New immigrants improving productivity in Australian agriculture

Abstract

What the report is about In the last fifteen years new visa pathways have been opened up for permanent and temporary immigrants to settle in rural and regional Australia. Many of these new immigrants in the Australian bush have worked in the agricultural sector of the economy helping to redress labour shortages and adding new skills and innovative insights to contribute greatly to increasing the productivity of the Australian agricultural industry. Yet despite the increasing importance of new permanent and temporary immigrants to Australian agriculture in particular and to the revitalisation of regional and rural Australia in general research in this field has been lacking. Hence the initiative of the RIRDC in funding this three-year research project, New Immigrants Improving Productivity in Australian Agriculture, to fill an important gap in evidence-based research that identifies the ways that immigrants can contribute to the increasing vitality of Australian agriculture in coming decades as new bi-lateral free-trade agreements struck between Australia and China, Korea and Japan have opened up new market opportunities for Australian agricultural exports to Asia in addition to established markets in Europe and the Americas. Who is the report targeted at? The findings of this study are of specific interest to government agencies, community and industry organisations that have an interest in better understanding the impact of new farmer immigrants on the agriculture sector, and in refining existing or introducing new policies and procedures that can improve the attraction and retention of farmer immigrants in coming decades. Where are the relevant industries located in Australia? Fieldwork was conducted in five Australian states – NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia - involving interested parties in the Australian agricultural industry and permanent and temporary immigrants who work in the industry. The research involved fieldwork with skilled permanent immigrants and immigrant farmers and with temporary immigrants – including Working Holiday Makers and Pacific Island Seasonal workers – and humanitarian immigrants