake for the first time in eight years due to the slowing economy and weakening demand for labour. Immigration Minister Chris Evans said "It is fair to say that we expect the demand in the economy for labour to reduce. As it is a program very much linked to the demand for labour, we expect to run a smaller program."^[40]

In March 2009, it was announced that "the Government has reduced this year's immigration target by 14 per cent because of the financial slowdown.” The Permanent Migration program (skilled migrants) will be cut to 115,000 people this financial year. ^[41]

Australian trade unions have sometimes exposed attempts by employers to introduce foreign workers into the country in order to avoid paying local workers higher wages.^[42]

Economy

The former Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello considers that Australia is underpopulated due to low birth rate, and claims that negative population growth will have adverse long-term effects on the economy as the population ages and the labour market becomes less competitive.^[43] To avoid this outcome the government has increased immigration to fill gaps in labour markets and introduced a subsidy to encourage families to have more children. However, opponents of population growth such as Sustainable Population Australia do not accept that population growth will decline and reverse, based on current immigration and fertility projections.^[44]

There is uncertainty over whether immigration can slow the ageing of Australia's population. In a research paper entitled Population Futures for Australia: the Policy Alternatives, Peter McDonald claims that "it is demographic nonsense to believe that immigration can help to keep our population young."^[45] However, according to Creedy and Alvarado (p. 99),^[46] by 2031 there will be a 1.1 per cent fall in the proportion of the population aged over 65 if net migration rate is 80,000 per year. If net migration rate is 170,000 per year, the proportion of the population aged over 65 would reduce by 3.1 per cent. As of 2007 during the leadership of John Howard, the net migration rate was 160,000 per year.^[47]

According to the Commonwealth Treasury, immigration can reduce the average age of Australians: "The level of net overseas migration is important: net inflows of migrants to Australia reduce the rate of population ageing because migrants are younger on average than the resident population. Currently, around 85 per cent of migrants are aged under 40 when they migrate to Australia, compared to around 55 per cent for the resident population."^[48]

Ross Gittins, an economics columnist at Fairfax Media, backs up the Treasury study, claiming that the Liberal Party's focus on skilled migration has reduced the average age of migrants. "More than half are aged 15 to 34, compared with 28 per cent of our population. Only 2 per cent of permanent immigrants are 65 or older, compared with 13 per cent of our population."^[49] Because of these statistics, Gittens claims that immigration is slowing the ageing of the Australian population. He also claims that the emphasis on skilled migration also means that the "net benefit to the economy is a lot more clear-cut." Even though Gittins suggests that skilled workers add more to the economy, there are those who acknowledge the importance of unskilled migrants. Treasurer Eric Ripper claims that in Australia "several major capital works projects had to be put on hold because there were not enough skilled and unskilled workers."^[50] In 2009, major labour shortage in the Australian farming sector pushed the government to bring into Australia unskilled Tongan guest workers.^[51]

Using regression analysis, Addison and Worswick found that “there is no evidence that immigration has negatively impacted on the wages of young or low-skilled natives.” Furthermore, Addison's study found that immigration did not increase unemployment among native workers. Rather, immigration decreased unemployment.^[52]

In July 2005 the Productivity Commission launched a commissioned study entitled Economic Impacts of Migration and Population Growth,^[53] and released an initial position paper on 17 January 2006^[54] which states that the increase of income per capita provided by higher migration (50% more than the base model) by the 2024-2025 financial year would be $335 (0.6%), an amount described as "very small." The paper also found that Australians would on average work 1.3% longer hours, about twice the proportional increase in income.^[55]

In a study in the Australian Economic Review, Junankar finds that immigration during the 1980s Hawke Government lowered the unemployment rate^[56]

Gittins claims there is considerable opposition to immigration in Australia by "battlers" because of the belief that immigrants will steal jobs. Gittins claims though that "it's true that immigrants add to the supply of labour. But it's equally true that, by consuming and bringing families who consume, they also add to the demand for labour - usually by more."^[49]

Infrastructure

Individuals and interest groups such as Sustainable Population Australia filed submissions in response to the Productivity Commission's position paper, arguing amongst other things that immigration causes a decline in wealth per capita and leads to environmental degradation and overburdened infrastructure, the latter creating a costly demand for new infrastructure.^[57][58] However, the Productivity Commission's final research report found that it was not possible to reliably assess the impact of environmental limitations upon productivity and economic growth, nor to reliably attribute the contribution of immigration to any such impact.^[59]

Australia is a relatively high-immigration country like Canada (the country with the highest per capita immigration rate in the world, see Immigration to Canada) and the United States, and while other economically developed countries like Japan and Korea have historically had negligible immigration,^[60] the issue of population decline is forcing a rethink of such policies.

Nobel laureate economist Gary Becker from the University of Chicago, in a piece published in the Wall Street Journal, wrote, “The only solution for countries that continue to be concerned about a future with declining and aging populations is to open their gates to immigration. Yet in most countries large-scale immigration creates political, economic and social problems. Immigration is an especially unwelcome alternative for Japan, given the history of Japanese reluctance to have many foreigners settling in their country. As a result, Japan but not Russia and many other countries face a worrisome demographic and economic future.”^[60]

Immigration and Australian politics

Political trends

Over the last decade, leaders of the major Federal political parties have demonstrated support for high level immigration (including John Howard, Peter Costello and Kim Beazley^[61][61]). There was, overall, an upward trend in the number of immigrants to Australia over the period of the Howard Government (1996–2007) and the final immigration intake of the Howard era was the largest in Australia's history. The Rudd Labor Government (elected 2007) increased the quota again once in office.^[62] In 2010, both major parties continue to support high immigration, with (then) Prime Minister Kevin Rudd advocating a 'Big Australia'; and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott stating in a 2010 Australia Day speech that: "My instinct is to extend to as many people as possible the freedom and benefits of life in Australia".^[63]

Controversy

Immigration policy has often been controversial - notably during the economic down-turn of the early 1990s when the Policy of mandatory detention of unauthorised immigration arrivals was established by the Australian Labor Party government of Paul Keating in 1992.^[64] Designed to prevent circumvention of Australia's refugee immigration processes, the practice did not alter Australia's overall commitment to accepting refugees, but it became increasingly high profile and controversial during the period of the Coalition Government of John Howard, particularly after a system of processing claims for asylum offshore at Christmas Island, Nauru and Papua New Guinea was established (The Pacific Solution). While the policy was initially popular in the electorate, it came under criticism from a range of religious, community and political groups including the National Council of Churches, Amnesty International, Australian Democrats, Australian Greens and Rural Australians for Refugees, as well as high profile members of the Parliamentary Liberal Party led by Petro Georgiou.^[65] In 2005 the Liberal Government finally ended the practice of detention of children which had been established under the previous Labor Government and consistently promulgated by the Liberals.

Anti-immigration policies were a major plank of the One Nation Party, formed by Pauline Hanson in the late 1990s (the movement also championed economic protectionism and increased government support for regional Australia). Although Hanson lost her seat at the subsequent election, the Party obtained brief electoral success winning one Senate position at the 1998 Federal Election, and 11 of 89 seats in the 1998 State Election in Queensland (although state parliaments have no jurisdiction over immigration and the Party did not maintain unity once sitting in the Parliament).^[66] One Nation argued for a zero net immigration policy, asserting that "environmentally Australia is near her carrying capacity, economically immigration is unsustainable and socially, if continued as is, will lead to an ethnically divided Australia."^[67] The Party is now electorally marginalised.

In 2001 the Tampa affair and Children Overboard Affair caused significant political controversy. In August, the Tampa, a Norwegian vessel, went to the rescue of a sinking boat carrying over 400 asylum seekers bound for Australia. The Howard government refused to allow the asylum seekers to land at Christmas Island, causing a diplomatic dispute with Norway, and leading to the establishment of the Pacific Solution whereby claims for asylum by unauthorised arrivals would be processed at Offshore locations.^[68] In October, during an election campaign, the Government relayed to the media incorrect advice from the Royal Australian Navy that asylum seekers had "thrown their children overboard" in an effort to secure asylum.^[69] Subsequently the incident became known as the Children Overboard Affair, and politicians and commentators (notably David Marr of the Sydney Morning Herald) have accused the Howard government of deception and of exploiting the incident for political purposes.^[70] Former Prime Minister Howard denies this.^[71]

In 2003, economist Ross Gittins, a columnist at Fairfax Media, said former Prime Minister John Howard had been "a tricky chap " on immigration, by appearing "tough" on illegal immigration to win support from the working class, while simultaneously winning support from employers with high legal immigration.^[72]

In 2006, the Labor Party under Kim Beazley took a stance against the importation of increasingly large numbers of temporary migrant workers ("foreign workers") by employers, arguing that this is simply a way for employers to drive down wages.^[61] At the same time, it is estimated that a million Australians are employed outside Australia.^[61]

Kevin Rudd's Labor government announced in July 2008, that the "majority" of asylum seekers would no longer be detained and that "a person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved." Mandatory detention will now apply to three groups who "pose a risk to the wider community": those who have repeatedly breached their visa conditions or those who have security or health risks. However, asylum seekers who arrive at Christmas Island will still also be detained for health and security checks and will also continue to be processed at Christmas Island.^[73] Boat arrivals dramatically increased during 2009, as did reports of drownings on people smuggling boats and controversy re-emerged surrounding the issue of the best way to process unauthorised immigration arrivals and to dissuade people-smugglers from profiteering from dangerous voyages to Australia.^[74][75] As of 29 March 2010, 100 (one hundred) asylum seeker boats had arrived in Australian waters during the life of the Rudd government.^[76]

Current issues

Detention of asylum seekers is consistently topical. Mr Patrick McGorry, Australian of the Year 2009 and mental health advocate, called for an end to the policy of mandatory detention on Australia Day 2010. In response, the then Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard re-affirmed the Rudd Government's commitment to the policy: "We believe mandatory detention is necessary when people arrive unauthorised, for security reasons, in order to do health checks and in order to check identity, and we will continue to have a mandatory detention policy".^[77]

Perhaps in response to the consistent flow of boats filled with asylum seekers fleeing persecution, predominantly Hazaras from Afghanistan and Tamils from Sri Lanka, the Rudd government announced a freeze on processing of refugee claims for asylum seekers from these two countries who arrived in Australia after 9 April 2010.^[78] This policy has received serious criticism from local and international human rights groups,^[79] despite the Rudd government's assertions that the safety of minority groups is improving in both countries.

The Rudd government re-opened the remote Curtin Detention Centre in Western Australia. This decision was heavily criticised by refugee advocate groups who called the move "punitive" and an abuse of human rights, and liken the facilities at the former RAAF base to a "hell hole".^[80]

The debate about Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) continues, and Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott recently floated the idea of bringing TPVs back in an attempt to discourage 'boat people.'.^[81] The TPV regime is consistently criticised for its approach of leaving legitimate, recognised refugees in limbo, and also because of the limitations on TPV holder sponsoring family members to Australia, it causes women and children to attempt to enter Australia by illegal means (often by boat).

With projections of a population of 35 million by 2050, debate is underway in Australia as to how to organise infrastructure accordingly.^[82] The Federal Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has rejected arguments that Australia should consider lowering immigration on environmental grounds, saying in 2009 that the "primary source of stress on our urban and natural environments is bad management not population growth". Former Premier of New South Wales Bob Carr remains a vocal critic of high immigration, believing that population growth is unsustainable on a dry continent, commenting in 2009: "because of a very significant ramping up of the immigration intake, really a doubling of the intake, over the last five years, that we're looking at a population of... 42.5 million by 2055. And I am very worried about that. I don't think we've got the carrying capacity.".^[83] The Australian Greens also favour keeping Australia's population low on environmental grounds.

Different types of immigration

There are a number of different types of Australian immigration, classed under different categories of visa:

Employment visas 

Australian working visas are most commonly granted to highly skilled workers. Candidates are assessed against a points-based system, granting points for certain standards of education. These types of visas are often sponsored by individual states, which recruit workers according to specific needs. Visas may also be granted to applicants sponsored by an Australian business. The most popular form of sponsored working visa is the 457 visa.

Student visas 

Foreign students are actively encouraged to study in Australia by the Australian Government. There are a number of categories of student visa, most of which require a confirmed offer from an educational institution.

Family visas 

Visas are often granted on the basis of family ties in Australia. There are a number of different types of Australian family visas, including Contributory Parent visas and Spouse visas.

Employment and family visas can often lead to Australian citizenship, however this requires the applicant to have lived in Australia for at least four years with at least one year as a Permanent Resident.^[84]

Migration agents

It is possible to employ migration agents to assist with a visa application to Australia. Such persons who provide immigration assistance are regulated by a governing authority called the Migration Agents Registration Authority. Only Australian Citizens and Australian Permanent Residents are eligible to apply to MARA for registration. Australian Lawyers are immediately eligible to apply for registration whilst other applicants must hold a Graduate Certificate in Migration Law and Practice. Although, Lawyers only make up a small number of registered Migration Agents, since 1998 over 18% of the MARA’s sanction decisions have been against lawyer agents. The Australian Government strongly recommends that visa applicants select a registered migration agents over the selection of overseas non-registered agents.

To identify how many years an agent has been registered from, the first two numbers of their seven digit registration number will show the year - the earliest registrations are from 1992. Only agents registered before 28 March 1998 will have a five digit number.^[85] In February 2009, The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced the establishment of a new body to regulate migration agents after a review found dissatisfaction among consumers and potential conflicts of interest under the existing arrangements.

Senator Evans said that from 1 July, the new Office of Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) will undertake the regulatory functions which have been operated under statutory self-regulation by the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) since 1998.^[86] The new office may also perceived as having a conflict of interest as it will closely related to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Migration and settlement services

There are a variety of community-based services that cater to the needs of newly-arrived migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, some of which receive funding from the Commonwealth Government, such as Migrant Resource Centres. Asylum seekers, however, are denied access to such services and there are only a very small number of specific asylum seeker services catering to their needs.

See also

• Demographics of Sydney
• Demographics of Australia
• Department of Immigration and Citizenship
• ChilOut (Children Out of Detention)
• Post war immigration to Australia

References

1. ^ Smith, Debra (2007-05-09). "Out of Africa - Aboriginal origins uncovered". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/out-of-africa--aboriginal-origins-uncovered/2007/05/08/1178390312301.html. Retrieved 2008-06-05. "Aboriginal Australians are descended from the same small group of people who left Africa about 70,000 years ago and colonised the rest of the world, a large genetic study shows. After arriving in Australia and New Guinea about 50,000 years ago, the settlers evolved in relative isolation, developing unique genetic characteristics and technology." 
2. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics, International migration
3. ^ Australian Bureau of noms, 3101.0 Australian Demographic Statistics
4. ^ "Inflow of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year". Migrationinformation.org. http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/countrydata/country.cfm. Retrieved 2011-07-14. 
5. ^ Settler numbers on the rise^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Government - Department of Immigration and Citizenship: Key Facts in Immigration
7. ^ "Australian Immigration Fact Sheet 20. Migration Program Planning Levels". Immi.gov.au. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/20planning.htm. Retrieved 2011-07-14. 
8. ^ Iggulden, Tom (11/06/2008). "Immigration intake to rise to 300,000". Lateline (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s2272014.htm. 
9. ^ 300,000 skilled workers needed - Evans, NEWS.com.au
10. ^ [1] Government cuts migration program
11. ^ "Australia - Department of Immigration and Citizenship". Immi.gov.au. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/24overview_skilled.htm. Retrieved 2011-07-14. 
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• Commonwealth of Australia. Migration Act 1958
• Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. Fact Sheet 82, Immigration Detention, 2004

Further reading

• Betts, Katharine. Ideology and Immigration: Australia 1976 to 1987 (1997)
• Burnley, I.H. The Impact of Immigration in Australia: A Demographic Approach (2001)
• Foster, William, et al. Immigration and Australia: Myths and Realities (1998)
• Jupp, James. From White Australia to Woomera: The Story of Australian Immigration (2007) excerpt and text search
• Jupp, James. The English in Australia (2004) excerpt and text search
• Jupp, James. The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and their Origins (2002)
• Markus, Andrew, James Jupp and Peter McDonald, eds. Australia's Immigration Revolution (2010) excerpt and text search
• O'Farrell, Patrick. The Irish in Australia: 1798 to the Present Day (3rd ed. Cork University Press, 2001)
• Wells, Andrew, and Theresa Martinez, eds. Australia's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook (ABC-CLIO, 2004)

External links

• Department of Immigration & Citizenship of Australia
• A Blog And Public Forum providing Australian Immigration News and Resources
• Economic Benefits of Migration, DIMIA 2002.
• Worswick, C. The Economics of the Immigration Debate, Department of Economics, University of Melbourne.
• Costello hope for skilled migrant intake
• NSW training Chinese workers
• Origins: Immigrant Communities in Victoria - Immigration Museum, Victoria, Australia
• NSW Migration Heritage Centre, Australia
• Office of The Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA)
• Foreigners with TB, leprosy may be banned
• Australian State of Queensland skilled and business migration information site
• Information about current immigration to Australia with news, features and resources
• Australian State of Victoria official site for skilled and business migrants
• Culture Victoria – Stories about migration to Australia
• Forum to give free assistance in obtaining an Australian visa
• Ten Pound Pom Social Museum
• "Hierarchies of Mobility", Anne McNevin, Berfrois, 22 September 2011