AMEP Research Centre National Forum
'Pathways to Settlement'
Macquarie University, Sydney, 17 April 2008
Acknowledgements
Professor Steven Schwartz – Vice-Chancellor Macquarie University
Professor Ingrid Piller – Director AMEP Research Centre
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of this land, the Darug people.
2008 is a year of celebration for the Adult Migrant English program. It is also a year of evaluation and growth.
It marks two significant milestones for the AMEP – the first, a time to reflect on the program's heritage, its development over time and the many achievements and individual success stories with which it has been associated.
Secondly it is an opportunity to examine the changing cultural, social and political face of Australia so we can best chart a future program that is contemporary and effective.
Over the past decade, Australia has become the new home for slightly more than 1.1 million migrants and humanitarian entrants from many countries throughout the world.
With diverse backgrounds and unique educational and migration experiences, providing a way for migrants to settle successfully, is paramount.
The Australian Government considers learning English one of the most important steps migrants and humanitarian entrants can take towards successfully settling in Australia. It is also crucial to national productivity.
Since 1948, successive governments have assisted settlement through the ongoing development of the Adult Migrant English Program, commonly known as the AMEP, which provides more than an opportunity for migrants to learn our language and general customs.
It is also a chance to become socially interactive, and in today's climate of skill and labour shortages crucial for entry to the workforce and to contribute to Australia's growth.
As Prime Minister Rudd commented to the new citizens gathered at his Citizenship Ceremony Address on Australia Day this year, 'everyone has something to offer this nation of ours, Australia'.
The AMEP has assisted hundreds of thousands of migrants over six decades through program initiatives such as pre-departure and on-ship learning in the early days, through to online and distance learning opportunities in the modern day.
There will be ongoing need for the AMEP to be improved to reflect a changing socio-economic environment. Only yesterday, I held a meeting with an advocacy group for migrant women who raised their expectations with me. This year marks the beginning of a much-needed review to maintain the AMEP's relevance to clients.
The ongoing development and success of this program is of particular relevance and importance to me personally in my capacity as the Federal Member for Reid.
Reid is one of the most ethnically diverse seats in Australia.
In the last census, only 41 per cent of Reid residents identified Australia as their country of birth, meaning more than half have migrated to Australia at some point in the past. The census also showed only 31 per cent answered that English was the ONLY language spoken at home – this means more than two thirds of Reid residents speak a language other than English at home.
These realities impinge on people's employability, interaction with the wider society and access to government services, continued inadequacies in the system, spell spatial poverty and marginalisation for some in regions such as mine.
Out of Australia's current population, 45 per cent of us were either born overseas or have at least one parent who was born overseas.
Around 6.6 million people have arrived here to settle permanently since October 1945, including a humanitarian and refugee component of more than 690 000 people.
Considering these figures, and their implications for an increasingly diverse Australia, it is obvious why a fully functional accessible and effective Adult Migrant English Program is vital our future.
I have already mentioned that this year is of particular importance for the AMEP. One reason is that the program is celebrating its 60th Anniversary – six decades of providing English language tuition to newly arrived migrants in Australia.
Since the AMEP's establishment in 1948, Australia has grown and changed, embracing its multiculturalism and welcoming many new citizens.
The 1940s was a particularly interesting time in Australian politics, particularly in terms of immigration. A young country with a fledgling labour force, the skills and labour shortage was seen as a significant obstacle to the future stability of Australia. The introduction of an immigration policy – radical for its day – that aimed to increase the labour force through skilled migration, though promising, gave rise to many issues, one of which was efficient communication.
From a rapidly increasing migrant population came the need for specific training in English language skills and in 1948, 22 volunteer language teachers on vacation from NSW and Victorian schools gathered at the first migrant Reception and Training Centre in Bonegilla to teach English to 800 newly arrived migrants. These migrants were divided into 32 classes of 25 students and given four hours tuition each day for a month.
The Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre also celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. It formed part of the Migrant Reception Centre – located on the shores of Lake Hume, near Albury-Wodonga – which was the first Australian home for around 320 000 immigrants from more than 30 countries.
A commemorative centre on the site of the last remaining residential block, Block 19, at the original camp is currently being built. I recently met with the Mayor of Wodonga, Rodney Wangman and was encouraged by his enthusiasm for this important project and pursuit of funding for the complex.
In the years following its introduction, the English training program was further refined. In 1949 ‘continuation classes' were introduced to follow on from initial language classes. The program was overseen by the Department of Immigration, with input from other state and federal government bodies. In these early days, the program was vital to the important ongoing contribution of migrants in the labour force. It was at this time also that women started to be encouraged to participate in the AMEP to make sure they felt socially included in their new home country.
It was as early as 1952 that English for employment was being offered within the AMEP through various institutions.
The 1960s and 70s saw some of the greatest expansion to the AMEP as immigration policy moved towards multiculturalism and away from assimilation. Intensive English courses were established under the premise of equipping migrants with enough English to enter the workplace quickly. The Immigration (Education) Act 1971 was also introduced.
The 1970s saw the introduction of the Home Tutor Scheme and the development of an English language tuition television series ‘You Say the Word' on Wollongong television.
In 1983-84, free child care for AMEP students was introduced and resources provided for development of teaching materials and ESL research.
It is important to reflect on these earlier decades of AMEP development, as the initiatives introduced during these times have formed the basis for the AMEP of today.
Something I have particularly noted though, is that the dedication of the English language teachers to the program and their students, has never faltered, and the sense of pride and achievement in the language by those who master it has never changed.
I am constantly reminded of the pride that many migrants have in learning English – the language of their new home – and the way that this pride spans generations, ethnic backgrounds and migration experiences.
An article in the February 6 issue of the North Central News, A New Life In Australia, was motivating and inspiring. The article explained the story of a Hungarian-born migrant, Stephen Raskovy, who fled his home and migrated to Australia under difficult circumstances, arriving in 1958.
This man not only celebrated his 50th year in Australia this Australia Day, but also participated in one of the earliest English language night classes the year he arrived. He explains that he was so dedicated to his classes that just four months after arriving in Australia he woke up trying to work out, in English, what he had dreamt that night.
He went on to represent Australia at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and in 1986 was awarded an Order of Australia medal.
Fifty years on from his arrival and many migrants new to Australia still pride themselves on learning a new language and contributing to Australia, socially and economically.
I was reminded of this when I recently attended a graduation ceremony hosted by the Bankstown Community College and others to award students with dual certificates in English language and vocational skills in Aged Care. I was particularly inspired by a speech from graduate Dong Cheol Han who has gone on to enrol in nursing.
Mr Han praised the support of his English language tuition provider, his classmates and family and noted that while study had been hard, it had also been rewarding.
Similarly – Shepparton TAFE
These examples are compelling evidence of the importance of learning English for successful settlement.
This brings me to the second important milestone for this year, and that is the review of the Adult Migrant English Program that began in March. While some may see the review as a focus on more negative aspects of the program, it should be viewed in the same context that development of this program has always been viewed: as an opportunity.
This review presents a positive chance to improve the AMEP so that it becomes a contemporary program that meets the individual and unique goals of Australia's new migrants – whether they be socially and settlement oriented or employment focused.
English for employment is a key area of examination in the AMEP review. Given the changing nature of the Australian workplace, and the ongoing skills and labour shortages, there is increasing need for new migrants to join the work force as quickly as possible.
The need for functional English to assist this process is evident in the most recent ABS social survey results, as reported by The Age on 26 February 2008. The survey was reported to have found that only 18.8 per cent of people with poor English skills were able to find full-time work in Australia.
The 2008 AMEP review will examine all aspects of the program from management and administration, through to delivery. It will focus on analysis of methods for reporting outcomes with a view to their improvement. It will consider linkages with other key agencies such as Centrelink and DEEWR for improved continuity of learning. We must not tolerate the acquisition of English being undermined by unreasonable extreme decisions of government agencies any more than impediments for lack of childcare or transportation.
Today signifies the start of some important work associated with the review – the development of a model for an Individual Learning Plan that will provide guidance to AMEP clients on key milestones leading to their ultimate goal.
It is always going to be a challenge to deliver a program that meets the individual needs of all clients. In 2006-07, the AMEP assisted clients from 189 countries of birth. Of these, slightly more than 77 per cent had eight or more years of education, 67 per cent were female and 79 per cent were aged 20 to 44.
While Mandarin, Vietnamese and Arabic were the main first languages of clients, there were many reasonably large clients numbers from at least 15 other languages.
Clients are not only diverse in cultural and linguistic backgrounds, they also entered the program from a wide variety of migration experiences, some entering as skilled migrants, family members of migrants already in Australia, or as humanitarian entrants. Some have been subjected to extreme conditions such as torture and trauma or were living in refugee camps for long periods of time.
What these statistics really show is just how diverse our AMEP clients are and how big a challenge you face today, and the review faces, in developing the AMEP program for the future.
Most of all, what these statistics show is that a one-size-fits-all program will simply not meet the needs of 50 000 different people.
Given the significance of the work ahead of you today and tomorrow, I would like to wish you all well in the successful formulation of a model for Individual Learning Plans and also congratulate you and thank you for your commitment and input to the AMEP over the last six decades.
See:
Index of Speeches
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/parlsec/media/speeches/2008/lf080409.htm
Last update: 13 August 2008 at 17:14 AEST