Australian Immigration - shaping our future

Today we stand at the threshold of a new age in human history - the Cyber - where new technologies have made all forms of communications inexpensive, individual, international, instantaneous and interactive. These new technologies have totally transformed the way we live and work, and the speed of this transformation is accelerating as we approach the new millennium.

We now live in a Cyber Metropolis, live in a Global Village and trade in a borderless world. Through telemigration, individual global employment is now a reality and global trade will be the norm for all enterprises - regardless of size or geographical location.

In this new environment, success will depend on our ability to develop a global perspective, and to be mentally agile and flexible. We need to respond quickly to opportunities, to understand those from other cultures, and above all, to be enterprising, innovative and entrepreneurial.

The future will not be an extension of the past, and success will come from developing totally new methods and strategies. In a time of change and transformation, it is not likely that we can use yesterday's methods, to solve today's problems, and expect to be successful tomorrow.

To compete in the Cyber Metropolis, we must gain access to constantly updated and relevant information, so that we can identify new opportunities and develop new strategies. In addition, we must be able to develop a global network of personal contacts and alliances that become the foundation for our future information network.

In the Global Village, 'know who' is just as important as 'know how', and this is especially true as we work with people from different ethnic, social and business cultures. Cross-cultural relationships will be of prime importance, and our ability to gain access to, and understand other cultures is of crucial importance for our future success.

Fortunately, Australia's immigration policy has laid the foundations for building the cross-cultural bridges that give us all an opportunity to meet, understand, develop alliances and enjoy relationships with people from other countries.

The multicultural diversity of our population is the envy of the rest of the world. Since 1945, just over 6 million people have arrived here from more than 200 different countries, and they have been a key group in the economic, social and cultural development of Australia.

Instead of having to go to the rest of the world, the rest of the world has come to Australia. Our immigrants are building local cross-cultural bridges of information and contacts and opportunities, and these will be invaluable in developing the globalisation and international competitiveness of Australia.

Of particular importance for Australia's future will be the alliances and relationships local companies make with our Asian immigrants who can quickly provide information and sources of contacts into the world's fastest growing economies. Australia is where West meets East - we can have the best of both worlds.

Immigrants can attest that Australia is one of the world's most tolerant and least racist countries, and that our individual opportunity and quality of life is unsurpassed.

However, to ensure that this continues, we must take both economic and social criteria into consideration. We must make sure that our immigration policies contribute to the vision of the Australia we would like to develop for our future generations.

That vision could include Australia becoming a nation with the world's highest quality of life and a leading global citizen: where our economic, social, cultural and natural environments will have been developed to recognise our individual independence, our global interdependence, our social cohesion and our cultural diversity: and where we will all have the opportunity to develop to our fullest potential.

Information provided by: Dr Ian Lin, Chairman Immigration Review Committee Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Telephone: +61 2 6277 7860 Facsimile: +61 2 6273 4144 Website: www.dima.gov.au