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Australian diaspora

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Australian Diaspora - expatriates living outside Australia
Regions with significant populations
 Greece135,000+[1]
 United Kingdom96,900[2]
 United States89,210
 China51,900
 New Zealand62,700
 Canada42,000
 Italy30,000
 Lebanon25,000
 Chile23,305
 El Salvador18,000
 Argentina11,369
 Uruguay9,376
 Brazil7,491
 United Arab Emirates7,000
 Peru6,322
 Colombia5,706
 Israel5,000
Languages
English
Languages of Australia
Religion
Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Islam.

The term Australian diaspora may refer to the approximately 1,000,000 Australian citizens (approximately 5% of the population) who today live outside Australia.[3] This usage of the term includes the several hundred thousand people who spend some time in the United Kingdom and Europe but return to Australia. The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement made it easy for Australians to migrate into New Zealand and vice versa. Key factors influencing this phenomenon are seen to include the rise of a global labour market, more accessible and economical international transport, and increasingly sophisticated communication technologies, along with a growing interest in travel and the broader global community.


Origin of the term

The term Australian diaspora was used in reference to Australian citizens living abroad in a 2003 Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) research report, "Australia's Diaspora: Its Size, Nature and Policy Implications".[4] This report both identified the phenomenon and argued for an Australian government policy of maintaining active contact with the diaspora. The term has been picked up by others.[5]

In 2005 Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee (a standing committee) reported into the issue of Expatriate Australians and made recommendations that the "Australian Government needs to make greater efforts to connect with and engage our expatriate community".[6]

Challenge to the perception of "Brain drain"

The diaspora has been the focus of policy concerns over a so-called "brain drain" from Australia. However the 2003 CEDA report argued the phenomenon was essentially positive: rather than experiencing a "brain drain", Australia was in fact seeing both "brain circulation" as Australians added to their skills and expertise, and a "brain gain", as these skilled expatriates tend to return to Australia and as new skilled immigrants arrive.[4] Between 1999 and 2003, there were seven highly educated migrants to Australia for every one highly educated Australian who was living elsewhere in countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).[7] Levels of skilled immigration to Australia reflect Government policies to "practise a selective immigration policy based on human capital criteria".[8]

Profile of expatriate Australians

A survey in 2002 of Australians who were emigrating found that most were leaving for employment reasons.[7] Over two-thirds of expatriate Australians are professionals, para-professionals, managers or in administrative occupations.

One third of Australian expatriates live in the United Kingdom.[7] For the period 1999-2003 it was estimated that there were 346,000 Australian-born people living in other OECD countries: of these 96,900 lived in the United Kingdom, 65,200 lived in the United States and 42,000 lived in New Zealand.[7]

A further group include European/Euro-American migrants to Australia in the 1950s (and their children) who have now returned to their countries of origin to stay, but who still retain strong links with Australia. This group of expatriates, resident in countries such as Chile, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Lebanon and Uruguay, make up nearly one quarter of the Australian global expatriate community, and some Asian-Australians who maintain familial ties with Asian countries like Pakistan, India, China, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea.

Some Australian expatriates formed retirement colonies in countries like Costa Rica, Egypt, Indonesia and Sri Lanka as examples. [citation needed]

Australian expatriates in the United States

Many well-educated Australians, including scientists, find unique employment opportunities overseas, particularly in the United States of America. In December 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 106,000 Australian citizens resident in the United States of America. The major places of residence were: 25,000 living in Los Angeles, 17,000 in San Francisco, 17,000 in Washington DC and 15,000 in New York.[9] For the period 1999-2003, it was estimated that 22% of Australian expatriates, 65,200, were living in the United States.[7]

Australian migration to the United States is greater than Americans going to Australia. At the 2006 Census 71,718 Australian residents declared that they were American-born,[10] a smaller population than the population estimate of Australians living in the United States.

In the 1850s California gold rush, Australian miners under British documents helped in the development of California. They lived in "grown overnight" settlements like San Francisco and Sacramento.[citation needed]

Comparison with the expatriate populations of other countries

The ratio of expatriate Australians in 2005 was 2.8 Australian-born people aged 15 years or over per 100 Australian born people aged 15 years and over within Australia. This ratio is much lower than many other countries in the OECD - the highest ratios in 2005 were for Ireland (29 Irish-born people aged 15 years and over in other OECD countries for every 100 in Ireland) and for New Zealand (19 per 100). The Australian ratio was higher than that of the United States (less than one person in other OECD countries per 100 USA-born within the USA).[7]

Education levels of Australian expatriates were high: 44% of Australian expatriates in other OECD countries had a high level of education.[11] Japanese expatriates had the highest proportion with 50% having a high level of education. 49% of expatriates from the USA had a high education as did 45% of expatriates from New Zealand.[7]

19th century emigration

In the late 19th century, a group of radical socialist Australians voluntarily went to Paraguay, a landlocked South American country, to create a failed master-planned community, known as Nueva (New) Australia.[12] Other followers wanted to migrate into Egypt, Iraq and pre-1918 Palestine to attempt or imitate the social experimental project. Also at the time, small disproportionate numbers of Australian settlers arrived in Argentina, South Africa, and the Philippines. [citation needed]

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ http://www.southern-cross-group.org/archives/Australian%20Diaspora/SCG_Media_Release_21_Sep_2006_Greece.pdf
  2. ^ http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/7d12b0f6763c78caca257061001cc588/3cf3335edc1a3f7fca2571b0000ea963!OpenDocument#1%20Hugo%2C%20G%2C%20Rudd%2C%20D%20and%20Harris%2C%20K%2C%7C
  3. ^ Macgregor Duncan, Andrew Leigh, David Madden, and Peter Tynan (2004). Imagining Australia. Allen & Unwin. p. 44. ISBN 1741143829. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn13= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b Hugo, Graeme (2003). "CEDA Information Paper 80: Australia's Diaspora: Its Size, Nature and Policy Implications". CEDA (Committee for Economic Development of Australia). Archived from the original on 2006-08-20. Retrieved 2006-08-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ For example:
    Julianne Schultz, ed. (2004). Griffith Review : our global face: inside the Australian diaspora. Meadowbrook, Qld.: Griffith University.
    Democratic Audit of Australia, Australian National University (2004). "New voting rights for the Australian diaspora".
    "The Australian Diaspora in Britain since 1901: An Exploration (workshop agenda)". Monash Institute for the Study of Global Movements. 2005.
  6. ^ The Senate: Legal and Constitutional References Committee (2005). "They still call Australia home: Inquiry into Australian expatriates" (pdf). Department of the Senate,Parliament House, Canberra. Retrieved 2006-01-08.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Australian expatriates in OECD countries". 4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2006. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 20 July 2006. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  8. ^ Dumont, Jean-Christophe Dumont (2005). "Counting immigrants and expatriates in OECD countries: a new perspective" (pdf (34 pages)). Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: Directorate for Employment Labour and Social Affairs, DELSA. Retrieved 2008-10-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Estimates of Australian Citizens Living Overseas as at December 2001" (PDF). Southern Cross Group (DFAT data). 2001-02-14. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  10. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics - Ethnic Media Kit
  11. ^ Notes on education levels from the ABS: (c) High level includes ISCED5A: Academic tertiary, ISCED5B: Vocational tertiary, ISCED 6: Advanced research. (d) Overall, 3% of OECD expatriates in the OECD had no information on educational attainment. These have been excluded from the total in calculating the proportion. (e)The migrant to expatriate ratio for people with a high level of education for a particular country is: the ratio of the number of migrants from other OECD countries with a high level of education living in that country, to the number of that country's expatriates with a high level of education.
  12. ^ "Cosme and New Australia colonies". National Treasures exhibition. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2008-10-28.

Further reading

  • Graeme Hugo (2006-02-13). "An Australian Diaspora?". International Migration. 44 (1). International Organization for Migration: 105–133. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00357.x.
  • Graeme Hugo (2006). "Australian experience in skilled migration". In Christiane Kuptsch, Pang Eng Fong, Eng Fong Pang (ed.). Competing for Global Talent. International Labour Organization. pp. 143–145. ISBN 9290147768. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |isbn13= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
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