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About the Department

DIMA Annual Report 1999-2000

Reports on performance of Client Service Charter, financial performance and support (continued)

Research program

The Department's research program is developed in consultation with output areas and approved by the Minister.

Research projects completed in 1999-2000 were:

  • Independence in Ageing - the social and financial circumstances of older overseas born Australians _ a study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which inputs to strategies relating to the International Year of Older Persons. It provides an overview of the situation with older people (based on Census data) and their financial security and capacity to provide for themselves in retirement.

  • Community Profiles: 1996 Census - by Professor Peter McDonald and Dr Siew-Ean Khoo, Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, is a series of twenty community profiles. Each profile is based on country of birth cross-tabulated with a broad range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics using 1996 Census data.

Research projects in progress are:

  • Future Options to 2050 - this study by the CSIRO's Wildlife and Ecology Division examines the relationships between different levels of population and the environment and resource use in the Australian context over the next 50 years.

  • Study of Welfare Recipient Patterns Amongst Migrants by Dr Bob Birrell and Dr James Jupp - a detail of the extent to which migrants rely on welfare benefit assistance initially or over the long term relative to Australian-born residents using Centrelink and ABS 1996 Census Data.

  • Evaluation of the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme by the National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University - evaluates the impact of the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme including in supplementing the skill needs of employers in regional and rural Australia, and the initial experience with State and Territory Nominated Independent policy mechanisms.

  • Category Jumping, a study by the Australian National University, Research School of Social Science - examines the statistical and substantive reasons for category jumping.

  • Settlement Patterns for Small and Newly Emerging Communities by the Centre for Asia Pacific Studies at the Victorian University of Technology - identifies and analyses the characteristics of 27 small immigrant groups, who have arrived since the 1991 Census, to inform settlement planning, policy and program development.

  • Working Holiday Makers - a study undertaken by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research of the University of Melbourne. The project surveys and profiles working holiday makers in Australia and assesses their labour market impact.

  • Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA)

  • New Settlers Have Their Say - How immigrants fare over the early years of settlement. This report was prepared by the National Institute of Labour Studies (Flinders University of South Australia) and provides an overview of the information collected during all three waves of the first LSIA.

A CD-ROM containing LSIA data will become available in the second half of 2000. The CD-ROM will facilitate the dissemination of LSIA data in a user-friendly way through a click and point interface.

Following the successful completion of the first LSIA, a second survey (LSIA2) has been commissioned to study a new cohort of recently-arrived migrants arriving between September 1999 and August 2000. Results will help measure the effects on immigrants of policy changes introduced since 1996. Data from the first wave of LSIA2 will be available in 2001.

Australian Population, Immigration and Multicultural Research Program

The Australian Population, Immigration and Multicultural Research Program was established jointly by the Commonwealth and state governments to undertake studies in the areas of migration, migration settlement, multicultural affairs and population trends. The purpose of the program is to provide information to assist formulating and assessing policies by Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers and departments responsible for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Individual studies are designed to give information not adequately covered by existing data sources and surveys.

Research projects undertaken in 1999-2000 include:

  • The Atlas of the Australian People series of reports which has provided a benchmark and reference point on the changing spatial patterns of Australia's population, based on country of birth, nationally and for each State and Territory. The reports are based on results from the 1996 Census of Population and Housing. Since their release, the Atlases have been extensively requested.

  • The Study of Internal Migration in Australia 1991-96 - Overview and the Overseas-Born by Dr Martin Bell and Professor Graeme Hugo examines the patterns and processes of internal migration in Australia between the 1991 and 1996 Censuses, with particular emphasis on the overseas born.

  • The Australian People - Second Edition coordinated by Dr James Jupp. The first edition was published in 1988 based on 1986 Census statistics. This report uses 1996 Census statistics. The publication's release date is planned to mark the Centenary of Federation and the millennium.

Library services

Review of library services and operations

A review of the library services and operations was conducted between November 1999 and April 2000 by the consultant Australia Street Company. The terms of reference for the review included an assessment of the relevance of the library collection, the effectiveness of present services; and, suggested options for enhancements, particularly with a view to best use of technology, and of maximising access by departmental staff. The review included a consultation process with all staff and with other Commonwealth special libraries providing similar services.

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