Conclusions and further research directions

Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world. Currently, around one quarter of the Australian population were born elsewhere and almost a half have both parents born overseas. This is the broad context that frames the importance of comprehending the scale and nature of the social costs and benefits of migration into Australia. This study has attempted to do this by synthesizing an array of quantitative and qualitative material into an analysis of the social impact of migration. That analysis was guided by the four capitals framework for measuring Australia's progress: human, social, produced and natural capital. The study has drawn upon 49 different data sets and a large volume of existing although disparate research. It combined this data with original empirical material gathered through four community studies. On the basis of the available evidence, the main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the social benefits of migration far outweigh the costs, especially in the longer term. Most social costs associated with migration are short term and generally arise from the integration phrase of the settlement process. A number of other conclusions and directions for further research can also be drawn from the large body of material collated for this project.