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Skill, migration and gender in Australia: a comparison with Canada
Anna Boucher
Discipline of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney
Contact Email: abou6538
mail.usyd.edu.au
The shift from family to skilled migration over the last decade is one of the most important changes in contemporary Australian immigration policy. This shift has been widely discussed by policy makers, academics and the media alike. Yet, the implications of this shift for female applicants have remained largely unidentified. Indeed, skilled migration has slipped by as a genderless story where the androgenous skilled migrant is the central character and economists do most of the storytelling. This paper addresses the gender issues inherent in the policy shift from family to skilled migration. It argues that Australia’s skilled migration scheme disadvantages female applicants through its construction both of economic independence and 'skill'. A comparison with Canada’s skilled migration regulations, which are audited by gender mainstreaming tools, is also considered to ascertain what effect gender mainstreaming has on identifying and rectifying the potential gender inequalities produced by skilled migration selection.
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