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MERCI@Work Research Group

Understanding Australia’s diverse workforce

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We research issues related to migration, how migrants experience work, and how Australia manages workplace diversity.

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Australian diversity

Australia is a diverse nation, with almost half of the population either born overseas or having at least one parent born overseas.

A significant rise of temporary migration pathways into Australia over the course of the last two decades, has also created a transient and diverse range of migrant workers.

1 in 4 workers in Australia are immigrants

50% of Australians are immigrants or have a migrant parent

About us

The Migration, Ethno-Racial, Cultural and Intersectionality@Work Research Group (MERCI@Work Research Group) is a multidisciplinary research community focused on issues related to permanent and temporary migration and cross-cultural and workplace diversity management.

We work with the national and international research community, business groups, and government and non-government agencies, particularly around our focus research areas.

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Our research focus

Title : Migrant work experience

Description : How migrants experience work and employment in Australia and overseas

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Title : Governance

Description : The international, national and supranational regulations and governance structures surrounding labour mobility

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Title : Diversity practices

Description : How the context and history of migration shapes diversity management practices in contemporary firms.

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Our research

Themes

The MERCI@Work Research Group conducts research in all aspects of migrants’ employment including:

  • migration and diversity policies and the impact on employment outcomes
  • mapping different stakeholders in migration and settlement processes
  • migration, diversity and human resource management
  • employee strategies in finding employment
  • career progression of culturally diverse people
  • employment outcomes for migrants from different skills and visas (including low-skilled, high-skilled migrants, temporary and permanent migrants and refugees)
  • the role of intermediaries in migration and integration processes
  • employment outcomes in different industries including the health sector and agriculture among others.

About the study

In 2017 the number of refugees arriving in Australia effectively doubled the intake of previous decades. This is because most of the special one-off intake of 12,000 Syrian Conflict refugees that was announced by Prime Minister Abbott in 2015 in fact arrived in 2017. In addition, the annual intake of humanitarian entrants was increased to 16,250 in 2017-18. Most of these newly-arrived refugee families settled in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

As part of a study on Settlement Outcomes of Refugee Families in Australia, funded by the Australian Research Council, and led by Professor Jock Collins (University of Technology Sydney), Professor Carol Reid (Western Sydney University), and Associate Professor Dimitria Groutsis (University of Sydney), three years of data collection has been completed.

With the assistance of partners in the project, we interviewed and surveyed newly arrived refugee families from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, in metropolitan and regional locations in two states: New South Wales, partnered with Settlement Services International; and Queensland, partnered with Multicultural Development Australia Ltd, and Access Community Services.

AMES Australia, a further partner in the research, interviewed and surveyed newly arrived refugee families from Syria and Iraq, in metropolitan Melbourne and in regional Shepparton, Victoria.

Our events

Please check back.

  • Death, injury and other workplace violations against migrant workers – A sector level analysis - 27 November 2020

    The webinar is hosted by the University of Sydney Business School’s Sydney Employment Relations Research Group (SERRG) and the Migrants@Work Research Group. 

  • Organization Studies Special Issue on Social diversity and Precarious Organizations - Paper Development Online Workshop - 30 September 2020

    The goal of the workshop is to discuss working manuscripts with the aim of submission for review at the Special Issue. The workshop will accommodate participation from authors in various time-zones.

  • Bridges or Barriers? The Long-Term Earnings Effects of Immigrants’ Early Labor Market Adversities - 5 March 2020

    Dr Rupa Banerjee, Ted Rogers School of Business Management, Ryerson University

    This paper utilizes a life course approach to investigate the long-term effects of immigrants’ early adverse labor market experiences in the host country on their earnings

  • The leadership potential of multicultural individuals: Examining how multicultural leaders can produce superior performance in multicultural teams - 17 October 2019

    Dr Lee Martin, Deakin University

    This seminar presents a theory of multicultural leadership effectiveness with reference to literatures on leadership, international management and team diversity.

Our publications


    Van Den Broek, D., Groutsis, D. (2020). Women, Work and Migration. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Groutsis D, Martin L, Lattouf A, Soutphommasane T, Lumby C, Young N, Crawford J, and Robertson A 2022 ‘Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories? 2.0’ Media Diversity Australia

Our people

  • Professor Jock Collins
  • Professor Lesleyanne Hawthorne
  • Professor Carol Reid
  • Emeritus Professor Malcolm Rimmer
  • Professor Lucy Taksa
  • Dr Elsa Underhill
  • Associate Professor Ellie Vasta
  • Dr Katherine Watson
  • Dr Kyoung-Hee Yu

Links have also been established with key scholars/research centres in the field of migration overseas:

  • Professor Akram Al Ariss
  • Professor Regine Bendl
  • Professor Ivy Bourgeault
  • Professor Will Harvey
  • Professor Eleonore Kofman
  • Assistant Professor Olivia Kyriakidou
  • Professor Eddy Ng
  • Professor Mustafa F Ozbilgin
  • Professor Judith Pringle
  • Professor Anna Triandafyllidou
  • Assistant Professor Dr Joana Vassilopoulou
  • Professor Min Zhou
  • Assistant Professor Mimi Zou

Useful links

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