Australian Diaspora

Encyclopedia : A : AU : AUS : Australian Diaspora

The Australian diaspora refers to the approximately 750,000 Australian citizens who today live outside Australia. The term includes several hundred thousand who spend some time in the United Kingdom and Europe but return to Australia. There are a small number of well-educated Australians, including scientists, who find better employment opportunities overseas, particularly in the United States of America. 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.

Over two-thirds of expatriate Australians are professionals, para-professionals, managers or administrative occupations. One quarter are in the United Kingdom. A further group include European 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 Greece, Italy and Lebanon, make up nearly one quarter of the Australian global expatriate community.

The song I Still Call Australia Home by Peter Allen, an expatriate Australian songwriter, could be said to represent expatriates' nostalgia for Australia.

Recommendations of the 2005 Senate committee report into Expatriate Australians

The Committee recommends that the Australian Government establish a web portal devoted to the provision of information and services for expatriate Australians. A suggested name for the portal is www.expats.gov.au. The Committee recommends that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade should be the lead agency in the development and administration of the expatriates web portal.
The Committee recommends the establishment of a policy unit within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to facilitate the coordination of policies relating to Australian expatriates. Responsibilities of the policy unit should include:
*formulation of a coordinated policy regarding expatriates;
*consultation with groups from the expatriate community, industry, academia and other stakeholders in the formulation of policy; and
*monitoring research developments and opportunities in relation to expatriates.
The Committee recommends that the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade should continue to improve the statistical information collected in relation to Australian expatriates, particularly through the use of incoming and outgoing passenger cards.
The Committee recommends that the consular role for foreign missions be revised to contain a specific requirement that posts engage with the local expatriate community, in any and all ways possible appropriate to that location.
The Committee recommends that the websites of Australia’s foreign missions should include an online registration facility to enable local expatriates to register their professional profiles. The profiles database will facilitate stronger engagement between missions and expatriates, and will provide a resource for missions in their work of promoting Australia’s interests overseas. It would also be used to notify expatriates of news and upcoming events.
The Committee recommends that the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 be amended to ensure that children of people who previously lost their citizenship under section 17 of the Citizenship Act are eligible to apply for Australian citizenship by descent.
The Committee recommends that the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 be amended to ensure that children of people who renounced their citizenship under section 18 of the Citizenship Act are eligible to apply for Australian citizenship by descent.
The Committee recommends that the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs conduct a review of section 18 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948.
The Committee recommends that the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs establish an advisory committee to review the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 on an ongoing basis to ensure that the legislation appropriately reflects notions of citizenship in the 21st century.

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.