Subject Area: History
This course can also be studied in the following specialisation: Australian Studies

This course explores the impact of migration and refugee settlement upon Australian society. In particular, the history of migrants and refugees in twentieth-century Australia will be examined in relation to the wider international context, national policies and debates, and the experiences and representations of migrants and refugees. We will consider the influence of the White Australia Policy on migration, and pay particular attention to the post-World War II period in which Australia expanded its migration scheme to unprecedented levels, leading to major social and cultural transformation, and the dismantling of earlier migration policies. The course also covers historical debates about Australia’s humanitarian record in relation to refugees, the extent to which the post-war migration scheme was planned and the contested limits and content of multiculturalism.