Migrants

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GUEST OBSERVATION
The Australian society has changed significantly since cemeteries in Victoria were planned and designed 150 years ago. But there haven’t been any major redevelopment or review of the community’s changing requirements for what happens to our bodies when we die.
The Australian population is ageing, with around 15% of Australians aged 65 and over <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/older-people/older-australia-at-a-glance/contents/demographics-of-older-australians" target="_blank">in 2017</a>. About a third of older people in Australia were born overseas, with most coming from a non-English speaking background.
This has implications for our rituals for death and memorialisation, as well as for existing and future cemeteries.
In a new collaborative <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://monash.figshare.com/articles/Approaches_to_Death_Funeral_Rites_and_Memorialisation_in_Contemporary_Australia_Changes_and_Continuities/9922631" target="_blank">research project</a> taken from survey responses and in-depth interviews with members of different communities, we found cemeteries have ongoing significance to Australians, although its meaning and function are changing.
More than half of the 380 survey respondents said they still visit a cemetery once a year or more, and 23% visit once a month or more. But the interview data reveal a more complex and dynamic picture.
We found people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities tend to visit the cemetery more than their Anglo counterparts, and prefered to be memorialised in cemeteries to preserve a sense of belonging.
Anglo-Australians, on the other hand, generally prefer to be cremated and often choose to scatter ashes in places other than a cemetery. In one participant’s case, that meant scattering remains in a French vinyard, an island volcano and their local beach.
Calling Australia home
The cemetery remains an important site of cultural ritualisation and expression to most CALD interviewees.
Interviewees from the CALD communities - especially those from an Asian cultural background - had positive experiences with cemeteries in Australia. When comparing Australian cemeteries with those in Malaysia, Jenny (60s, Malaysian Chinese) said:
"In Malaysia, the cemeteries are not like this […] they are all overgrown […] and we were taught that graves are places where the gangsters will hide out, the thieves will hide out, people will come and rob you, so we don’t go."
The perceptions that Australian cemeteries are more open, greener, better managed, more accessible, and not as scary as those in their original countries made many Asian migrants felt more willing to visit a cemetery here.
Besides the aesthetic contrast, for many CALD interviewees, the cemetery offers a space that embraces their culture and gives them a sense of belonging in Australia.
Tony (30s, Tongan) would love to have a traditional Tongan way of burial in Australia, which involves bone picking (removing the bones from the grave), and grave re-using for future generations. These traditions strengthen their inter-generational connections.
Australian regulations mean these ritual practices are not possible here. But Tony was prepared to make a compromise.
Instead of following the ritual, he insisted on being buried in Australia because his children and family live in Australia. The inter-generational connections can prevail here. They call Australia home.
Participants from the CALD communities generally shared Tony’s idea. They believed having a physical place in Australia (either a grave or a plot for the ashes) gave them a sense of belonging and settlement for themselves and their families.
A library of local history, not a ‘resting place’
On the other hand, people from an Anglo-cultural background no longer see cemeteries as just a space for memorialisation and mourning. From our interviews, many see it as a “library” or a “depository” of the local history and family genealogy.
Cemetery visits, in this sense, contrast between fulfilling one’s cultural duty of memorialisation, and obtaining historical knowledge for self-learning, reflection, and development.
Alfred’s (50s, Anglo-Australian) cemetery visits had been driven by his interest in his family history. Family history can give someone “an explanation” about the kind of person they are, and:
"how the attitudes were passed on to the next generation so you can learn a tremendous amount, multi-generation through a family history search."
Yet, while many Anglo interview participants appreciated the historical and cultural values of the cemetery, they became less enthusiastic when considering the cemetery as their “resting places”.
We believe this corresponds with the nationwide trend since 2012 of more Australians <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/cremations-overtake-burials-as-final-choice-20120813-244ft" target="_blank">preferring cremation</a> to traditional full-body burial.
We found 56% of our survey respondents preferred cremation, 32% indicated preference for a ground burial and 12% were undecided.
In any case, our research indicated many people prefer to be memorialised at a place or site that’s meaningful. This might include their favourite beach or the park where they spent time with their children, rather than in a cemetery, which is outside their social, family spaces.
Tina (50s, Anglo-Australian) embarked on a global journey to fulfil her late husband’s wishes as he wanted his cremation remains (called cremains) scattered in three locations he loved: a vinyard in Burgundy, France, a volcano in Reunion Island, and the family’s local beach in Williamstown, Melbourne. Tina did all three.
Planning your body disposal
More people have started pre-planning what happens to their body when they die. The quantitative data shows 64% of people have already discussed their end of life-related wishes with close friends or family, and 11% have pre-paid for a funeral service.
In an earlier study, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17450101.2018.1471847" target="_blank">we found</a> Chinese Australians, for example, tended to pre-purchase their funeral services and grave sites before they died.
As previously mentioned, this might enhance their sense of cultural belonging in Australia.
On the other hand, people from an Anglo cultural background would “talk about it”, but few actually “lock things in”.
Interviews from the present study revealed people with an Anglo cultural background had a strong desire of “flexibility”. Many didn’t wish to decide at the time of their interview, as they were still exploring possibilities and opportunities outside the conventional modes of body disposal and memorialisation.
In other words, the idea of being memorialised outside the cemetery was an emerging rather than established idea.
Understanding the contemporary and future funeral needs of the culturally diverse Australian population is important to policy makers, as well as the cemetery and funeral industries.
With increasingly limited access to usable land suitable for burial practices – particularly in metropolitan areas – planning must consider the funeral rites of the ageing population and incoming migrant groups. They are likely to make end of life choices in the coming decades.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124180/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
Wilfred Wang, Lecturer, Communications &amp; Media Studies, Monash University.
Gil-Soo Han, Associate Professor, Communications &amp; Media Studies, Monash University.
Helen Forbes-Mewett, Senior lecturer, Monash University.
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/migrant-communities-keep-our-cemeteries-alive-as-more-anglo-australians-turn-to-cremation-124180" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Migrant communities keep our cemeteries alive as more Anglo-Australians turn to cremation

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GUEST OBSERVATION
The federal government wants to boost the number of migrants moving to regional areas in Australia to fill job vacancies and reduce the pressure on our cities.
That’s why the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, David Coleman, this week asked the Joint Standing Committee on Migration to look into and report on <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/joint/migration" target="_blank">migration in regional Australia</a>.
He’s called on anyone to make a submission by September 20 and the Committee intends to hit the road for a series of public hearings.
The <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Migration/RegionalMigration/Media_Releases" target="_blank">government says</a> only about one in five people who came to Australia between 2006 and 2011 settled in regional areas. So what are the challenges to encourage more migrants to settle in regional Australia?
Bush vs city
Australia is one of the most urbanised nations in the world with <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Interesting+Facts+about+Australia%E2%80%99s+population" target="_blank">67% of the population living in capital cities</a>, with <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1819/Quick_Guides/PopulationStatistics" target="_blank">migrants more urban than non-migrants</a>.
The two key issues for encouraging more migrants to regional areas are attraction and retention.
For skilled migrants this means <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/federal-budget/immigration-cuts-and-regional-visas-to-ease-strain-on-sydney-and-melbourne/news-story/da7de88690966d4c202ab0d372a5b253" target="_blank">new visa pathways to regional settlement</a>. Two were announced earlier this year, the <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/regional-migration/news/new-regional-visas" target="_blank">Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa and the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa</a>, both with a pathway to permanent residency at the end of three years. This is a big incentive, since permanent residency is the main goal of most temporary migrants.
Staying in the regions
The key factors that impact on retention of migrants who settle in regional and rural Australia are employment, children’s education, lifestyle, availability of services and the warmth of the welcome from locals.
<a href="https://web-tools.uts.edu.au/projects/detail.cfm?ProjectId=2006000310" target="_blank">Findings</a> from a national survey of 915 skilled migrants who settled in regional and rural Australia in 2008 found about two thirds liked their jobs.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288250/original/file-20190816-136186-1y815t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" target="_blank">Click here</a> to enlarge: 
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288250/original/file-20190816-136186-1y815t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288250/original/file-20190816-136186-1y815t6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Job satisfaction of migrants. New immigrants in regional and rural Australia: attraction and retention, by Jock Collins and Branka Krivokapic-skoko (2008)/Rural and Regional Industries Research Council, Author provided
About two in three said the community had made them feel very welcome. The reputation of the Australian bush being populated with red necks who don’t like migrant newcomers is myth rather than reality.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288251/original/file-20190816-136230-1f0vpij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip" target="_blank">Click here</a> to enlarge: 
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288251/original/file-20190816-136230-1f0vpij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288251/original/file-20190816-136230-1f0vpij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
How welcome migrants feel. New immigrants in regional and rural Australia: attraction and retention, by Jock Collins and Branka Krivokapic-skoko (2008)/Rural and Regional Industries Research Council., Author provided
Most skilled migrants were satisfied with medical services, schools and entertainment available in their regional and rural community. Telecommunication services were rated less highly while transport services were a source of great dissatisfaction.
Regional refugee success
For refugees, their primary settlement location is decided by the Australian government. Regional cities such as Toowoomba and Logan in Queensland, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong and Coffs Harbour in New South Wales and Shepperton in Victoria have settled many refugees.
What does the research tell us about refugee migration to regional Australia? The classic success story is that of the <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/economics/articles/economic-social-impact-karen-resettlement" target="_blank">Karen people from Myanmar who settled in Nhill</a> in western Victoria, many of whom find <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-24/study-reveals-refugees-boosting-nhill-economy/6417620" target="_blank">employment at the Luv a Duck factory</a>.
<a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/centre-business-and-social-innovation/research/projects-0" target="_blank">Research</a> was done in 2018 with 111 newly-arrived adult refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who settled in Queensland regional cities of Toowoomba and Logan. It <a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-are-integrating-just-fine-in-regional-australia-101188" target="_blank">found</a> most like living there, feel safe, feel the locals were very friendly towards them and that their children had a good future in Australia.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288252/original/file-20190816-136186-4jtvlu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip" target="_blank">Click here </a>to enlarge: 
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288252/original/file-20190816-136186-4jtvlu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288252/original/file-20190816-136186-4jtvlu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
The friendliness of locals according to migrants. <a class="source" href="https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/centre-business-and-social-innovation/research/projects-0" target="_blank">Jock Collins and colleagues</a>, Author provided
Most refugees who flee their homeland to begin the risky and dangerous journey to Australia do so in order to provide a safe place for them and their family. They hope to settle in a good place to bring up their children.
The <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/centre-business-and-social-innovation/research/projects-0" target="_blank">research found</a> the migrants feel their neighbourhoods in Brisbane, Toowoomba and Logan were good places to bring up children.
Nearly all adult refugees – and their children – feel very safe in regional and metropolitan Queensland. Incredibly all of those refugee adults living in Toowoomba feel it is a safe place to live.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288253/original/file-20190816-136213-1hyca37.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip" target="_blank">Click here</a> to enlarge: 
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288253/original/file-20190816-136213-1hyca37.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288253/original/file-20190816-136213-1hyca37.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
How safe migrants felt their neighbourhood was. <a class="source" href="https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/centre-business-and-social-innovation/research/projects-0" target="_blank">Jock Collins and colleagues</a>, Author provided
Getting a job
Employment is the real challenge for any attempt to redirect more refugees and skilled migrants to regional Australia. The critical issue for keeping refugees in regional cities such as Toowoomba and Logan is getting a job.
At first glance the research doesn’t seem too positive in this regard.
Only 13.8% of refugees in Logan and 13.2% in Toowoomba had been able to find a job in 2018. But most of these refugees had settled in the previous 12 months so most were still learning English and had not yet began looking work.
But these refugee families were also surveyed in 2019 and the improved employment results seem encouraging for refugee retention.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288255/original/file-20190816-136190-fo4nzb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip" target="_blank">Click here</a> to enlarge: 
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288255/original/file-20190816-136190-fo4nzb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288255/original/file-20190816-136190-fo4nzb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Job prospects of migrants in Queensland. Jock Collins, Author provided
Overall the research supports the push for increasing skilled and humanitarian migration to regional Australia, with the proviso that more needs to be done on the employment front to encourage retention.
One policy that should be explored in this regard relates to <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/private-and-community-sector-initiatives-refugee-employment-and-entrepreneurship" target="_blank">migrant and refugee entrepreneurship</a>. Many refugees have experience in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-refugees-overcome-the-odds-to-become-entrepreneurs-85091" target="_blank">running their own business</a> prior to settling in Australia.
Supporting them to establish a business in regional Australia by introducing proven programs such as Settlement Services International’s <a href="http://www.ssi.org.au/services/ignite" target="_blank">Ignite Small Business Start-ups</a> refugee program would assist them to create their own jobs and employment for others as well as revitalising the economy of the regional cities.
The biggest threat to increasing temporary migration to regional Australia is wage-theft and exploitative employment experiences. A <a href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/legal/wage-theft-regional-fwo/" target="_blank">recent intervention</a> by Fair Work Australia found that of 1,300 regional businesses visited by inspectors, one-in-five (22%) were found to be stealing wages from their workers.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121942/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Jock Collins, Professor of Social Economics, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney.
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-regions-can-take-more-migrants-and-refugees-with-a-little-help-121942" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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The regions can take more migrants and refugees, with a little help

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GUEST OBSERVER
Established migrant communities in regional and rural areas are often ignored in favour of policies focused on attracting new intakes of skilled migrants. A striking example is the <a href="http://www.devpolicy.org/pacific-farmworkers-in-australia-20180206/" target="_blank">substantial population of Pacific Islanders in horticultural areas in Australia</a>.
They are largely unacknowledged or even invisible to policymakers in Canberra. Their working-age children now struggle to move beyond the seasonal, precarious horticultural work their parents do. Appropriate supports could help them increase their skills and make a valuable contribution to the rural economy.
Since the mid-1990s, the Australian government has tried to tackle problems on two fronts – congestion in urban areas, and population decline and associated labour shortages in rural areas – through diverse migration schemes.
In March this year the Morrison government launched a <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/plan-australias-future-population" target="_blank">plan for Australia’s future population</a>. It emphasised skilled migration as a means of “ensuring regional communities are given a much-needed boost”. The plan includes new regional visas for skilled workers and scholarships for domestic and international students to study in regional tertiary institutions.
A neglected community
The rhetoric around settling people in regional areas tends to neglect the untapped potential of migrant populations that already live there. <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/social-inquiry/research/current-research-projects/pacific-islanders-in-regional-victoria-visitors-migrants-and-overstayers" target="_blank">Our research in the Sunraysia region</a> shows Pacific people have been largely trapped in seasonal farm work since they began moving there in the 1980s.
The government’s lack of acknowledgement of these established communities was evident in its planning and introduction of the <a href="https://www.jobs.gov.au/seasonal-worker-programme" target="_blank">Seasonal Worker Program</a>. Their potential to provide pastoral care for temporary workers from the Pacific islands was neglected. In both the <a href="https://docs.jobs.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/pswps_-_final_evaluation_report.pdf" target="_blank">2011 final evaluation of the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme</a> and the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/%7E/media/02%20Parliamentary%20Business/24%20Committees/244%20Joint%20Committees/Migration/Seasonal%20Worker%20Program/Report/Full%20report.pdf?la=en" target="_blank">2016 report of the parliamentary inquiry into the Seasonal Worker Program</a> this is seen as the responsibility of approved employers.
However, such “official” pastoral care is insufficient. We have found settled communities are supporting workers in getting health care and often provide them with food and other supplies.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276259/original/file-20190524-187179-1vjwm30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Pacific people are active members of churches in regional Victoria and provide pastoral care to members of their community. Author provided
But the government has seen the settlers in negative terms, as potentially encouraging Pacific people employed through the Seasonal Worker Program to overstay their visas. This claim was made, for instance, in a 2016 call for expressions of interest in research for the <a href="https://www.cardno.com/projects/labour-mobility-assistance-program-lmap/" target="_blank">Labour Mobility Assistance Program</a>.
Rather than relying only on bringing in new waves of skilled migrants, <a href="https://theconversation.com/forcing-immigrants-to-work-in-regional-areas-will-not-boost-regional-economies-in-the-long-run-96852" target="_blank">most of whom stay for the required period then move to the cities</a>, why not focus on resolving structural problems and increasing the skills of those who already live there? This would mean tackling the barriers the local Pacific populations face, including their relative invisibility in regional communities.
In regional Australia, social services are directed mainly to new migrant and refugee arrivals, as well as Indigenous Australians. Some of our Pacific research participants said their communities’ needs remain largely unmet. A Tongan community leader we interviewed in Mildura raised two questions that prevent Pacific people from accessing support in Sunraysia: “Are you a refugee? Are you an Indigenous [person]?”
A high school principal echoed this point. She knew who to contact when she needed support for Koorie students or students from a “Muslim background”, but eligibility criteria often excluded Pacific youth from these services.
Many Pacific young people in Sunraysia express a strong desire to remain in their home towns, yet feel they face significant barriers to entering the workforce.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276256/original/file-20190524-187189-nv8hmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Pacific youth in Sunraysia who attended our workshop in 2017 brainstormed the advantages and disadvantages of living in regional and urban areas. Author provided
Their teachers confirm that Pacific youth are less likely to be considered for apprenticeships. They need targeted programs to ensure they get skills training that will broaden their employment opportunities.
Yet their <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-14/an-pacific-islanders-missing-out-on-tertiary-education2c-study/5453382" target="_blank">rates of participation in TAFE and university are low</a>. This is partly due to their lack of knowledge about their options.
In a workshop with teachers they also told us some Pacific students come to high school with insufficient literacy and numeracy skills. Early support could have overcome this problem.
The problems are structural
Much of the debate about employment relies on the idea of individual empowerment, which assumes academic achievement leads to skilled work. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/youth-unemployment-local-communities-essential-for-helping-young-people-find-work-56673" target="_blank">David Farrugia argues</a> that youth unemployment rates will not decline without overcoming structural problems in regional Australia.
An example of these problems in Sunraysia is that some local industries that give workers stable hourly rates <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/02/pacific-workers-not-backpackers-should-do-australias-regional-work-world-bank" target="_blank">prefer to employ working holidaymakers or backpackers</a>. This leads migrants and second-generation youth to work in more precarious piece-rate farm jobs. The local advocacy body for employing settled workers told us the preference for working holidaymakers is linked to their connections with other industries such as accommodation providers that benefit from this transient population.
Despite being born and raised locally, and in many cases being Australian citizens, Pacific youth experience significant discrimination and marginalisation. Like their parents’ generation they are <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/pacific-islanders-in-rural-australia-struggling-to/8693102" target="_blank">stigmatised as “fruit pickers”</a>.
Many of them come to see farm work as the only option if they stay in the area. And even that is becoming increasingly precarious because they have to compete with temporary workers, such as those in the Seasonal Worker Program, working holidaymakers and irregular migrants.
Enabling the full participation of Pacific youth in more stable and skilled employment would contribute to the regional economy and improve social cohesion. But the policy focus is still on how to bring in new migrants. Population planning needs to have a long-term perspective and for regional areas a focus on the needs of the well-established migrant populations is crucial.
Dean Wickham, executive officer of <a href="http://www.smeccinc.org" target="_blank">Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council</a>, contributed to our research project and writing this article.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116277/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/makiko-nishitani-435963" target="_blank">Makiko Nishitani</a>, Lecturer, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842" target="_blank">La Trobe University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/helen-lee-730364" target="_blank">Helen Lee</a>, Professor of Anthropology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842" target="_blank">La Trobe University</a>
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-forgotten-people-in-australias-regional-settlement-policy-are-pacific-islander-residents-116277" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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The forgotten people in Australia’s regional settlement policy are Pacific Islander residents

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Political debate about a “big Australia” has re-emerged in response to <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-australias-population-the-highest-growing-in-the-world-96523" target="_blank">high levels of immigration</a>, increasing congestion and high property prices in Sydney and Melbourne, where <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/90pc-of-migrants-settling-in-two-cities/news-story/8746797d36bf40f41587d267e8dcdbc4" target="_blank">90% of migrants settle</a>. In 2010, <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1617/Quick_Guides/MigrationStatistics" target="_blank">China overtook the United Kingdom as Australia’s largest source of permanent migrants</a> (a position <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics/live-in-australia/migration-programme" target="_blank">now held by India</a>). Since then, China-born migrants have <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics/live-in-australia/migration-programme" target="_blank">averaged around 15% of the annual intake</a>. That’s a significant contributor to the “Asianisation” of Sydney and Melbourne that <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?redir_esc=y&amp;id=Yw-QVvwebDsC&amp;q=Peter+McDonald#v=onepage&amp;q=Demographic%20Transitions&amp;f=false" target="_blank">Peter McDonald pointed to a decade ago</a>.
In this context, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-5871.12316" target="_blank">our research</a> focused on the much-neglected dimension of the <a href="https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/08/professor-ian-lowe-mass-immigration-mass-environment-killer/" target="_blank">environmental impact on cities</a> of population and immigration. Australian cities are world-leading – in the worst sense – in terms of the size of their <a href="https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/" target="_blank">ecological footprints</a>, a measure of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705817316685?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">their resource use and greenhouse gas emissions</a>. And we found China-born residents more than triple their average levels of consumption compared to when they lived in China, even surpassing Australia-born residents’ consumption.
What did the study find?
We were interested in understanding the urban consumption behaviour of China-born 21st-century migrants (as measured by their ecological footprint) when they settled in Box Hill. This is a middle-class middle-ring suburb of Melbourne with the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/this-map-shows-where-migrants-from-around-the-world-have-settled-in-melbourne-20170822-gy1dqh" target="_blank">greatest concentration of China-born residents</a>. We compared their consumption to their pre-migration footprint (when living in China) and to that of Australia-born residents in the same suburb.
Our findings are based on an extensive face-to-face survey of 61 China-born and 72 Australia-born residents. The main findings were as follows.
Within a decade of arrival in Melbourne, China-born urban consumption patterns were more than three times their consumption before their migration. They even surpassed the consumption levels of other residents of the suburb. Their housing consumption was 5.4 times higher than when in China, food consumption 4.7 times higher and carbon footprint 2.7 times bigger.
In part this is due to higher incomes, settling in a city with housing sizes and costs among the highest in the world and where the private car is the dominant form of transport. But cultural influences are also in play.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243129/original/file-20181031-76416-1yk5cwu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243129/original/file-20181031-76416-1yk5cwu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Figure 1. The gap in the CALD Index between residents born in China and in Australia suggests a strong cultural influence on consumption behaviours. (Click to enlarge.) <a class="source" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-5871.12316" target="_blank">Ting, Newton &amp; Stone (2018)</a>, Author provided
It is apparent that consumer acculturation is the major process by which Chinese migrants have come to mirror the host society in Australia. Cultural integration is less evident – it lags consumer acculturation. This was clear from a comparison of scores on a Cultural and Linguistic Difference (CALD) Index.
The index incorporated measures of birthplace, English proficiency, religion, food preferences, participation in entertainment and festivals, avenues of social interaction and engagement with neighbourhood communities. The gap between the China-born and Australia-born groups’ scores on the CALD Index was significant (see Figure 1). This suggests a strong cultural influence on the China-born group’s urban consumption behaviours is likely.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243131/original/file-20181031-76408-6migwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243131/original/file-20181031-76408-6migwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Figure 2. China-born residents in Melbourne tend to have much larger housing in all categories than they had in China. (Click to enlarge.) <a class="source" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1745-5871.12316" target="_blank">Ting, Newton &amp; Stone (2018)</a>, Author provided
A comparison of the different components of the ecological footprints of China-born and Australia-born residents was also revealing. Housing footprints measuring the size and type of dwelling occupied by the China-born residents were 18% larger overall.
This may be due to the role housing plays in reflecting an attained status (mien-tzu, or “to save face”) within the host society. Consumption levels that outstrip those of Australia-born residents indicate the potential danger of housing consumption being used to indicate “successful” settlement in Australia.
Food footprints of the China-born were 16% larger than the Australia-born. This reflected higher consumption of meat and dairy products and lower consumption of home-grown vegetables.
Carbon footprints of the China-born were 37% bigger, mainly as a result of more frequent overseas travel.
A rising burden on the planet
The global implications of these findings are potentially huge. The <a href="https://www.michaelwest.com.au/ross-garnaut-the-future-of-chinese-economic-growth/" target="_blank">rise of incomes among China’s population into the range of those in developed countries</a> can be expected to unleash new levels of urban consumption as this population aspires to the urban liveability enjoyed by people in Australia and North America. In these countries, however, city liveability ratings are closely related to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705817316685" target="_blank">ecological footprints that are almost triple those of China</a>.
Based on the rate of growth of the mainland Chinese middle class and the increase in consumption by the China-born middle class now living in Australia, the ecological footprint of China’s population of 1.4 billion can be expected to more than double over the next 10 to 20 years. This has significant consequences for planetary ecosystems and geopolitics.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103921/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Peter Newton, Research Professor in Sustainable Urbanism, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology
Christina Ting, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Swinburne Business School, Swinburne University of Technology
Wendy Stone, Associate Professor, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinese-migrants-follow-and-add-to-australian-city-dwellers-giant-ecological-footprints-103921" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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Chinese migrants follow and add to Australian city dwellers’ giant ecological footprints

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Recent Australian migrants are buying into the Great Australian Dream of home ownership. But rates of home ownership among recent migrants are falling, as they are among all Australians. Unless we build enough housing to match Australia’s growing population, all Australians, including migrants, will pay the price.
A recent data release by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows 54% of permanent migrants aged 15 and over own their home, compared to 67% of Australians overall. Since migrants tend to be younger than native-born Australians, and younger people are less likely to own their home, migrants have broadly similar rates of home ownership to native-born Australians of the same age.
And the facts do not support the idea that substantial numbers of migrants to Australia are relying upon on public housing. Just 2% of all permanent migrants arriving since 2000 are living in public housing, compared to around 4% of the overall Australian population.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228732/original/file-20180723-142420-vp84e5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
Home ownership is highest among migrants granted permanent residency under the skilled (57%) and family (58%) visa streams, compared to just 31% among those on humanitarian visas. Comparatively high rates of home ownership among permanent migrants is unsurprising: skilled migrants in particular tend to earn higher incomes than native-born Australians.
Permanent migrants also appear to be relatively well housed. Just 13% of permanent migrants have too few bedrooms in their home, compared to 22% of all Australians. But one-third of humanitarian migrants granted permanent residency need more bedrooms.
But recent migrants are becoming less likely to own their homes. Only one-third of arrivals over the past five years own their home today. That’s down from 41% in the period before the 2011 Census.
The fall in home ownership has been highest among skilled migrants: just 31% of recent skilled migrants owned their homes, compared to 41% of recent skilled migrants at the time of the 2011 Census. In part this may be because migrants over the past ten years have been younger than migrants in the past. But it also shows that migrants are not immune to the housing affordability woes affecting all Australians.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228733/original/file-20180723-142408-18jfbnu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
Newly arrived migrants have always been less likely to own their own homes. Only one-third of migrants arriving since 2012 own their home, compared to almost two-thirds of permanent migrants who arrived in Australia before 2012.
But it’s clear that worsening affordability is a major culprit. The prices of cheaper homes have grown much faster than for more expensive homes over the past decade. This has made it much harder for first home buyers to buy a home.
While record low interest rates make mortgage repayments affordable today, these are likely to rise. And it now takes around ten years to save a 20% deposit for an average dwelling, up from around six years in the early 1990s.
We haven’t built enough homes
While interest rates are the largest driver of rising house prices in recent years, a lack of new homes hasn’t helped. Over the last decade, home building did not keep pace with increases in demand from rising population, let alone rising incomes.
Migration increased substantially from about 2006. Australia’s population started to grow by around 350,000 per year, rather than the 220,000 per year that was typical in the preceding decade.
Dwelling construction fell behind population growth, only picking up from 2013. According to Census data, population growth outstripped growth in the number of homes across Australia between 2006 and 2016, and especially in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228734/original/file-20180723-142432-1mdb6cn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
Recent analysis claiming that housing construction outstripped population growth over the period 2005-06 to 2014-15 uses building approvals without accounting for the demolition of existing homes. It also ignores how rising prices and worsening affordability have prevented many younger Australians from moving out of the family home to form households of their own.
The imbalance between demand and supply has consequences. Younger and poorer households are paying more for housing. Owning a home depends more on who your parents are, a big change from the early 1980s.
Only in the past couple of years has housing construction got close to matching population growth; the backlog of a decade of undersupply remains. Development at today’s record rates is the bare minimum needed to meet record population growth built into Sydney’s and Melbourne’s housing supply targets over the next 40 years.
What should we do?
In post-war Australia, record rates of home building matched rapid population growth. House prices barely moved.
Building more housing will improve affordability the most – but slowly. Even at current record construction rates, new housing increases the stock of dwellings by only 2% each year. But building an extra 50,000 homes a year nationwide for a decade would lead to national house prices being around 10-15% lower than otherwise, and by more if most homes were built in our major cities.
State governments need to fix planning rules to allow more housing to be built in inner and middle-ring suburbs. More small-scale urban infill projects should be allowed without council planning approval. And state governments should allow denser development “as of right” along key transport corridors – that is, without requiring approval in designated zones.
The Commonwealth can help by providing financial incentives for these reforms.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100246/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">Migrants are often blamed for Australia’s housing woes, and there’s a clear link between strong migration, constrained housing supply and rising prices. But the new data show that recent migrants are also suffering from worsening housing affordability. And housing demand from immigration shouldn’t lead to higher prices if enough dwellings are built to match Australia’s growing population.
Brendan Coates, Fellow, Grattan Institute
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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Migrants are still buying into the home ownership dream, but it's more elusive

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Apartment approvals are now declining quite quickly in Sydney, while confidence is picking up off the mat in Brisbane, especially for tonwhouses and semi-detached dwellings.
The latest ABS figures relate to the month of February, but with more and more new apartments failing to value up at completion it's only a matter of time before unit approvals in Sydney decline further. 
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8KDQ7ddnUSs/WsRdTaQ0IOI/AAAAAAAApQU/q0yQ91byCVooH8yyLXqJ2FwjMW0P4VwhwCLcBGAs/s1600/BA1.jpg"><img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8KDQ7ddnUSs/WsRdTaQ0IOI/AAAAAAAApQU/q0yQ91byCVooH8yyLXqJ2FwjMW0P4VwhwCLcBGAs/s640/BA1.jpg" width="640" height="380" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1389"></a>
Approvals for houses are generally mirroring internal migration trends, with Brisbane and Melbourne attracting the most migrants from elsewhere in Australia, but Perth having experienced an outflow of residents. 
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oGVxuL_jhSk/WsRdUBBuVYI/AAAAAAAApQY/pME7lZ0_Aoc1jfP1KEyDkBw0yDp_9VfvQCLcBGAs/s1600/BA2.jpg"><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oGVxuL_jhSk/WsRdUBBuVYI/AAAAAAAApQY/pME7lZ0_Aoc1jfP1KEyDkBw0yDp_9VfvQCLcBGAs/s640/BA2.jpg" width="640" height="392" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1361"></a>
Totting it all up, there is little evidence yet of a bust in residential construction, with more than 221,000 dwellings approved over the year to February 2018, although we are now well off the peaks.
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The high-rise apartment sector has also calmed down a bit now, with a notable shift towards more approvals for family appropriate dwellings, such as terraces, semi-detached homes, townhomes, and low-rise apartments. 
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QZ6ps6FvdDw/WsRdVAttpII/AAAAAAAApQg/5k1Gf7mxpFojj7zk6h6wmhVDUy8hPYzMACLcBGAs/s1600/BA4.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QZ6ps6FvdDw/WsRdVAttpII/AAAAAAAApQg/5k1Gf7mxpFojj7zk6h6wmhVDUy8hPYzMACLcBGAs/s640/BA4.jpg" width="640" height="376" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1390"></a>
Commercial boom
Another point of note is that the annual value of non-residential building approvals have boomed to their highest ever level at just shy of $48 billion, keeping building activity sustained at a high level in 2018. 
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OxEGALI23aw/WsRdVj_BsmI/AAAAAAAApQk/i5do43xTYv0coyJHxWhLkwxGhhWshhK7ACLcBGAs/s1600/BA5.jpg"><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OxEGALI23aw/WsRdVj_BsmI/AAAAAAAApQk/i5do43xTYv0coyJHxWhLkwxGhhWshhK7ACLcBGAs/s640/BA5.jpg" width="640" height="380" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1377"></a>
There has been record activity across approvals for warehouses, offices, schools, universities, and aged care facilities. 
This is a positive signal, for there will be a significant hole to plug as Sydney apartment construction fades. 
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pwargent-M4siyDbqQY

Sydney building approvals declining quickly: Pete Wargent

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/77403/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
Western Sydney is one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia. It’s also one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse, as a key arrival point for refugees and new migrants when they first settle in Australia.
Various public figures and media outlets have connected asylum-seeker intake and immigration to traffic congestion and queues at hospitals in Western Sydney. 
However, this kind of reaction can pin the blame for infrastructure and affordability problems on culturally diverse populations who may have already lived in Australia for many years, if not several generations.
<h2>Growth from international and domestic migration</h2>
Greater Western Sydney includes Blacktown, the Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield Hawkesbury, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith, the Hills Shire and Wollondilly.
We examined census data compiled by WESTIR Ltd, a non-profit research organisation based in Western Sydney, partly funded by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services. These data showthat Greater Western Sydney’s population increased by 9.8% between 2011 and 2016. Over the decade from 2006 to 2016, it grew by 16%. 
About 55% of those living there were born in Australia, and about 39% where born elsewhere (the remainder did not state their place of birth). Most put English or Australian as their first response when asked about their ancestry.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.35.36%20AM.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.35.36%20AM.png" alt=""> 
Source: <a class="source" href="https://www.westir.org.au/new/index.php/census-2016" target="_blank">WESTIR LTD analysis of Census 2016 data</a>
New births are slightly down in the region, meaning growth is coming from other sources. This includes new international migration arrivals, but also incoming residents from other parts of New South Wales and interstate.
Greater Western Sydney has long-established cultural and linguistic diversity. The percentage of residents born overseas has increased from 34.1% in 2006 to 38.7% in 2016. Overall, the west accounts for 50.2% of the overseas-born population for the whole of metropolitan Sydney.
Reasoned debates on sustainable migration intake levels are a crucial part of discussions of urban and regional growth. There are valid criticisms of “Big Australia” policies, based on resource and environmental sustainability. 
But while the number of new arrivals settling in Western Sydney has increased steadily since the second world war, with a significant jump over the last decade reflecting accelerated skilled migration policies to fill labour shortages, the majority of overseas-born living in the region are long-term settlers who have been in Australia for ten years or more. 
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.37.27%20AM.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.37.27%20AM.png" alt="">
Source: <a class="source" href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/2016" target="_blank">WESTIR analysis of Census 2016 data</a>
<h2>Increasing diversity does not always mean more new migrant settlers</h2>
The data show that 64% of Western Sydney residents have at least one parent born overseas. This is greater than the number of those born overseas. This correlates with national data indicating that Australian-born second-generation migrant residents outnumber those born outside of Australia. 
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.38.46%20AM.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.38.46%20AM.png" alt="">
Source: <a class="source" href="https://www.westir.org.au/new/index.php/census-2016" target="_blank">WESTIR analysis of Census 2016 data</a>
So while critics may look at non-white Western Sydney residents and assume they are recent migrants, what they’re often really seeing is multiple generations of multiculturalism. Most of these people are long-term local residents, not necessarily a sudden influx of new arrivals.
In addition, not all overseas-born residents are permanent settlers. Australia takes far larger numbers of temporary entrants than it has in the past. Most of these temporary visa holders, such as international students and temporary skilled workers, live in major metropolitan areas and their surrounds, like Western Sydney.
While some portion of these populations do stay on longer-term, they are not all permanent settlers who will add to long-term population growth. Net migration figures, which take into account people who depart Australia every year as well as arrive, and exclude short-term visitors, have generally been decreasing over the past six years. 
<h2>Who do we define as ‘migrants’?</h2>
New Zealand citizens moving under Trans-Tasman agreements and migrants from the United Kingdom are still among the largest migrant groups in Greater Western Sydney. 
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.43.14%20AM.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.43.14%20AM.png" alt="">
Source: <a class="source" href="https://www.westir.org.au/new/index.php/census-2016" target="_blank">WESTIR LTD, using Census 2016 data</a>
In many local government areas in Western Sydney – such as Wollondilly, the Hills Shire, Penrith, Hawkesbury and Campbelltown – England and/or New Zealand feature in the top five countries of birth of overseas-born residents. 
If anxieties about migration and population in Western Sydney are based on genuine sustainability concerns and not xenophobia, why target mostly refugees and non-white migrants? Why focus only on areas with large non-white and non-English-speaking background populations?
<h2>Migrants do use infrastructure, but also drive economic and jobs growth</h2>
It’s never as simple as one new arrival “using up” an allocation of limited resources, whether jobs, housing, or seats on trains. In fact, new arrivals fill the gaps of an ageing workforce, and current migration policies are targeted to favour younger migrants and specific skills shortages.
Western Sydney, like many regions in Australia, has an ageing population. Residents aged 65-74 years increased from 6.2% in 2011 to 7.2% in 2016. 
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.44.20%20AM.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/07/17/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-17%20at%208.44.20%20AM.png" alt="">
Source: <a class="source" href="https://www.westir.org.au/new/index.php/census-2016" target="_blank">WESTIR Ltd Using Census 2016 data</a>
Large-scale infrastructure – whether the slated new airport or the Westmead hospital – requires young and often skilled workers.
Nationally, recently arrived overseas-born residents have a lower median age and a higher level of education than Australian-born residents.
Infrastructure problems are also problems of policy, planning and funding, rather than just population numbers. Problems in transport and health infrastructure in Western Sydney cannot be easily solved by reactive anti-immigration attitudes or policies. 
Cuts to programs like the humanitarian program or skilled temporary work visas, where the intake numbers remain relatively small as a proportion of the overall population, will not solve those infrastructure problems.
Western Sydney is growing, and with growth comes growing pains. But equating the region’s rich cultural diversity with a population crisis is the wrong message to send.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shanthi-robertson-48422" target="_blank">Shanthi Robertson</a> is Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kristine-aquino-376456" target="_blank">Kristine Aquino</a> is Lecturer in Global Studies, University of Technology Sydney.
Both are authors for <a href="https://theconversation.com/au" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Blaming migrants won’t solve Western Sydney’s growing pains

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/80740/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
Rather than being an unsettling force, international migrants are helping to provide stability to the regional Australian communities they settle in.
A considerable number of new arrivals are also younger and have the potential to build families and work in these communities.
Research with the Regional Australia Institute, examining the latest 2016 Census data, found 151 regional local government areas were helping to offset declining population in regional areas by attracting international migrants.
We can see that, for many small towns, the overseas-born are the only source of population growth. A majority of these places rely on primary industry for economic viability. Although predominantly rural, these places are not in the most remote parts of Australia. 
Growth of Australian-born and overseas-born population, 2011-16
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/07/11/file-20170710-26364-nlgmez.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/07/11/file-20170710-26364-nlgmez.jpg" alt="">
<div class="enlarge_hint"> </div>
Regional Australia Institute, Author provided
Of the 550 local government areas we reviewed, 175 regional areas increased their population, while 246 did not; 151 increased their overseas-born and decreased their Australian-born population. Only 20 areas increased in Australian-born population and decreased in overseas-born population.
We also found that 128 regional areas increased both Australian-born and overseas-born population. Another 116 regional areas decreased in both Australian-born and overseas-born population.
Population change between 2011-16 by count of local government area
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/07/11/file-20170710-29734-st64so.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/07/11/file-20170710-29734-st64so.png" alt="">
ABS, Author provided
Darwin is one example of where international migration has helped counter population decline. At the 2011 Census, Darwin had 45,442 people recorded as born in Australia and 19,455 born elsewhere. By 2016, the number of Australian-born locals had reduced to 44,953 and the number of overseas-born had increased to 24,961. 
Without this increase in overseas-born residents, the Darwin population would have decreased. The local economy would likely have suffered as a result.
<h2>The problem of shrinking regional towns</h2>
Ever since the influx of immigrants following the second world war, the settlement of international migrants has been overwhelmingly focused on large metropolitan centres. This has been especially evident for recently arrived immigrants and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. 
Migrants perceive metropolitan areas as presenting a higher likelihood of finding compatriots and better access to employment, as well as education and health services. Large cities have therefore been considered the most appealing settlement locations, with Sydney and Melbourne the most popular.
If settlement of international migrants had been proportional to the overall population distribution in Australia, an additional 125,000 migrants would have settled in regional Australia between 2006 and 2011.
In a concerted effort to promote the social and economic viability of regional communities, in 2004 the federal government started a campaign to increase migrant settlement throughout different areas of the country. 
Regional settlement of migrants has since been encouraged across levels of government as a “win-win scenario” for new arrivals and host communities alike.
<h2>What international migrants bring</h2>
In the past decade, there has been a particular focus on secondary migration to regional areas. That is, relocating international arrivals from metropolitan areas to regional ones. 
Proactive community-business partnerships and local government initiatives have propelled this process. For example, in the Victorian town of Nhill, the local arm of the poultry production company Luv-a-Duck worked with settlement service provider AMES Australia to help more than 160 Karen refugees find work in the area between 2010 and 2015. 
In another town, Dalwallinu in Western Australia, the population was in decline and local infrastructure was deemed underused. In response, the local council has worked closely with residents since 2010 to attract skilled migrants.
Notwithstanding the challenges involved in attraction and retention, international migrants remain a vital asset for building regional economies and communities. They help stem skilled labour shortages in these areas – for example, by filling much-needed doctor and nursing positions.
International migrants are also key contributors to the unskilled workforce, often filling positions that domestic workers are unwilling to take on. For example, abattoirs and poultry plants are important businesses in regional Australia. Many would be unable to operate without international migrants, as many local residents do not consider this kind of work “acceptable employment”.
As a consequence of the various efforts to spread the settlement of overseas arrivals, the number of international migrants living and working in non-metropolitan Australia has increased. Between 2006 and 2011, 187,000 international migrants settled outside the major capital cities.
Still, regional areas have remained underrepresented as a settlement location. Despite regional Australia being home to about one-third of the population, less than one-fifth of all new arrivals between 2006 and 2011 settled in a regional area. 
For regional areas to make the most of the many advantages migrants have to offer, there needs to be more focused policy that encourages and assists regional settlement across the country.
This policy needs to be informed by the work in a growing number of regional communities (like Nhill and Dalwallinu) that already draw on international migration to combat population loss and persistent labour shortages. By encouraging more international migrants to call regional Australia “home”, we can start focusing on ensuring regional prosperity for the long term.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-longstaff-98193" target="_blank">Emily Longstaff</a> is PhD Candidate (Sociology), Australian National University and author for <a href="https://theconversation.com/au" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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Migrants are stopping regional areas from shrinking

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/75201/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
The concentration of disadvantaged people in certain parts of cities is almost always seen as undesirable by urban researchers and policymakers. But is this always the case?
Our research demonstrates that it isn’t. Concentrations of people who are often classified as “disadvantaged” – namely newly arrived humanitarian refugees and their families – can have significant positive outcomes. This is because such “gateway suburbs”, while housing large numbers of disadvantaged people, are not disadvantaged places.
As part of a broader research project, we chose two suburbs that were identified as disadvantaged and characterised by high numbers of immigrants. We spoke with residents and local service providers about their experiences, place changes over time and current settlement opportunities for newly arriving migrants. The suburbs we chose were Auburn in Sydney and Springvale in Melbourne.
Auburn and Springvale may have high concentrations of disadvantaged people, as defined by Australian Bureau of Statistics data (in terms of income, employment and language proficiency in particular). But they are not disadvantaged places.
These suburbs are well serviced by public transport and are within reasonable commuting distance of their cities’ CBDs. They have a plethora of social and community services, along with a good selection of shops and services catering to the local community.
Historically, these suburbs have been major hubs for providing resources and support to new and established migrant communities.
A bottom-up community structure
In both suburbs, the presence of “first-wave” migrant groups during years of intensive manufacturing after the second world war, and the immigration encouraged to support this, promoted the development of migrant support services. Government subsidised some of these. Many grew more organically through community relationships and support needs.
With the decline of manufacturing from the late 1970s and changing immigration policies, government support has retracted in these areas. This has been accompanied by a winding back of government support for housing and a rapidly changing housing market.
The legacy of these areas has meant that both Auburn and Springvale continue to have high degrees of amenity and social and economic infrastructure. This includes a high concentration of grassroots community groups. These provide support to recent immigrants in general and refugees in particular.
These are good places to live. But there are signs this is changing.
Broader changes in urban housing markets and migration policies, and economic and labour market restructuring, are beginning to undermine the benefits for immigrants settling in these areas. Increasingly unaffordable housing, reduced employment opportunities in low-skilled jobs and the erosion of government support for newly arrived immigrants mean migrants are at risk of greater disadvantage than in the past.
In particular, housing costs are increasing rapidly in Auburn and Springvale. While private market housing has successfully housed new migrants in the past, this is no longer the case. Many migrants can no longer afford to live in these areas, except in overcrowded or otherwise unsatisfactory living conditions.
Rental stock is in bad disrepair. Refugees and recent arrivals go into these houses and real estate agents are slow to act on people living in substandard conditions and are reluctant to do anything about it. – Springvale interviewee
Today, the choice new migrants face is whether to live in unsatisfactory conditions in these areas, or to move to more affordable areas with fewer facilities and support services.
If similar processes are at play in other migrant gateway suburbs, and we suspect they are, this has important implications for Australia’s ability to continue its role as an immigrant destination country.
In the context of recent shifts in Australian immigration policy away from humanitarian and family migrants and towards skilled and student migrants, this is perhaps not a government priority. But it should be.
Left to fend for yourself
Far from being something to celebrate, that new “disadvantaged” migrants are finding it increasingly difficult to live together in places like Auburn and Springvale is something we should be worried about.
As they are pushed out into more dispersed areas with more insecure housing, recent arrivals are also pushed away from areas with the services and amenities that might help them leave the ranks of the “disadvantaged” and become the “new Australians” who have, until recently at least, been much celebrated.
We have been replacing housing, employment and migrant settlement policy supports with a fend-for-yourself “good luck!” approach in an unaffordable housing market.
In a market dominated by more than 95 percent private ownership or rental, this poses new risks for those choosing Australia as their home. It introduces further complexity for organisations trying to support successful integration as they work across dispersed locations.
Ultimately, these developments create the risk that Australian society will miss out on the enduring cultural, social and economic contributions made by migrants who choose to call Australia home.
Hazel Easthope is<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hazel-easthope-175163"> </a>senior research fellow, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hazel-easthope-175163" target="_blank">here</a>.
Wendy Stone is associate professor; Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Swinburne University of Technology and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wendy-stone-9804" target="_blank">here</a>.
Both are authors for The Conversation.
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New to Australia? Good luck! Migrants can no longer afford ‘gateway’ suburbs

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/67455/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
Australia’s immigration system is at risk of losing public confidence, undermining its long running success.
The government needs to make policy changes to put migrant workers and employers back on equal footing.
The successful “Brexit” campaign to leave the European Union illustrates the consequences of failing to properly manage public perception of immigration. Changes to the United Kingdom’s immigration policy were producing economic benefits and helping to plug gaps in the UK labour market. However, opponents successfully blamed the EU’s free movement of labour for increased immigration and various social and economic problems. 
Australia’s situation is different, but there is weak regulation of the employers who hire migrant workers, especially temporary visa holders who are often susceptible to being mistreated. This is serving to marginalise migrants in the labour market and broader society.
Large intakes of economic immigrants have not led to major political upheaval in Australia. Aside from occasional spikes in support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, anti-immigration parties have failed to establish ongoing influence. Labor and the Coalition have supported expansive economic immigration policies for much of the post-war era.
The impact of economic immigration on Australia’s population, economy, and labour market is virtually unmatched. Since 1945, immigrants and their immediate descendants have accounted for over half of the nation’s population growth. 
More than one in four workers in Australia were born in another country. The foreign-born population as a share of total population is higher in Australia than in any other OECD country, except for Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Australia’s immigration policies have changed significantly in recent years. They have shifted increasingly towards temporary immigration, focused on skilled, working holiday and international student visas. 
While this marks a departure from Australia’s legacy of encouraging immigrants to settle on a permanent basis, benefits of these changes are evident.
Economic immigrants have offset an ageing population, improved labour productivity, helped businesses to source skills that are difficult to find at short notice and addressed the needs of regional areas and industries. 
Unemployment among skilled immigrants is negligible because they tend to be employed in high-income occupations and contribute more to government revenue through taxation than they take through public services and benefits.
Just as a steady inflow of immigrants has eased Australia’s shift from a manufacturing to a services economy, they will play an important role in helping our businesses to innovate in the face of intensified global competition and technological change.
However reforms are needed to maintain public support for sustained immigration intakes. Most importantly, widespread underpayment and mistreatment of working holidaymakers and international students in the workplace must be addressed urgently. 
Such issues have been exposed internationally. They may negatively impact Australia’s competitive standing in industries such as education and horticulture that rely heavily on temporary migrant workers.
Recent media reports, government inquiries and academic studies show that mistreatment of temporary migrant workers is not limited to 7-Eleven. Policy changes particularly through strong enforcement of regulations are needed to restore level playing fields for business and the workforce.
Some visa arrangements can cause temporary migrant workers to become dependent on their employers. For example, international students are required to work no more than 40 hours per fortnight. 
A small transgression exposes international students to potential visa cancellation and removal. Their resident rights, enrolment in education, and employment are then dependent on employers not sharing any breaches of their visa conditions with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Unless these and other arrangements the create dependence on employers are fixed, temporary migrants will remain fearful of seeking redress. 
Weak enforcement of employment laws fails to deter unscrupulous employers from underpaying and mistreating temporary migrants and puts honest employers at a competitive disadvantage. 
The Fair Work Ombudsman has only 250 inspectors for 2.1 million workplaces and 11.6 million workers. It needs more resources to ensure that our employment laws are enforced in industries with large numbers of temporary migrant workers such as food services, hospitality, retail, and horticulture.
Allocation of temporary skilled 457 visas must reflect genuine skills shortages rather than recruitment problems some employers experience, which are often the result of the low wages and poor conditions they offer to prospective employees. 
The policies governing 457 visas must take greater account of objective longer-term labour market needs. This includes providing opportunities for decent employment and attractive career paths for workers, rather than serving subjective short-term employer interests.
Economic immigration in Australia has been managed remarkably successfully. But for the good of the country we must address current challenges that have the potential to undermine public confidence in existing immigration policies.
Chris F. Wright is postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sydney and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-f-wright-9738" target="_blank">here</a>.
Stephen Clibborn is associate lecturer, The University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-clibborn-111815" target="_blank">here</a>.
Both are authors for The Conversation.
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