Reconceptualising the Governance of Migration Policy in Australia: From Centralised to Cooperative Approaches

Current debate on immigration policy in Australia raises questions about whether the federal government can continue with its traditionally centralist approach. Overcrowding and congestion placing stress on metropolitan infrastructure have been issues in recent elections. There are calls for greater participation by subnational governments in determining updates on population growth and migrant destinations. The key question addressed in this paper is; what are the key challenges and opportunities of establishing cooperative approaches to immigration policy in a multilevel system? Issues involved in a potential transition of Australia's immigration policy from a centralist approach to a more cooperative approach will be examined through the lens of a framework of analysis that consists of three scenarios for the structure of immigration policy: the centralist, the cooperative and the asymmetric scenarios. Consideration needs to be made of issues involved with improving vertical and horizontal cooperation within and between levels of government in a traditionally centralised policy area.