Globalisation and trans-national student mobility: a test case for multiculturalism in Australian education?

A key feature of contemporary globalisation is international migration, which has long been a feature of Australian education. Indeed, it is often remarked that other than Aborigines, all Australians are migrants. This is very different to the European experience, and is more like countries of migration such as the USA and Canada. The paper examines the character of multiculturalism in Australian education, from both historical and contemporary perspectives, and uses brief sketches of two migrant communities (Muslim Australians and mainland Chinese) as ways to illustrate some of the key issues, and how the patterns of migration and multiculturalism are changing.