The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down international migration around the world, with many countries closing their international borders for a prolonged period of time. Although there are studies emerging that analyse the impact of COVID-19 and border control measures, more detailed migration flow data have been largely absent. In this research note, we examine changes to the patterns of immigration and emigration in Australia during the pandemic to further our understanding of the differing impacts of the pandemic on population groups. Foreign-born populations with large shares of international students recorded the highest declines in immigration, especially those from China, Malaysia, and South America. Immigration of seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands, on the other hand, exhibited increased levels. There were also unexpected situations where residents who made temporary visits outside Australia were unable to return, or persons who were visiting on short-term visas prolonged their stay. Results reveal how responsive migration can be to policies in a time of a population health crisis. The nuance and complexity of these patterns underscore the importance of migration dynamics, adding to our knowledge of the changing international migration profiles during the recent pandemic.

The naphthalene tetracarboxdiimide (NDI) modified NH2-UiO-66(Zr) and NH2-MIL-101(Cr) (NDI/UZr and NDI/MCr for short) metal organic frameworks (MOFs) materials with strong covalent bond O=C-N-C=O were designed and prepared by solvothermal method. The comprehensive physical and chemical properties of the materials were characterized, and the adsorption and photocatalytic properties of the materials were evaluated by using methylene blue (MB) and Cr(VI) in single and mixture system. When the initial concentration of MB was 50mg·L−1, the photocatalytic degradation rate constant of NDI/MCr(2:1) was 10.3 and 13.8 times higher than that of NH2-MIL-101(Cr) and NDI/UZr(2:1), respectively. Additionally, NDI/MCr(2:1) exhibited 1.6 times higher reaction rate constant than that of NDI/UZr(2:1) for the removal of 10mg∙L−1 Cr(VI). The enhanced adsorption and photocatalytic ability over NDI/MOFs were attributed to the MOFs larger specific surface area and wider spectral response, and NDI showed high electron affinity, superior charge carrier transport properties. Free radical and electron capture experiments indicated that h+, •O2−, and e− were the main active species in the NDI/MOFs system. Among them h+ and •O2− played an essential role in the removal of MB, while e− and •O2− contributed to the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI). The mechanism of the photocatalytic process was discussed in detail.

Political representation of ethnic minorities in a liberal democratic system is a crucial step towards having the interests of ethnic minority groups heard. The under-representation of ethnic minorities in a political institution can exacerbate inequality between majority and minority populations and increase feelings of alienation among minority groups. As a country observing increasing ethnic diversity, Australia saw record-level ethnic minority candidates elected in the 2022 federal election. However, the shares of candidates and elected Members of Parliaments with ethnic minority backgrounds are still much lower than their relative shares in the population. In this regard, Australia has lagged behind other major settler countries. In this paper, we examine the political representation of ethnic minorities in Australia's federal election. Drawing on data from the 2022 federal election and 2021 population census, we find a positive association between ethnic minority concentration and ethnic representation. However, for the two major parties, ethnic minority candidates are less likely to be in safe seats, even when the seat observes high ethnic minority concentration. Findings suggest that ethnic voting is evident but it is perhaps too early to celebrate higher levels of ethnic representation in Australian politics as political parties act as gatekeepers in safe seats.

Information on the age and sex patterns of international migration occurring amongst countries in the Asia-Pacific region is important for researchers and policymakers to understand the contributions of migration towards demographic, economic and social changes. However, despite its importance, statistics on the age and sex patterns are largely absent and, where they do exist, there are considerable differences in measurement and data collection procedures. In this study, we develop a methodology for indirectly estimating the age and sex patterns of international migration for 53 populations in the Asia-Pacific region and four macroworld regions. Multiplicative component models are used to systematically combine information from multiple data sources and infer missing data, resulting in complete and harmonised tables of migration by origin, destination, age, and sex from 2000 to 2019. The estimates are presented and assessed with some discussions on how they may be applied and further improved.

Flows of international migration are needed in the Asia-Pacific region to understand the patterns and corresponding effects on demographic, social, and economic change across sending and receiving countries. A major challenge to this understanding is that nearly all of the countries in this region do not gather or produce statistics on flows of international migration. The only information that are widely available represent immigrant population stocks measured at specific points in time—but these represent poor proxies for annual movements. In this paper, we present a methodology for indirectly estimating annual flows of international migration amongst 53 populations in the Asia-Pacific region and four macro world regions from 2000 to 2019 using a generation–distribution framework. The estimates suggest that 27–31 million persons from the Asia-Pacific region have changed their countries of usual residence during each year in the study. Southern Asia is estimated to have had the largest inflows and outflows, whilst intra-regional migration and return migration were highest in Eastern, Southern, and South-Eastern Asia. India, China, and Indonesia were estimated to have had the largest emigration flows and net migration losses. As a first attempt to estimate international migration flows in the Asia-Pacific region, this paper provides a basis for understanding the dynamics and complexity of the large-scale migration occurring in the region.

International migration is an important source of population change and economic development for Pacific Island countries. Migration from the Pacific Island region contributes to labour recruitment in countries like Australia, New Zealand and the United States. However, there are substantial gaps in the understanding of overall migration patterns in this region, impeding the development of relevant policies. In the absence of good migration statistics, we propose and present an alternative approach to examining the levels of migration in the Pacific Island region using model-based estimates. Three sets of recently produced migration flow estimates are consulted to explore the immigration and emigration levels and key migration corridors in the Pacific Island region between 2000 and 2019. Where reported migration statistics are available, we evaluate the performance of model-based estimates and highlight if there are problems with the reported data. This research brief demonstrates the value of model-based estimates to inform migration in the Pacific Island region.

ABSTRACT As global efforts to address COVID-19 become more urgent, the public discourse on attitudes towards immigrants has also become more polarized. In such a heightened social and political context, we study the impact of intergroup contact in political jurisdictions with different shares of minority populations. Drawing on data from the Australian Election Study and the Census, we find that less intergroup contact with neighbours from minority birthplace, language and citizenship backgrounds is correlated with higher anti-immigrant sentiments. These results have significant implications for immigrant-receiving countries with existing legislation and policies that direct immigrants to move to areas of lower population density, lower presence of immigrants, and less previous exposure to international migration. The evidence presented in this study suggests that without sufficient political and policy sensitization to the issues for immigrants living in these areas, there could be detrimental social and political impacts to both immigrants and society more generally.

AbstractHow many people will likely move in the decades to come? And where will they come from and move to? Policymakers worldwide have a keen interest in these questions. While long-term developments in international migration patterns are relevant for the demography and economy of a country, sudden flows—for example, in the case of humanitarian emergencies—pose institutional challenges regarding reception capacities, health systems, housing, education, and training programs amongst others. This chapter reviews key concepts related to migration scenarios and forecasting. It outlines different qualitative and quantitative approaches, compares different studies, and discusses the potential use of various techniques for academic and policy audiences.

Ever-increasing anthropogenic activities are radically deteriorating the environment by causing severe pollution. Thus, curtailing the environmental pollution and promotion of sustainable development, are the hot issues confronted by scientists in this modern era. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been highly recognized as emerging promising materials for environmental remediation due to their versatile structure and extraordinary properties. Among them, MILs (MIL = Matérial Institute of Lavoisier) are the series of MOFs mostly known for their incredible stability, unique tailorable pore structures, and astounding versatile environmental applications. Their exclusive physiochemical properties and multifunctionality make them proficient for a wide range of pollutants removal in the exposure of versatile harsh environments, compared to other MOFs. This piece of research summarizes the state-of-the-art of development of MILs on the broad spectrum, highlighting their specificities, such as synthesis techniques, modifications and applications for environmental remediation. However, MILs wonderful properties and extraordinary applications in multiple fields, their deployment on practical and commercial-scale pollutants remediation is hindered by insufficient scientific research on underlying mechanisms and relationships. Henceforth, this review not only signifies the emerging importance of MILs for environmental applications but also indicates the urgency to maximize the scientific research for exploitation of MOFs on a practical level and promotion of green technologies for environmental remediation.

Internal migration is an important settlement adjustment process for immigrants. For a high migration country, such as Australia, understanding the internal migration patterns is also needed for studying the demographic dynamics of immigration. With large numbers of immigrants now coming from Asia, little is known about how they move subsequently within Australia and whether they follow similar patterns of European-origin groups. This paper examines resettlement patterns of the largest non-European-origin population in Australia: immigrants born in mainland China. Data from the 1986-2016 Australian Censuses are used to examine the complex relationship between age, duration of stay and interstate migration observed amongst China-born immigrants in comparison with other major overseas-born populations. Results show that migration probabilities peak for young and recently arrived immigrants, with an evident age-on-arrival effect. Considerable variations in migration patterns are identified across birthplaces, states and territories of residence and arrival cohorts. Interstate migration of China-born immigrants increased over time, with recent arrivals exhibiting higher migration probabilities than that of the Australia-born population in 2016. The findings extend our knowledge on immigrants adjustment and (re)settlement in the destination society and provide a basis for examining Australia's regional migration policies.

Developing easily separable materials for efficient treatment of low-concentration phosphate which causes eutrophication of water bodies are full of challenges. A magnetic CuFe2O4/MIL-101(Fe) composite composed of hollow spheres CuFe2O4 and octahedrons MIL-101(Fe) was first fabricated via a facile solvothermal approach. CuFe2O4/MIL-101(Fe) (1.0 g·L−1) exhibited above 88.4% adsorption efficiency for low-concentration phosphate (5.0 mg·L−1) removal, over a wide pH ranging 2–12 at 293 K. Phosphate adsorption was a spontaneous endothermic process, in good association with Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The XPS and FT-IR analysis elucidated that electrostatic interaction and coordination exchange were main mechanisms. In addition, after four cycles, CuFe2O4/MIL-101(Fe) displayed 75.0% adsorption of phosphate, by treatment with external magnetic field separated and 0.1 mol·L–1 NaOH desorbed. Therefore, CuFe2O4/MIL-101(Fe) exhibited high selectivity and recycling for removing phosphate from wastewater.

A critical issue in the removal of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, which were frequently detected in drinking water sources and water treatment plants, is the design of highly efficient photocatalysts. In order to utilize visible-light, improve the electrons transfer and reduce the recombination of photogenerated carriers, TiO2-x/Ag3PO4 heterojunctions were fabricated by hydrothermal technology combined with the coprecipitation method for the first time. The morphological, structural, and optical properties of as-prepared catalysts were extensively characterized. In comparison with single-phase TiO2-x and Ag3PO4, TiO2-x/Ag3PO4 composite exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency for the degradation of methyl orange (MO) and gatifloxacin (GAT). Especially for the composite with the mole ratio of TiO2-x and Ag3PO4 was 1:1, the reduction of antimicrobial activity of the GAT byproducts reached 82.4% after 5 min visible-light irradiation. Furthermore, the pathway in photocatalytic decomposition of GAT was proposed by HPLC-MS and the electron transfer mechanism over TiO2-x/Ag3PO4 heterojunctions was suggested by the radical capture experiments, transient photocurrent responses, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photocatalytic reduction of nitrate has attracted much attention recently, however, low efficiency and difficult separation have limited its application in practice. In this study, the novel direct dual Z-scheme AgBr(Ag)/MIL-101(Cr)/CuFe2O4 (AB/M/CFO) was fabricated by the hydrothermal technology combined with the photodeposition method for the first time. The AB/M/CFO exhibited the highest nitrate conversion and nitrogen selectivity (79.9% and 94.5%, respectively) compared to AgBr(Ag)/MIL-101(Cr), MIL-101(Cr) and CuFe2O4 for 30 min UV-light irradiation. The dual Z-scheme of AB/M/CFO enhanced electron transfer and charge separation, which was proved by transient photocurrent responses, leading to a significant improvement in photocatalytic efficiency. Meanwhile, after four cycles, the AB/M/CFO photocatalyst also displayed a strong magnetic separation ability and excellent recycling stability. Furthermore, the excitation and electron transfer process over dual Z-scheme AB/M/CFO photocatalytic material were proposed, based on the radical trapping experiments. Our work provides a new strategy to construct dual Z-scheme MOFs-based materials that have promising applications in photocatalytic reduction of pollutants.

This study estimates the future utilization of medically assisted fertility treatments in Australia, focusing on assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), intrauterine insemination (IUI), and ovulation induction. A multistate cohort component population projection model is used to determine future fertility rates from 2016 to 2026 by age and education level. These are combined with information on recent trends in use and success rates to indirectly estimate future age-specific probabilities of fertility treatment utilization. The number of ART cycles is expected to increase by 61 per cent between 2016 and 2026 if treatment success rates remain at 2015 levels, or by 34 per cent if recent improvements in ART success rates continue. The model also predicts that numbers of IUI cycles and ovulation induction cycles will decrease by 17 and 3 per cent, respectively. This research confirms the importance of including both technological improvements and socio-demographic changes when predicting future fertility treatment utilization.

Migration from, to and within Asia are believed to capture many of the largest flows in the world yet very little is known about the specific patterns and factors contributing to them. In this paper, utilising recent estimates of five-year bilateral migration flows for all countries in the world, we focus on understanding how demographic, geographic and socio-economic factors are related to the size of bilateral flows in Asia. We conduct our analysis in three strands to differentiate migration: (1) amongst Asian countries, (2) from Asian countries to destinations outside the region, and (3) towards Asian countries from elsewhere in the world. After controlling for demographic, geographic and socio-economic variables, we find that large countries are important senders of migrants but not so for receiving migrants, distance has nearly the same effect for moves within Asia and for moves to countries outside the region, and Gross Domestic Product per capita in the destination is important for moves within Asia.

The China-born population have a long history of migrating to and settling in Australia, and have recently grown to become the third largest overseas-born population. To measure their integration in Australia, a spatial perspective is adopted in this paper. Spatial distribution is an important indicator of immigrants’ integration in the host country and is linked to their socioeconomic integration. It is generally agreed that the more concentrated immigrants distribute, the less integrated socioeconomically they are; the more immigrants’ spatial distribution patterns mirror the local population, the more integrated they are. Distributions of mainland Chinese population at sub-national levels are examined. Using coefficient of variation and index of dissimilarity, spatial integration patterns of the China-born population in Australia are analyzed over time, across age groups and immigrant cohorts, and against those of other birthplace groups using 1981–2016 Australian census data. Changes in the distribution of China-born immigrants substantiate the ‘contrasting’ dispersion-concentration picture uncovered in earlier Australian censuses. With the influx of international students and skilled migrants, results from spatial integration analyses show a slow but uninterrupted improvement in the China-born immigrants’ spatial integration after the 2001 Census. In the spatial analysis across immigrant cohorts, it is found that the interaction between cohort characteristics and lengths of residence in Australia is likely an important factor influencing the spatial distribution patterns of mainland Chinese. Findings of the study contribute to the knowledge of immigrants’ spatial distribution and integration in the host country, especially in the context of Australia and a context of broader Chinese diaspora in major immigration countries.

This paper seeks to provide a better understanding of international migration among the ten countries constituting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In reviewing the data, we identify several major issues concerning the availability of data, consistency in definitions of migration, and a general absence of many of the important migration categories needed to understand the movements. We propose an adaptation of the multiplicative component model framework to first estimate total immigration and total emigration for each ASEAN country from 2000 to 2015, borrowing information from 34 other countries in the world. Second, bilateral flows are estimated using a range of auxiliary information on the interactions among ASEAN countries and constraining them to the total immigration and total emigration estimates. The result is a complete and consistent account of migration flows that allows one to examine how migration has coincided with rapid demographic and economic change in the region.

Australia has one of the largest percentages of immigrant populations in the developed world with a highly regulated system of immigration control and regular censuses to track their changes over time. However, the ability to explain the population change through the demographic components of immigration, emigration, and death by age and sex is complicated because of differences in measurement and sources of information. In this article, we explore three methods for reconciling the demographic accounts from 1981 to 2011 for the Australia-born and 18 foreign-born population groups. We then describe how the immigrant populations have changed and what has contributed most to that change. We find that the sources of immigrant population change have varied considerably by age, sex, country of birth, and period of immigration. Immigrants from Europe are currently the oldest and slowest-growing populations, whereas those from elsewhere are growing rapidly and exhibit relatively young population age structures. Studying these patterns over time helps us to understand the nature of international migration and its long-term contributions to population change and composition.

Background: Education planning requires accurate and efficient projection models. Current projection models either do not make use of all available information and are reliant on idiosyncratic expert judgement, or are too complex to be maintained and explained. Aims: To test whether a multiregional projection model performs better than current methodology in explaining and projecting school enrolments in a school system with student mobility. Data and methods: A multiregional cohort model was developed for projecting enrolments for multiple schools or districts simultaneously. For illustration, data were obtained for all government schools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) for the years 2008–2016. Multiregional projections were compared with a cohort transition model and the ACT Education Directorate’s own projections. Results: (i) There is great diversity in the sources of school enrolment growth that need to be accommodated in enrolment projections; and (ii) multiregional projections perform slightly better than traditional methods with less effort and more transparency. Conclusion: A sources of growth approach guides the understanding of enrolment change, which is critical for making informed projections.