Australia Yearbook - 2001

186 Year Book Australia 2001
worker shortages rather than contract workers.
However, in recent years attitudes have changed
in Australia and it has been recognised that, in the
context of globalised labour markets, it is
essential to have mechanisms to allow
non-permanent entry of workers in certain
groups. Nevertheless, this entry has not been
extended to unskilled and low-skilled areas and
has been restricted to people with particular skills
and entrepreneurs. Hence there has been an
increase in people coming to Australia as short
term or long term entrants and being able to
work in the country.
The significance of people coming to work in
Australia temporarily is especially evident in
the expansion of long term entrants in
Australia shown in graph C4.21. This has had
an impact, at least in the short term, on
overall net migration gains in Australia. It will
be noted from graph C4.22 that an increasing
proportion of Australia’s net migration gain
in recent years has been from an excess of
long term arrivals over long term departures,
and a reducing proportion has been from an
excess of settler arrivals over permanent
departures.
C4.21 LONG TERM ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES, Australia, Year ended
30 June—1960 to 1999
Australian residents returning
Overseas visitors arriving
Australian residents departing
Overseas visitors departing
0
1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999
Source: DIMA, Australian Immigration Consolidated Statistics and Immigration Update, various
issues.
'000
125
100
75
50
25
C4.22 NET PERMANENT AND LONG TERM MOVEMENT, Australia—1983 to 1999
%
Permanent movement (%net)
100
Long-term movement (%net)
80
60
40
20
0
1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999
Source: DIMA 1999.