Australia’s Immigration policy

Australia has a checkered history of immigration, dating back over 40,000 years ago when the ancestors of Australian aborigines arrived in the island continent from the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea. Europeans began arriving here in 1600 and 1700 and the country was colonized by the British in 1788.

Modern Australia and its immigration policy has evolved over the last 100 years from the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 to abolishment of 'White Australia Policy' after World War II through to the introduction of the revised Migration Act 1958. Non-European migrants started settling in Australia since 1960's.

Australia, the sixth largest country in the world, is also one of the least densely populated. With a total population of 20 million people inhabiting a vast land of ----- sq. kms; Australia still remains a nation welcoming immigrants from all over the world to its shores.

Australian immigration policy is governed by the Migration Act 1958. This act is supplemented by an extensive, and frequently amended, body of rules called the Migration Regulations 1994. The Government policy for immigration is administered by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) which is headed by a cabinet minister.

Today Australia has one of the best and most efficient immigration processes. It has evolved over the decades as a just, fair and proactive system, which encourages legal migration of skilled people from all over the world, while also catering to Australia's moral obligation in the league of developed nations settling in people displaced by war, natural calamities and other humanitarian need.

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