Focused study on non-English speaking background immigrants in remote/rural areas of Australia

This study addresses the population of non-English speaking background immigrants who have chosen to live in rural/remote areas of Australia. Statistical analysis of the 1986 ABS Census Figures indicates that most of these immigrants have settled into the mainland eastern states, especially in Victoria. Details of their distribution and a discussion of the implications of this distribution can be found in Part I of the text. Further, an analysis of rural/remote communities where languages other than English are spoken at home, is reported in Part II. By far the most commonly spoken non-English language is Italian, and there some interesting differences in the distribution of language groups on an interstate and intrastate level. In Chapter 5 there is a report on a field study carried out in six different language groups in three rural/remote areas. It can be concluded that amongst the immigrant communities in rural/remote areas there is a wide range of both fulfilled and unfulfilled expectations, a broad spectrum of assimilation into the wider Australian country town community and a set of problems for non-English speaking background immigrants which are compounded by both their cultural origins and their isolation.