Migration
Amid a global aged care labour shortage, how will Australia address the challenge?
Australia is grappling with the consequences of an aging population. The government last month put forward a $4.3 billion home care package, which, from July 2025, will support…
International students: Australia has a good problem that may not last
Driven by domestic politics, the Albanese government’s crackdown on international student numbers amounts to a self-imposed limit on a major source of national income at a time…
Maid in Australia: When international relations and industrial law collide
Australia has seen two extraordinary cases brought before the courts in recent months that have tested the limits of diplomatic immunity. This is not the cliché of foreign envoys…
Labor squanders a multicultural mandate
In a nation where more than half of the population were either born overseas or with at least one parent born overseas, the Albanese government commissioned a review of Australia…
Nationalism vs globalism: Making the case for Indonesian dual citizenship
Indonesia’s diaspora is estimated at about six million people worldwide, yet it has not historically been seen as a boon for the country. The Indonesian government wants to change…
Child marriage in Southeast Asia: When a harmful practice becomes an international crime
Child marriage is a global problem that cuts across countries, cultures, and religions – and the ASEAN region is no exception. Child marriage is considered a form of forced…
Australians get the benefits of migration, even the doubters
Australians are back to thinking about migration in a fashion similar to how the country approached the issue before the borders closed for the Covid pandemic. Attitudes might be…
Invisible victims: How counter-trafficking efforts leave people with disability behind
Dao (not her real name) came to Thailand from Laos when she was 17. With her hearing impairment, she had struggled to find work in Laos. Dao’s aunt told her that she could find…
Reverse colonialism? India and Britain’s free trade agreements
As elections loom, India is in free trade agreement mode. Hot on the heels of announcing the signing of a “landmark” deal with a group of non-EU European countries, India has also…
A ring-fence around the Rohingya can’t last – Australia’s policy needs to change
Last year, I wrote in The Interpreter about the nightmare scenario unfolding for the Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, where dwindling aid, a dependent population,…