Where are we now in overseas qualifications recognition? A decade of review and changes

Over the last decade, more and more of Australia\u27s immigration intake has come from non- English speaking background (NESB) countries. Whereas in 1981 50 per cent of the overall intake was from NESB countries, by 1990-91 this figure had reached 63 per cent. As a consequence, in the skilled categories there has also been a proportionate increase in the immigrants arriving from non-English speaking background (NESB) countries. In 1990-91, for example, 78 per cent of professionals and 53 per cent of tradespeople came from NESB countries. Asian countries have featured particularly in recent years. In 1990-91,61 per cent of the permanent settler professional intake was from Asia

New assessment procedures for overseas trained medical practitioners in Australia

In July 1990, the Australian Medical Council’s Working Party to Review the AMC Examination released its Interim Report. The Report marks a significant step forward in the attitude and approach to overseas trained medical practitioners already in Australia. However, the implementation of the report will depend on a significant commitment of resources by both State and Commonwealth Governments together with a similar change in attitude among some of the medical boards and other assessing/accrediting authorities. The aim of this paper is to outline the major problems that have existed in the past decade with respect to the assessment and registration of overseas medical practitioners in Australia and to discuss the changes proposed by the AMC Working Party

Skills recognition within Asean

Many countries are experiencing skills deficits and are looking to bring in skilled workers as a means of alleviating these shortages. How the skills of workers from overseas are assessed, accredited and compensated has been a contentious issue in many countries. Within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) skills recognition gained increased prominence in recent years and became the basis for a major project, on which this paper is based, from 2004 to 2007. Sending and receiving countries in ASEAN have different motivations but they all want improved skills development and accreditation mechanisms. This paper will focus on three case studies. Sending countries, such as Laos and Cambodia, are keen to develop their technical and vocational education training (TVET) systems and skills recognition arrangements quickly, and possibly in co-operation with other countries in ASEAN (Thailand and Vietnam). Thus their systems are on the verge of significant structural reform. Receiving countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, already have a range of skills training and recognition systems in place for their own workers. Singapore will be used as an example of how its own workers are accredited and how foreign workers are assessed and accredited. It remains to be seen how ASEAN workers from elsewhere will be accredited by Singapore in the future. The viability of a true common labour market within ASEAN by 2015 will depend on how these skills recognition arrangements emerge and develop. It is timely to examine the early stage of this process

Handbook of Chinese migration : identity and wellbeing

The recent unprecedented scale of Chinese migration has had far-reaching consequences. Within China, many villages have been drained of their young and most able workers, cities have been swamped by the ‘floating population’, and many rural migrants have been unable to integrate into urban society. Internationally, the Chinese have become increasingly more mobile. This Handbook provides a unique collection of new and original research on internal and international Chinese migration and its effects on the sense of belonging of migrants.352 page(s

Migration, identity and wellbeing in China : recent developments and new research

20 page(s

Current trends, emerging issues and future perspectives

22 page(s

Minority mobility in Guizhou province with a focus on planned resettlement and its implications for ethnicity and identity /

This chapter will investigate ethnic migration with a particular focus on the development of planned resettlements in Guizhou. This includes an examination of the historical, economic, political and ecological contexts from which ethnic migrants have been moved and, in particular, how planned resettlement has been implemented and its implications for ethnic identity. The discussion covers broad issues of ethnic minorities, environmental change, social and economic development and ethnic minority migration in Guizhou. Guizhou is one of the most multicultural regions and also one of thepoorest provinces in China. The Guizhou resettlement program is reported as the single largest relocation in recent Chinese history. The number of migrants involved will surpass that of the Three Gorges Dam which relocated 1.27 million people along the Yangtze River during the period from 1992 to 2008

The internationalization of higher education : implications for Australia and its education clients

Institutions of higher education are today under increasing pressure to internationalize their courses and programmes. The overall impact of this process is far from clear. This essay compares and contrasts patterns of Australian higher education offered to students from developing countries, with services delivered to Australian-born students. We suggest that the process of globalization is contributing to uneven economic and educational development, and may weaken the over-stretched educational systems of poorer countries

Migration research and migration policy making : a study of Australia, the Philippines and Thailand

This article reports on a study to investigate the links between policy makers and social scientific researchers with respect to migration in the Asia Pacific region. It addresses the ways in which research networks inform the policy process and especially the extent to which, and how, migration research has an impact on migration policy. The major findings that emerge from the study include the following: knowledge of the political and economic context of each country varies and needs to be understood as it provides the context for policy making; the relationship between research and policy processes varies considerably across countries – in some countries the policy process is "tightly" managed by a single department (such as in Australia) while in others there is a more diverse administrative approach to migration policy (such as in Thailand); the impact of research is more direct and conclusive when research has been commissioned directly by government or involves close collaboration with government; migration policy processes in all case study countries appear increasingly responsive to public opinion, rather than the findings of academic research, and thus indicate the important (but more amorphous) indirect policy impact from academic research; given this situation, the need to disseminate results widely is evident; migration researchers are inevitably "biased" towards certain methodologies and theoretical perspectives and therefore a wide range of opinions is valuable

A Report on the APEC Region Labour Market: Evidence of Skills Shortages and General Trends in Employment and the Value of Better Labour Market Information Systems

Labour shortages or mismatches are a major factor inhibiting investment and economic development across APEC. In order to establish an appropriate regional response to the supply of skilled labour it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive strategy for monitoring labour force demand and supply across the APEC region. This report outlines the reasonin